How Domo Pricing Works

Paying a flat rate for a seat at a trendy restaurant might work great if you love everything on the menu. But patrons are rarely satisfied when they have to shell out a hefty fee only to find out they don’t actually enjoy the food. After a glass of water, a few bites of bread, and an expensive check, the experience can feel like a mistake.

What does this have to do with AI and data products? Quite a lot. Companies often purchase licenses for software and tools they consider mission-critical, paying a premium for every “seat at the table.” Unfortunately, not everyone uses those tools, leading companies to rack up high expenses for unused access.

At Domo, we believe you should only pay for what you use. With our consumption-based pricing, you gain the clarity, flexibility, and control to scale your business with confidence.

Understanding Domo’s pricing model

Unlike traditional pricing models that lock you into rigid tiers or charge unpredictable overages, Domo’s credit-based pricing gives your teams the freedom to grow at their own pace.

With your Domo contract, you get credits that act as currency for tool usage. This allows you to:

• Access Domo: On day one, you can start taking advantage of Domo’s features like data integration, business intelligence, AI Chat, and automated workflows. ‍
• Add unlimited users: User seats are free for everyone in your organization.  ‍
• Pay for what you use: Credits are consumed by activities, not by the number of people using the system.  

To keep you in control, we offer clear, easy-to-understand reporting and metadata about your usage through the Credit Utilization interface, including DomoStats Credit Balance Reports. You can see exactly what your team has spent, forecast future usage, and prioritize high-value activities. The result? No surprise bills, just pricing that aligns with how you create value.

Comparing pricing models: Consumption vs per-seat vs compute

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Choosing the right pricing model is critical for long-term scalability. Here is how Domo’s consumption-based approach compares to other common models in the industry.

1. Per-seat licensing (Traditional BI)

This is the “gym membership” model. You pay for a specific number of people to have access, regardless of whether they actually log in.

• How it works: You buy 100 licenses. If only 20 people use the tool, you still pay for 100. ‍
• The downside: It penalizes adoption. To save money, companies often restrict access, creating data silos and limiting the spread of insights. ‍
• The Domo difference: We offer unlimited seats. You can invite your entire organization without paying a cent extra for their logins.

2. Compute-based pricing (Cloud warehouses)

This model charges based on the raw processing power or “uptime” of the servers running your queries.

• How it works: You pay for the time the engine is running or the size of the warehouse you provision. ‍
• The downside: It can be unpredictable and inefficient for BI. If a user leaves a dashboard open or runs an inefficient query, the meter keeps running, leading to “bill shock.” ‍
• The Domo difference: Domo credits are based on executions and value, with protections built in. You aren't penalized for query duration or server uptime in the same way, making costs more predictable.

3. Domo’s credit-based consumption model

This model aligns cost with actual business value and outcomes.

• How it works: Your contract comes with credits. Credits are consumed only through using the components of our technology that you choose to use (such as ingesting data, transforming it, or answering an AI question). You don’t spend credits on pieces of Domo’s technology that you don’t use. ‍
• The advantage: This model encourages broad adoption while keeping costs tied to actual utility. You can scale users easily and only pay for what they actually use.

What our customers are saying about the benefits of consumption-based pricing  

We don’t expect you to take what we have to say at face value, but we do hope that you’ll consider what some of our customers have said about the benefits of credit-based pricing. So let’s hear directly from them.  

1. Zippo can easily onboard new users to Domo.  

At Zippo Manufacturing Company, known across the globe for its iconic windproof lighters as well as a range of other products, the marketing team uses Domo to better understand consumer behavior and adapt its strategy accordingly. After successfully using Domo to address customer journey issues and increase revenue more than 30 percent, other teams in the business naturally wanted access to this new tool. Credit-based pricing made it possible for everyone to join in without breaking the bank.

“One of the great things about consumption is that it allows for unlimited users,” said Paul James, marketing analytics manager at Zippo. “We’ve been able to add users from finance and sales, and in just a few short weeks they were already building cards and making decisions based on Domo. We’ve made impactful cost savings and revenue-generating actions beyond marketing and throughout the organization because of consumption [pricing].”

2. Kaufman Rossin has found alignment for teams across the company.  

While unlimited users are certainly an important perk, the benefit extends beyond just having to pay for fewer licenses. For Kaufman Rossin, the CPA and business consulting firm had struggled to gather information from across the organization. But by allowing everyone to access a tool with the same finance and operations data, they ensured that all departments were working from a single source of truth.  

“The impact Domo has had across our business is immeasurable,” said Richard Salinas, COO at Kaufman Rossin. “Giving every single department the ability to use Domo to manage employee capacity, forecast revenue, and understand trends has really moved the needle for us as an organization.”  

3. Freddy’s has new tools at its disposal.  

Freddy’s, a quickly expanding chain of fast-casual restaurants in the US, had been limited to simple modeling tools to deliver insights that could help optimize its menu mix, choose store locations, and improve its loyalty program. But with Domo, they were able to make better use of their data through our suite of features (including dashboards, apps, and data science tools), which has helped them continue their trajectory of growth.  

“By switching to the consumption model, we’re able to use the full toolset that we didn’t have access to before,” said Sean Thompson, vice president of IT at Freddy’s. “Having the availability of everything lets us use more of the data science piece to grow our team even further. It was a no-brainer for us.”  

4. JR286 is free to experiment with analysis that drives innovation.  

In business, resting on your laurels can be a death sentence. For JR286, a global leader in creating and distributing sporting goods, Domo has been pivotal, helping them identify high-performing products and stay responsive to market demand. And now, thanks to consumption-based pricing, the company can explore new use cases and experiment with advanced features, which enables them to continue to innovate.

“Domo’s consumption model allows us to play where we want to play without the worry of having to sign an amendment or run into roadblocks,” said Trey Hoffman, data architect at JR286. “If a use case we’ve explored doesn’t end up needing the solution, it takes no time to pivot, and there’s no additional cost implication.”

5. NLC Mutual provides real-time insights to its members.  

Consumption pricing isn’t just a benefit for internal stakeholders; it can also be used to keep costs down when delivering analysis to clients or members, depending on how your organization is set up. NLC Mutual provides reinsurance and risk support to public entity pools across the US, and thanks to Domo’s flexible consumption pricing, its members can explore data, embed dashboards into their own portals, and quickly pull up reports.  

“The consumption model opened up doors for us and for our members that previously were closed,” said Mark Snodgrass, director of business intelligence at NLC Mutual. “With the consumption model, there’s no limit to the users that [members] can add. We’ve seen much greater adoption.” When more members and their staff use Domo—especially Domo Everywhere—their cities can get important claims history data whenever they need it, without having to request it and wait.

About billing cycles and credit renewals

Understanding when and how credits are replenished helps with planning and budgeting. Domo credit packages are typically tied to your organization’s annual or multiyear subscription.  

At the start of each billing cycle, your credits are refreshed based on the terms of your agreement. If you find that your usage changes or your needs grow, you can easily adjust your credit level at renewal or work with our team to add more during your term. Clear reporting ensures you always know where your organization stands, and there are no surprise lapses in service.

Take advantage of pricing designed for you  

You don’t have to waste money buying access to tools or platforms on the off chance that somebody on your team may find them useful at some point in the future. Invest in what you need to get the job done.  

Reach out to our team today.

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