How do we bill for metrics?

The more metrics you send, the more we charge you.

We bill for metrics based on data points on a per-source basis, daily.

Data points = aggregations × active time series × retention in days

You can see the used-up data points in Settings -> Usages or calculate them directly for a given source with SQL as follows:

  • Aggregations: Go to source -> Configure -> Logs to metrics to look up the number of aggregation functions checked. Example: if latency is aggregated as sum and average you're using 2 aggregations.

  • Active time series

SQL Query for daily active time series count
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT (non_aggregated_metric1, non_aggregated_metric2, non_aggregated_metric3, ...)) 
FROM {{source}}
WHERE dt > now() - INTERVAL 1 DAY

For a detailed guide on managing and reducing the cardinality of your metrics to optimize usage, refer to our article on how to manage high cardinality in metrics.

Need help?

We understand this may sound too complicated. We structured our billing to be as simple as possible while being fair: if you use more resources, you should pay more. Let us know at hello@betterstack.com if you need help.