Revenue tier list

A pricing page shows a business model, not actual company revenue.

Annual recurring revenue

Active, paying subscriptions with an annual commitment. The fee is owed regardless of usage; invoices can still be monthly.

$1,000/month committed for a year → $12,000 ARR.

Active subscriptions that renew monthly. MRR × 12 can be ARR. Usage overages don't disqualify a recurring subscription.

$50,000 MRR → $600,000 ARR, plus any overages.

Customers pay for consumption or transactions, with no fixed recurring minimum. Annualizing it gives a revenue run rate, not ARR.

$2 per million tokens. No subscription or minimum spend.

A single purchase, setup fee, project or lifetime license. Real revenue, with no recurring payment obligation.

$299 for lifetime access. Paid once.

Signed future business. The annualized recurring portion can be cARR, but it isn't active ARR before billing starts.

A signed subscription that starts after deployment.

The total flowing through a marketplace. Separate transaction volume from the fee the platform actually keeps.

$100,000 GMV × 20% take rate = $20,000 revenue.

Non-binding interest, prospective deals and waitlists. No payment obligation; no revenue.

“We'd love to buy this, subject to budget approval.”

Metric distinctions from YC's revenue guidance. The grades are ours.