Supabase’s existing billing system couldn’t support complex, usage-based pricing without significant engineering effort. Stripe’s limitations led to missed billing opportunities, revenue leakage, and unclear invoices that increased support costs. As the company grew, maintaining billing infrastructure became a bottleneck, slowing down product iterations and diverting resources from core development.

Supabase adopted Orb to power flexible, usage-based billing without ongoing engineering work. Orb streamlined pricing adjustments, improved invoice transparency, and reduced support needs. Switching to Orb Invoicing alone resulted in significant cost savings, eliminating inefficiencies and reducing fees by approximately 0.4% of total revenue.

• Supabase’s previous billing system couldn’t scale with their evolving needs, making it difficult to support complex usage-based pricing, introduce new pricing models, or manage custom plans without engineering workarounds.
• Supabase adopted Orb for billing operations and later for invoicing, a switch that resulted in substantial cost savings, freeing up resources for further innovation and growth.
• Orb’s intuitive platform reduced the time and resources required to manage billing, allowing Supabase to focus on core business priorities and save on support costs.
• Supabase can now experiment with pricing models, roll out new pricing structures quickly, and easily offer customized plans and discounts to its customers, improving customer experience.

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Achieving Operational Efficiency with a Unified Billing System

When Kevin Grüneberg joined Supabase as its first billing engineer, he quickly realized their existing setup wasn’t built to scale. Supabase had initially set up billing on Stripe, but as the company grew, managing complex, usage-based pricing required constant engineering work, leading to inefficiencies, billing inaccuracies, and lost revenue. Rather than continuing to patch together workarounds, Kevin saw an opportunity to adopt a best-practices approach—one that would eliminate engineering bottlenecks and support long-term growth.

After evaluating other solutions, Supabase selected Orb for its flexibility and robust capabilities beyond basic usage-based billing. With alerting, invoicing, and advanced reporting, Orb provided the scalability and automation needed to optimize operations while reducing the time and resources spent on billing.

Maximizing Cost Savings and Improving Customer Experience with Orb Invoicing

The switch to Orb’s invoicing system alone resulted in substantial savings, freeing up resources for further innovation and growth. Supabase now processes over 1.5 million invoices per month through Orb, benefiting from detailed, transparent invoices that reduce customer support inquiries and enhance user trust. Detailed invoices and real-time usage insights empower Supabase's customers with clear, predictable billing, aligning with the company's commitment to transparency.

Driving Growth with Pricing Flexibility and a Scalable Billing Partner

With Orb, Supabase can now experiment with pricing models, roll out new pricing structures quickly, and offer customized plans and discounts with ease. The ability to introduce new pricing tiers, apply dynamic discounts, and adjust billing metrics without heavy engineering involvement has enabled rapid iteration and more competitive offerings.

By adopting Orb, Supabase turned billing from a constant source of friction into a streamlined, scalable system that supports its growth. Engineering time once spent maintaining billing infrastructure is now focused on building its developer platform. The cost savings, reduced support load, and pricing flexibility have positioned Supabase to scale efficiently while delivering a better experience for its customers.