# How Customers Pay Archera

## 1. Customer Payment to Archera

Customers pay Archera through:

**Monthly Premium Billing Model:** A fixed cost for accessing Archera's platform, which includes tools for cloud cost optimization, usage insights, and reporting.

**Usage-Based Fees:** Depending on the specific cloud services being monitored and optimized, customers may also pay based on their usage volume (e.g., number of cloud resources tracked or optimized).

These fees are outlined in Archera's pricing plans and can vary depending on the level of service, the features enabled, and the scale of the customer's cloud environment.

## 2. Understanding GRIs (Guaranteed Reserved Instances)

GRIs are a key component of Archera's cloud cost management offering, designed to address the long-term cloud commitments that many customers have made (e.g., Reserved Instances or Savings Plans with cloud providers like AWS and Azure).

These cloud commitments often come with a long-term contract, where customers are locked into paying for a certain amount of resources regardless of whether they use them.

### How GRIs Function

**GRI as an Insurance Premium:** Think of a GRI as a type of insurance premium. When a customer has cloud commitments they no longer need, Archera helps offload those commitments by taking on the associated risks. In return, Archera charges a premium or fee to assume the responsibility for those unused commitments.

**Offloading Commitments:** Archera acts as a third party that helps businesses reduce or eliminate financial loss from cloud commitments that are no longer in use. This enables businesses to avoid paying for resources they're not using, and Archera manages the resale or reallocation of those commitments.

## 3. Savings with GRIs and Premiums

The savings shown on the Archera platform reflect the **net savings after GRI premiums are applied**. This means that the savings customers see are already factoring in the cost of the premium that Archera charges for assuming the risk of unused cloud commitments.

**Longer Commitment Terms = Greater Savings:** The longer the term of the commitment the customer is offloading, the greater the savings passed on to the customer.

## 4. Why Archera Charges GRI Premiums

GRI premiums are essential for managing the risk associated with offloading unused cloud commitments.

**Risk Assumption:** When Archera buys back unused cloud commitments or reallocates them, we're taking on the financial risk that those resources cannot be fully utilized. The GRI premium is essentially insurance for Archera in that case.

**Saving the Customer Money:** The GRI premiums allow Archera to provide flexible solutions for customers, helping them get out of long-term, underutilized cloud commitments without taking a significant financial hit.

## Summary

|                         |                                                                                           |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What Customers Pay**  | Monthly Premium Billing Model + usage-based fees                                          |
| **GRI Premiums**        | Insurance premiums where Archera assumes risk of unused cloud commitments                 |
| **Savings Calculation** | Net savings after GRI premiums — what you see in Archera already accounts for the premium |
| **Longer Commitments**  | Greater savings, as longer terms are more financially predictable                         |

## Related Resources

* [Billing and GRIs](https://docs.archera.ai/help-center/billing/billing-and-gris)
* [AWS Billing - How Archera is Billed Through AWS](https://docs.archera.ai/help-center/billing/aws-billing)
* [Azure Billing - How Archera is Billed Through Azure](https://docs.archera.ai/help-center/billing/azure-billing)
* [What are Guaranteed Commitments premiums and term lengths?](https://docs.archera.ai/help-center/guaranteed-commitments/premiums-and-terms)