Zuora pricing: Plans and cost breakdown for 2025

Zuora pricing in 2025 follows a quote-based model. There’s no forever-free tier, but a limited free trial is available. It’s essentially a subscription billing solution vs. a true usage-based billing solution.

Zuora pricing 2025: A quick overview

Below you’ll find a chart showing Zuora price ranges based on Zuora’s AWS marketplace pricing information. Here’s what you can expect to pay:

*Pricing is billed annually. Usage-based thresholds apply to all plans (e.g., active subscriber count or billing volume). Overages or upgrades apply once limits are exceeded. 

Plan prices will scale up based on usage. 

How much does Zuora cost?

The official Zuora site doesn’t share pricing information publicly. While there is a free tier, we checked the aforementioned AWS marketplace site, which lists three tiers as part of Zuora’s offering:

Launch 

There’s no monthly option. Pricing is based on contract volume, and subscriber thresholds are defined per agreement. Lower-volume limits typically apply at this tier. Additional subscribers or billing volume trigger overage charges, which shows Zuora’s usage-based pricing implementation.

What’s included:

• Subscription billing engine with support for recurring, one-time, and usage-based charges.
  
• Product catalog to define multiple pricing models and rate plans.
  
• Workflow automation for standard billing processes.
  
• One API sandbox for testing environments.
  
• Standard support (email/ticket-based, 24×5).
  
• Basic analytics and reporting tools.

What’s not included:

• SSO and multi-entity management are available in higher editions, but may not be included in base-level plans like Launch.
  
• No Salesforce CPQ or real-time data sync.
  
• Limited scale – designed for up to ~25K subscribers.

Who is it best for?

The Launch plan suits early-stage SaaS startups or midsize teams launching their first subscription model. It covers the essentials without requiring deep customization. You’ll want to keep an eye on usage thresholds, though Zuora cost can increase with subscriber growth or if you shift into more advanced billing needs.

Scale

This plan’s contracts often include fixed allowances, with additional cost for exceeding volume thresholds, a hallmark of Zuora’s pricing models built for scale.

What’s included:

• All Launch features, plus:
  
• Salesforce CPQ integration for real-time quoting and subscriptions
  
• Higher capacity workflows and throughput for complex business logic
  
• SSO login capabilities
  
• Phone support and faster SLAs
  
• Custom rate plan logic with support for Zuora multi-attribute pricing

What’s not included:

• No multi-entity setup unless added manually
  
• No dedicated Technical Account Manager (TAM) unless upgraded
  
• Performance boosters may cost extra for high-volume use

Who is it best for?

Scale is designed for fast-growing companies that need more control, integrations, and volume. It’s a strong fit for subscription businesses pushing past the MVP stage, especially if real-time billing and advanced quoting are mission-critical. For many, Scale is the sweet spot before jumping to full enterprise-grade features.

Enterprise

Built for global companies billing millions of subscribers. This tier is designed for teams with extremely high subscriber volumes and advanced infrastructure needs. Pricing is bespoke, so how much Zuora costs at this level depends heavily on contract size and infrastructure needs.

What’s included:

• Everything from the Scale plan, plus:
  
• Multi-entity management for global finance operations.
  
• Performance Booster Elite for high-speed billing and API concurrency.
  
• Priority support with 24×7 response, TAM included.
  
• Full access to all modules: Billing, Revenue, Collect, and Zephr.
  
• Support for real-time event handling and Zuora on real-time billing at scale.

What’s not included:

• Most services are included here, and exceptions may be add-ons like professional services or special API enhancements.
  
• Additional costs may apply for extremely high API volumes or event spikes.

Who is it best for?

Enterprise is the right call if you're a large SaaS, telco, or media company with global operations. The included multi-entity features, high concurrency, and real-time data sync make it ideal for teams that can’t afford lag or workarounds. If your pricing strategy is built on consumption-based pricing, this plan gives you the horsepower to support it.

Test drive (free trial)

Zuora offers a sandbox test drive, but it’s not a forever-free plan. The duration and access are arranged through the sales team.

What’s included:

• Temporary access to the full suite (typically sandboxed).
  
• Hands-on experience with usage-based billing, product catalogs, and workflows.
  
• Limited time only, often 30 days or less.

What’s not included:

• No access to production billing.
  
• No long-term usage or upgrades.
  
• No direct customer support (sales-assisted trial only).

Who is it best for?

It’s ideal for teams evaluating Zuora before committing to a long-term contract. A good chance to test billing setups, workflows, and integrations, especially if you're experimenting with Zuora multi-attribute pricing or usage-based models before launch.

Which plan should you pick?

For startups and smaller teams launching a subscription product, the Launch plan will cover most needs. You just need to be mindful of your subscriber count and billing volume. Once you reach higher billing volumes or need integrations like Salesforce CPQ, consider Scale.

If you’re operating at a global scale or relying on real-time event billing, Enterprise is where you’ll find what you need. It’s built for companies with high transaction volumes, international operations, or advanced consumption-based pricing strategies.

The right Zuora price depends on where you are in your growth cycle and how you structure your pricing. For MVPs, Launch works. For scaleups, Scale makes sense. For global operations or multi-brand rollouts, Enterprise is the only tier that supports full Zuora usage-based pricing implementation without limits.

A closer look at Zuora’s usage-based pricing

Zuora pricing isn’t fixed or flat. Every plan includes usage-based components, meaning the total cost depends on how much you bill, how many subscribers you manage, and how fast you grow.

