--- title: OpenAI has started letting some customers pay only when... description: OpenAI has quietly begun offering outcome-based pricing to select large enterprise customers, letting them pay only when its AI completes a task rather than by... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: OpenAI has started letting some customers pay only when the AI works | daily.dev og:description: OpenAI has quietly begun offering outcome-based pricing to select large enterprise customers, letting them pay only when its AI completes a task rather than by... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/JTwwDUhNV.png og:image:alt: OpenAI has started letting some customers pay only when the AI works og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # OpenAI has started letting some customers pay only when the AI works **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary OpenAI has quietly begun offering outcome-based pricing to select large enterprise customers, letting them pay only when its AI completes a task rather than by token usage, according to a report from The Information. This follows similar moves by Intercom ($0.99 per resolved conversation), Zendesk (Verified Resolutions at $1.20-$1.50), and Salesforce (which moved from per-conversation to per-action Flex Credits after backlash). A Futurum Group survey found 43% of enterprise buyers prefer consumption-based pricing and 27% prefer outcome-based, with seat-based pricing falling out of favor. The shift transfers risk from buyer to vendor for failed AI attempts, but defining 'success' for multi-step agentic tasks remains unresolved. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is outcome-based pricing for AI and which companies use it? Outcome-based pricing charges customers only when an AI task is successfully completed, rather than by token or seat usage. Intercom charges $0.99 per resolved conversation through its Fin agent, Zendesk charges roughly $1.20 to $1.50 for conversations it verifies as resolved within 72 hours, and OpenAI has reportedly begun offering similar arrangements to select large enterprise accounts. _Teams weighing AI vendor contracts can follow how pricing models evolve on daily.dev._ ### Why did Salesforce move away from per-conversation pricing for Agentforce? Salesforce's Agentforce originally charged $2 per conversation for every 24-hour session regardless of whether the issue was resolved, which customers found expensive and hard to forecast. Salesforce replaced this with Flex Credits, a consumption-based model billing about 10 cents per individual action, starting at $500 for 100,000 credits, though a failed action still bills under this scheme. _Anyone comparing AI vendor pricing models can track shifts like Salesforce's on daily.dev._ ### Do enterprise buyers prefer consumption-based or outcome-based AI pricing? Consumption-based pricing is preferred by 43% of enterprise buyers, while 27% prefer outcome-based pricing, according to a Futurum Group survey from May. Fewer than one in five buyers still prefer per-user seat pricing, and Futurum's research director noted that vendors offering only seat-based pricing are increasingly disqualified before evaluation even starts. _Engineering and procurement teams weighing AI contracts can follow pricing trend data on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [AI token prices fell 98% but enterprise bills tripled](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-token-prices-fell-98-but-enterprise-bills-tripled-ebg7lcnvk) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [You are not a model. Don’t price per token.](https://daily.dev/posts/you-are-not-a-model-don-t-price-per-token--sx9qiokkr) · Tech Lead Digest · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [OpenAI Pricing in 2026 for Individuals, Orgs & Developers](https://daily.dev/posts/openai-pricing-in-2026-for-individuals-orgs-developers-aeizgj8sw) · finout · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"OpenAI has started letting some customers pay only when the AI works","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv"},"datePublished":"2026-08-31T09:06:22.713Z","dateModified":"2026-09-01T02:59:18.445Z","description":"OpenAI has quietly begun offering outcome-based pricing to select large enterprise customers, letting them pay only when its AI completes a task rather than by...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ba9e1c03fe7945d1b1068d6b390dc618?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/ba9e1c03fe7945d1b1068d6b390dc618?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"llm,ai-agents,openai","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"OpenAI has started letting some customers pay only when the AI works"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/openai-has-started-letting-some-customers-pay-only-when-the-ai-works-jtwwduhnv#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is outcome-based pricing for AI and which companies use it?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Outcome-based pricing charges customers only when an AI task is successfully completed, rather than by token or seat usage. 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