DataDog · buraizu · May 13, 2026
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ title: Custom Metrics Billing
 aliases:
     - /integrations/faq/what-standard-integrations-emit-custom-metrics/
 further_reading:
+- link: "/account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/"
+  tag: "Documentation"
+  text: "Metric Name Pricing for Custom Metrics"
 - link: "/metrics/custom_metrics/"
   tag: "Documentation"
   text: "Learn more about custom metrics"
@@ -15,6 +18,8 @@ algolia:
 
 ## Overview
 
+**Note**: This page describes the cardinality-based Custom Metrics billing model. If your contract uses Metric Name pricing SKUs, see [Metric Name Pricing for Custom Metrics][15] instead.
+
 If a metric is not submitted from one of the [more than {{< translate key="integration_count" >}} Datadog integrations][1] it's considered a [custom metric][2]. Certain standard integrations can also potentially emit custom metrics. For more information, see [custom metrics and standard integrations][14].
 
 **A custom metric is uniquely identified by a combination of a metric name and tag values (including the host tag)**. In general, any metric you send using [DogStatsD][3] or through a [custom Agent Check][4] is a custom metric.
@@ -329,3 +334,4 @@ For billing questions, contact your [Customer Success][12] Manager.
 [12]: mailto:success@datadoghq.com
 [13]: /help/
 [14]: /metrics/custom_metrics/#standard-integrations
+[15]: /account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/
@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+---
+title: Metric Name Pricing for Custom Metrics
+further_reading:
+- link: "/account_management/billing/custom_metrics/"
+  tag: "Documentation"
+  text: "Custom Metrics billing (cardinality pricing)"
+- link: "/metrics/custom_metrics/"
+  tag: "Documentation"
+  text: "Learn more about custom metrics"
+- link: "/metrics/metrics-without-limits/"
+  tag: "Documentation"
+  text: "Metrics without Limits™"
+- link: "/metrics/guide/custom_metrics_governance/"
+  tag: "Guide"
+  text: "Best practices for custom metrics governance"
+algolia:
+  tags: ['custom metrics billing', 'metric name pricing']
+---
+
+## Overview
+
+Metric Name pricing bills custom metrics based on the number of unique metric names you submit and the volume of datapoints those names produce. It replaces the cardinality-based [Custom Metrics billing][1] model for organizations that opt in.
+
+**Note**: This page applies if your contract uses Metric Name pricing SKUs. These SKUs are mutually exclusive with the Timeseries (cardinality) pricing SKUs. If your contract uses Timeseries pricing instead, see [Custom Metrics billing][1].
+
+Datadog distinguishes ingested datapoints (every metric datapoint your services send) from indexed datapoints (the subset that remains queryable, based on your tag and metric configuration). Indexed datapoints are what you query from dashboards, monitors, and other Datadog features. Ingested datapoints are the raw inputs from which indexed values are computed. Indexed volume is always less than or equal to ingested volume.
+
+Your free ingestion allowance covers ingested datapoints up to five times your indexed volume. Above that threshold, ingested volume is billed separately.
+
+## SKUs
+
+Metric Name pricing introduces three SKUs:
+
+| SKU                                  | What it bills                                                            |
+|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| `metric_names/FLEX-METRIC-NAME`      | Each unique metric name submitted in a month with more than 100 indexed datapoints |
+| `indexed_points/FLEX-INDEXED-POINTS` | Indexed datapoints above the 10M-per-metric-name baseline |
+| `ingest_points/FLEX-INGEST-POINTS`   | Ingested datapoints above 5x your indexed volume |
+
+These SKUs are mutually incompatible with the Timeseries pricing SKUs (`timeseries/CM-100`, `ingested_timeseries/CM-INGEST`).
+
+## Pricing structure
+
+Both metric names and indexed datapoints are priced with marginal, volume-based discounting across 15 tiers. Higher-volume tiers have lower per-unit rates. As your usage accumulates, the portion that crosses into each higher tier is billed at that tier's rate. Previously billed usage is never repriced.
+
+{{< img src="account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/marginal-pricing-tiers.png" alt="Diagram showing marginal pricing across five volume tiers. Each tier has a per-unit rate, visualized as a bar height; higher-volume tiers (right side) have progressively shorter bars, indicating lower per-unit rates than lower-volume tiers (left side)." style="width:100%;" >}}
