What is a Pay-As-You-Go Model?

A true SaaS pay-as-you-go model involves customers paying for the resources their applications use. Upfront costs/commitments aren’t involved, which is contrary to some other models. Since costs and usage are aligned, you should use pay-as-you-go if your goals are flexibility and cost efficiency.

Serverless computing focuses on scaling and resource allocation. You will pay when your apps are actively used, contrary to traditional hosting models; these charge for server capacity, regardless of its actual utilization.

Reasons why companies use this model include: 

• Cost Efficiency: Not focusing and server management means that operational costs will differ (normally being lower).
• Scalability: Scaling means that resources are automatically adjusted based on workloads; other models can lead to overprovisioning or require manual intervention.
• Time to Market: Development and release cycles are altered because developers will focus on building apps. 
• Customer Satisfaction: You should use transparent and flexible pricing if you want to build trust.

Customers may wonder about the implications of performance, cost predictability, and if they have to deal with vendor lock-in, but you can address these worries in many ways:

• Predictability: Give your customers pricing structures and usage reports that allow them to predict how much they can expect to pay. 
• Performance: Build your apps on a serverless architecture; you must optimize these for performance and responsiveness. 
• Vendor Lock-in: You need to pick cloud providers that offer portability.

Pay-as-you-go is influencing the SaaS landscape in these ways: 

• A barrier to Entry: Startups/small businesses are using pay-as-you-go to avoid upfront costs.
• Innovation: Focusing more on app development equals more experimentation; often, developers waste time on menial tasks that can be automated. 
• Competition: A more competitive market is emerging, meaning that SaaS providers must focus on value if they want to retain their customers.