Growth-stage companies often get caught here, paying more than expected once subscriber volume or billing spikes. The overages are rarely spontaneous, but if your forecasting is off, the impact on Zuora cost is real.

Missing features in the free plan

Zuora doesn’t have a true free plan, only a limited test drive. While that sandbox includes access to most features, it’s short-term and doesn’t support production usage. Teams looking to explore at their own pace may find the time constraint limiting.

What would you actually pay?

Let’s say you sign a Launch plan at ~$75K/year. You expect 20K users but grow to 30K. You’re now 5K over the included threshold. Depending on your terms, that could add $5K–10K in overages, or more. Add in an SSO requirement and a second sandbox for your dev team? You’re inching toward the Scale plan’s $175K/year price. The jump isn’t always gradual.

Zuora pricing compared to alternatives

Compared to Chargebee and Orb, Zuora pricing is less transparent and often harder to predict. There’s no public pricing, and contracts are heavily customized based on projected billing volume and subscriber count. That can work well for large teams with dedicated finance and operations staff, but it makes evaluating true costs upfront more difficult.

Chargebee is more approachable. It offers a clear pricing structure, a free plan for smaller businesses, and supports most core billing needs out of the box. That includes standard dunning, subscription workflows, and revenue-based usage tiers.

Orb is a more modern option designed for teams building metered or event-based pricing from scratch. It’s API-first, built for engineers, and supports real-time consumption-based pricing out of the box. 

While Orb doesn't include a built-in customer-facing billing portal, it does offer a full invoicing engine, finance tools, and internal UI for managing pricing and billing operations. For teams with a product-led model or advanced pricing needs, it’s often more flexible than legacy billing platforms.

Here’s how the platforms compare:

Orb is a strong fit for companies that want to define custom Zuora-style pricing models but with more control and fewer layers. It’s ideal for technical teams who want to own their billing logic without relying on opaque pricing or preconfigured workflows.

Zuora may suit larger finance teams that need subscription management and revenue automation in one place, but for many fast-moving product teams, the cost and complexity don’t always line up with their actual needs.

Is Zuora pricing fair?

Zuora pricing is fair for large companies with complex billing needs, but less so for smaller teams. The platform’s costs and structure make it hard to justify unless you're already operating at scale.

The pricing model is usage-based, which can align with growth. But it isn’t transparent. There are no public price tiers, and everything is quote-based. That makes it difficult to compare or budget without going through a sales process.

Still, overage fees can add up quickly. 

Subscriber thresholds, billing volume limits, and feature gaps between plans mean many companies pay more than expected as they scale. In some cases, a single feature like SSO or CPQ access can require a full plan upgrade.

Support and onboarding are strong, but they come at a price. Teams often need professional services or internal staff to handle setup and maintenance. That increases the total cost of ownership, mainly for those who aren’t enterprise-level yet.

FAQs 

How much does a Zuora certification cost?

Zuora University cost information is gated behind account login or quote-based enterprise access. Certification programs like Zuora Billing Certification and Zuora Revenue Certification are part of broader training packages, which are typically sold to teams or included in implementation bundles.

How much is the Zuora flat fee?

Zuora’s flat fee varies by contract, but most entry-level plans start at approximately $75,000 per year. Pricing increases based on subscriber volume, billing thresholds, and required features.

Is there a limit to Zuora subscriptions? 

Zuora plans often include variable usage thresholds based on subscriber count. Zuora’s service policies state subscriber limits of 25,000 for Launch or 500,000 for Scale. You can still pay for more subscribers on these plans though, and the exact figures may vary by contract.

Why SaaS teams are switching to Orb

You’ve explored Zuora and its feature set. While it offers a solid foundation for traditional subscription billing, it often falls short when it comes to flexibility, accuracy, and real-time pricing experimentation, especially for SaaS and GenAI companies operating at scale.

If you're managing advanced pricing models, need precise revenue reporting, or want to move faster without engineering bottlenecks, Orb is a better fit.

Orb was designed from the ground up for SaaS and GenAI teams who want control, insight, and speed. Here’s what sets Orb apart:

• Usage-based billing without friction: Track any usage metric, API calls, seats, compute time, and align your pricing to how customers actually use your product. Orb makes it easy to implement modern pricing models, including hybrid, tiered, and fully metered pricing.
  
• Experiment freely with pricing: Move away from rigid templates. Orb gives product and finance teams the tools to test, refine, and roll out pricing changes without waiting on engineering. Use Orb Simulations to test new strategies side by side using real usage data, and forecast revenue impact before going live.
  
• Accurate, auditable billing by design: Orb processes raw event data into a clean billing graph with Orb RevGraph, confirming your invoices are error-free, transparent, and fully traceable. No retroactive fixes, no guesswork.
  
• Integrated with your financial stack: Connect Orb to your existing tools (payment gateways, CRMs, accounting platforms) and eliminate manual reconciliation. Your billing system becomes a strategic extension of your finance team.
  
• Support that scales with you: From implementation to long-term guidance, Orb offers dedicated support, migration expertise, and deep knowledge in usage-based pricing. You’re buying software backed by a team that acts as a long-term strategic partner invested in your monetization success.

If you're looking for a system that adapts to your business (not the other way around), then come and see how we help high-growth teams unlock their next revenue milestone.

Explore Orb’s flexible pricing options.