+
+Per-unit rates vary by contract type:
+
+| Contract type   | Rate relative to Annual baseline |
+|-----------------|----------------------------------|
+| Annual          | Baseline                         |
+| Month-to-Month  | +20%                             |
+| On-Demand       | +40%                             |
+
+Specific rates and tier boundaries are defined in your contract. Contact [Sales][2] or your [Customer Success][3] Manager for details.
+
+## Monthly and hourly usage
+
+Metric Name pricing usage is tracked hourly and billed either hourly or monthly, depending on your contract. Each unique metric name is counted once per month, in the hour it first submits indexed datapoints. Every billed metric name includes 10 million indexed datapoints. Datapoints beyond that allowance accumulate in a single monthly overage bucket across all of your metrics.
+
+At the end of the billing period, the total monthly bill is the sum of:
+
+- The tiered metric names charge for the month's unique metric names
+- The tiered indexed datapoints charge for the month's overage datapoints
+
+Monthly counters reset for the next billing cycle.
+
+Hourly billing produces the same total as monthly billing. Hourly processing affects when tier boundaries are crossed, not the final charge.
+
+### Example
+
+Suppose, over a single month, your hourly usage looks like:
+
+| Hour | New metric names this hour | Cumulative metric names | New overage datapoints this hour | Cumulative overage datapoints |
+|------|----------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
+| 1-5  | +6                         | 6                       | +18M                              | 18M                            |
+| 6    | +100                       | 106                     | +5M                               | 23M                            |
+| 7    | +150                       | 256                     | +10M                              | 33M                            |
+| 8    | +200                       | 456                     | +15M                              | 48M                            |
+| 9    | +100                       | 556                     | +10M                              | 58M                            |
+
+At the end of the month:
+
+- The 556 metric names are billed across the marginal tiers they fall into.
+- The 58 million overage datapoints are billed across the marginal tiers they fall into.
+
+## Ingestion behavior
+
+Under Metric Name pricing, every metric datapoint your services send to Datadog counts toward ingestion, independent of [Metrics without Limits&trade;][4] configuration. Indexed volume depends on your tag and metric configuration.
+
+You're charged for ingested datapoints only when ingested volume exceeds five times your indexed volume in a given month.
+
+{{< img src="account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/ingestion-billing.png" alt="Diagram showing the ingestion billing relationship under Metric Name pricing. Ingested volume splits into a free ingestion zone (up to five times the indexed volume) and a billable overage zone above that threshold. Indexed volume sits below as a separate measurement equal to one segment of the free ingestion zone." style="width:100%;" >}}
+
+**Note**: This is a change from the cardinality-based model, in which only metrics configured with Metrics without Limits&trade; contribute to ingested volume.
+
+### Distribution metrics
+
+For [Distribution metrics][5], a multiplier applies to both ingested and indexed datapoints, regardless of whether the metric is configured with Metrics without Limits&trade;. The multiplier is **five times** by default (one each for the count, sum, min, max, and avg aggregations Datadog generates). When percentile aggregations (p50, p75, p90, p95, p99) are enabled, the multiplier is **ten times**.
+
+- For unconfigured Distribution metrics, ingested and indexed volumes are equal after the multiplier is applied.
+- For configured Distribution metrics, the multiplier applies to ingested volume, while indexed volume can be lower depending on tag configuration and indexing rules.
+
+#### Example
+
+A Distribution metric that submits 100 datapoints with default aggregations is billed as 500 datapoints (100 × 5). With percentile aggregations enabled, the same submissions are billed as 1,000 datapoints (100 × 10).
+
+## Historical Metric Ingestion
+
+[Historical Metric Ingestion][6] usage is calculated based on ingestion time, not the metric's original timestamp. Each HMI datapoint contributes to both ingested and indexed volume.
+
+{{< img src="account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/ingestion-billing-hmi.png" alt="Diagram showing HMI billing under Metric Name pricing. The ingested volume bar and the indexed volume bar are the same width, joined by a 1:1 ratio annotation. For HMI metrics, ingested volume always equals indexed volume." style="width:100%;" >}}
+
+## Committed adoption
+
+You can commit to a usage volume independently for metric names and for datapoints. Each commitment is priced at the marginal pricing tier the committed volume falls into. The full committed volume is billed at that tier's rate, and marginal discounting does not apply within the committed range. Usage above the committed amount follows the standard marginal schedule, starting at the tier boundary immediately above the committed volume.
+
+For example, if you commit to 15,000 metric names that fall within Tier 6, all 15,000 are billed at the Tier 6 rate. If your actual usage reaches 75,000 metric names, the additional 60,000 follow the marginal schedule from Tier 6 through Tier 8.
+
+## Usage Attribution
+
+For the initial phase of Metric Name pricing, [Usage Attribution][7] is supported for indexed datapoints. Metric names cost is attributed in proportion to each tag's share of the total datapoints. A tag-defined group that contributes 20% of the datapoints is attributed 20% of the metric names cost.
+
+Usage Attribution for ingestion is not supported in the initial phase.
+
+## Custom and standard metrics
+
+Datadog classifies metrics as custom (paid) or standard (free) based on metric name prefix, the same way as in cardinality pricing. Standard integrations follow the existing [custom metrics and standard integrations][8] rules.
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+For technical questions, contact [Datadog support][9].
+
+For billing questions, contact your [Customer Success][3] Manager.
+
+## Further reading
+
+{{< partial name="whats-next/whats-next.html" >}}
+
+[1]: /account_management/billing/custom_metrics/
+[2]: mailto:sales@datadoghq.com
+[3]: mailto:success@datadoghq.com
+[4]: /metrics/metrics-without-limits/
+[5]: /metrics/types/?tab=distribution#metric-types
+[6]: /metrics/custom_metrics/historical_metrics/
+[7]: /account_management/plan_and_usage/usage_details/
+[8]: /metrics/custom_metrics/#standard-integrations
+[9]: /help/
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Datadog has many pricing plans to fit your needs. For more information, see the
   * On a high watermark plan (HWMP), the billable count of hosts is calculated at the end of the month using the maximum count (high-water mark) of the lower 99 percent of usage for those hours. Datadog excludes the top 1 percent to reduce the impact of spikes in usage on your bill.
   * On a hybrid monthly/hourly plan (MHP), Datadog charges your minimum monthly commitment, and for any host hours above that commitment, Datadog charges an hourly rate.
 * A **container** is a self-contained operating environment that includes application software and limited operating system libraries and settings. Once every five minutes, Datadog records the number of unique containers you are monitoring in the Datadog Infrastructure service. Datadog charges monthly based on the fractional hours of monitored containers.
-* A [**custom metric**][2] is a single, unique combination of a metric name, host ID and any tags. Datadog charges based on the monthly average of unique custom metrics submitted to the Datadog Infrastructure service per hour.
+* A [**custom metric**][2] is a single, unique combination of a metric name, host ID, and any tags. Under cardinality pricing, Datadog charges based on the monthly average of unique custom metrics submitted to the Datadog Infrastructure service per hour. Datadog also offers [Metric Name pricing][12], which bills based on metric names and datapoint volume instead.
 * A **device** is a physical sensor comprising one or more single-board computers in a frame. Datadog records and charges for the number of devices and hosts you are concurrently monitoring in the Datadog Infrastructure service.
 * An AWS **Fargate task** is a collection of containers setup through AWS's ECS container orchestration platform. Datadog records the number of task instances you are monitoring in the Datadog Infrastructure (or APM) service at five-minute intervals. Datadog aggregates the interval-based measurements at the end of the month and charges you based on the total number of hours your applications were run and monitored.
 
@@ -114,3 +114,4 @@ Contact [Sales][8] or your [Customer Success][9] Manager to discuss hourly prici
 [9]: mailto:success@datadoghq.com
 [10]: /real_user_monitoring/rum_without_limits/
 [11]: https://www.datadoghq.com/pricing/?product=real-user-monitoring#products
+[12]: /account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ further_reading:
 - link: "/account_management/billing/custom_metrics/?tab=countrate"
   tag: "Documentation"
   text: "Custom Metrics Billing"
+- link: "/account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/"
+  tag: "Documentation"
+  text: "Metric Name Pricing for Custom Metrics"
 - link: "/metrics/guide/custom_metrics_governance/"
   tag: "Guide"
   text: "Best Practice for Custom Metric Governance"

@@ -467,7 +467,13 @@ Track your indexed historical metrics through the Usage Summary section of the [
 {{< img src="metrics/custom_metrics/historical_metrics/custom_metrics_usage_summary.png" alt="Usage Summary section of the Plan and Usage page, which shows both custom indexed and historical indexed metrics" style="width:100%;" >}}
 
 For more information, see the [Custom Metrics billing][3] documentation.
-
+
+### Billing under Metric Name pricing
+
+If your organization uses [Metric Name pricing][5] instead of cardinality pricing, HMI billing differs. HMI usage is calculated based on ingestion time rather than the metric's original timestamp. Each HMI datapoint contributes to both ingested and indexed volume.
+
+For details on the Metric Name pricing model, see [Metric Name Pricing for Custom Metrics][5].
+
 ## Further Reading
 
 {{< partial name="whats-next/whats-next.html" >}}
@@ -476,3 +482,4 @@ For more information, see the [Custom Metrics billing][3] documentation.
 [2]: /metrics/#submit-metrics
 [3]: /account_management/billing/custom_metrics/
 [4]: https://app.datadoghq.com/billing/usage
+[5]: /account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/
@@ -102,14 +102,25 @@ Configuring your tags gives you control over which custom metrics can be queried
 - **Ingested Custom Metrics**: The original volume of custom metrics based on all ingested tags.
 - **Indexed Custom Metrics**: The volume of custom metrics that remains queryable in the Datadog platform (based on any Metrics without Limits™ configurations).
 
-**Note: Only configured metrics contribute to your Ingested custom metrics volume.** If a metric is not configured with Metrics without Limits™, you're only charged for its indexed custom metrics volume.
+**Note: Under cardinality pricing, only configured metrics contribute to your Ingested custom metrics volume.** If a metric is not configured with Metrics without Limits™, you're only charged for its indexed custom metrics volume.
 
 Learn more about [Custom Metrics Billing][8].
 
+### Under Metric Name pricing
+
+If your organization uses [Metric Name pricing][15] instead of cardinality pricing, the ingested-versus-indexed relationship works differently:
+
+| Aspect                                       | Cardinality pricing                                              | Metric Name pricing                                                                  |
+|----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
+| Metrics that contribute to ingested volume   | Only metrics configured with Metrics without Limits™             | All metrics (every datapoint submitted)                                              |
+| Distribution metric multiplier               | Behavior depends on Metrics without Limits™ configuration        | Applies to both ingested and indexed regardless of configuration                     |
+
+For full details on the model, see [Metric Name Pricing for Custom Metrics][15].
+
 ## Getting started with Metrics without Limits™
 
 1. Configure your Top 20 metrics on your [Plan & Usage page][9] from the Metrics Summary page or by using the [API][2].
-   You can use bulk metric configuration (`*` syntax) to quickly configure tags on multiple metrics. Datadog notifies you when the bulk configuration job is completed.
+   You can use bulk metric configuration (`*` syntax) to configure tags on multiple metrics. Datadog notifies you when the bulk configuration job is completed.
 
 **Note:** If you're using the [Create Tag Configuration API][2], use the [tag configuration cardinality estimator API][5] first to validate the potential impact of your tag configurations prior to creating tag configurations. If the UI or the estimator API returns a resulting number of indexed that is larger than ingested, do not save your tag configuration.
 
@@ -151,3 +162,4 @@ Learn more about [Custom Metrics Billing][8].
 [12]: https://app.datadoghq.com/event/stream
 [13]: /api/latest/metrics/#configure-tags-for-multiple-metrics
 [14]: /api/latest/metrics/#delete-tags-for-multiple-metrics
+[15]: /account_management/billing/metric_name_pricing/