Datadog commitments, allotments and subscription terms describe how a Datadog invoice is built and which contract terms apply to it. Datadog sorts each product’s usage into three layers. Committed usage is what the customer bought in its Order. Allotments are free usage of a child product that comes with a parent product. On-demand usage is everything above the first two.[1] The Master Subscription Agreement (MSA) then sets when fees are invoiced, how Orders renew and what happens on termination.[3] The overview is in Datadog licensing.
Editions
Datadog does not sell separate editions of its commercial terms. The public price list instead offers three ways to buy each product:[6]
| Buying model | Catalog program | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Billed Annually | Annual commitment | Lowest rate; committed quantities for an Order Term of 12 months or more.[6] |
| Billed Month-to-month | Month-to-month billing | Monthly commitment at a higher rate (for example USD 18 instead of USD 15 per Infrastructure Pro host).[6] |
| Billed On-demand | On-demand usage | Pay-as-you-go. The MSA counts use of the Services on a pay-as-you-go basis as an Order, with an Order Term of each day of use.[3] |
The Contracting FAQs say most customers buy annual subscriptions. They describe subscriptions as commitments by both parties for the full term that cannot be terminated for convenience mid-term.[4] Host-based products can also be bought on a hybrid monthly/hourly plan: a monthly minimum, with host hours above it billed at an hourly rate.[5]
Metrics
Commitments and allotments use the same units as the products: hosts, containers, custom metrics, spans, log events and AI Credits. The Host, Container, Custom metric, Indexed span, Ingested span GB and AI Credit catalog rows define them. The Plan and Usage page shows total and billable usage separately, and trial usage is non-billable.[1]
Counting / floors
The invoice formula
Datadog’s documentation states two equations:[1]
- allotments + committed usage = included usage
- billable usage - included usage = on-demand usage
In Datadog’s example, an account has 140 GB of billable ingested spans, a 50 GB commitment and a 30 GB allotment. Included usage is 80 GB, so 60 GB is on-demand usage.[1] Catalog: Included usage is commitment plus allotments; the rest of billable usage is on-demand.
Allotments
Each parent product carries default allotments. For example, Infrastructure Pro includes 100 custom metrics, 100 ingested custom metrics, 5 containers and 500 custom events per host. APM includes 1,000,000 indexed spans and 150 GB of ingested spans per APM host per month.[2] Custom or non-default allotments are set in the contract.[1] The price list tells existing customers to check their latest billing agreement for their included allotments.[6] Catalog: Existing customers take included allotments from their billing agreement.
The allotment follows the larger of the parent commitment and parent usage. In Datadog’s monthly example, a customer committed to 10 APM Pro hosts uses only 5 but still receives 10 x 150 GB = 1,500 GB of ingested spans. In a month when it uses 15 hosts, it receives 2,250 GB.[1] If parent usage exceeds the commitment, the on-demand parent usage earns extra allotment, and only the parent product is billed until that extra allotment is used up.[1] Catalog: Parent-product overage generates extra allotment.
Monthly and hourly on-demand options
A contract sets either a monthly or an hourly on-demand option. Some products always use a fixed default: containers are hourly, while Incident Management, APM Fargate, Serverless APM, Logs and SNMP Traps are monthly.[1] On the monthly option, billable usage is averaged across the month, and commitments and allotments are subtracted at month end. On the hourly option, included usage is subtracted every hour and the hourly on-demand amounts are then combined.[2] For products whose usage is summed, such as spans, the hourly allotment is the monthly allotment annualized and divided by the hours in a year: 150 GB / 730 hours is about 0.205 GB per host hour.[1] Catalog: Monthly on-demand option averages usage before subtracting commitment and allotment.
Products are converted to a monthly figure with one of four aggregation functions: sum, average, maximum or the high watermark plan. The high watermark plan bills the maximum of the lower 99 percent of hourly usage.[1] The same 99th-percentile rule is described for hosts on the Billing page.[7]
Carry-over
Allotments never carry over between billing periods.[1] Since August 2026, Datadog has been moving accounts, on a rolling basis, to a model in which allotments for cumulative products, such as ingested or indexed spans, apply across the whole billing period instead of hour by hour. Unused allotment in quiet hours can then cover busier hours. A banner in Plan and Usage shows when an account has moved. Concurrent, peak or average products, such as hosts, containers and custom metrics, are unaffected. Usage billed through AWS, Azure or Google Cloud marketplaces stays on per-hour allotments.[1] Catalog: Allotments do not carry over between billing periods.
The same “use it or lose it” principle applies to AI Credits. Credits reset on the first day of each calendar month, unused commit credits do not roll over, and usage above the monthly commit is billed at the On-Demand rate.[9] Under Metric Name pricing for custom metrics, month-to-month rates are 20% above the annual baseline and on-demand rates 40% above it.[10] Catalog: Unused committed AI Credits do not roll over.
Floors. The MSA and the price list set no minimum spend. The floor is the committed quantity in each Order.[3][6]
Virtualization & partitioning
Not applicable to the commercial terms. Host counting for virtual machines, containers and Kubernetes is covered in Datadog infrastructure and container billing.
Cloud / BYOL
A customer that buys through a third-party marketplace or an approved reseller (an “Intermediary”) is covered by MSA section 17. The Order is the order between the customer and the Intermediary. MSA sections 5 (Pricing and Fees) and 6 (Order Renewal) do not apply, and the termination refund rules are between the customer and the Intermediary. Datadog may share Usage Data with the Intermediary.[3] Catalog: Indirect purchases replace the MSA pricing and renewal sections.
Programs
Fees and payment
Unless an Order says otherwise, prices are those on the Pricing Page. Fees are calculated on usage and invoiced monthly in arrears, are payable in US dollars within 30 days and include standard Support.[3] Disputes must be raised in writing within 10 days of the invoice. Late, undisputed amounts can bear interest of 1.5% per month, and access can be suspended if non-payment continues for 10 days or more.[3] Customers paying by invoice receive it around the 10th business day of each month.[7] Catalog: Fees are usage-based, invoiced monthly in arrears in US dollars.
Renewal
Auto-renewal: Orders renew automatically for a period of the same duration. For Orders of 12 months or longer, Datadog emails the customer administrator about 30 days before renewal, including any price change. If the customer does not act in time, it is treated as accepting the increase.[3] For those Orders, the renewal price can rise by up to 9% or by the prior-period CPI-U increase, whichever is greater. Credits and promotional pricing do not renew. Orders shorter than 12 months, and renewals where the customer reduces quantity or term, are re-priced without that cap.[3] To stop renewal, the customer must contact its Customer Success Manager at least 15 days before the term ends. Using the Services after an Order expires without a new Order is invoiced at Pricing Page prices.[3] Catalog: Orders auto-renew for the same duration; Renewal price increase is capped at the greater of 9% or CPI; Non-renewal must be requested at least 15 days before expiry.
Termination
The customer can end an Order early in two cases. It can terminate if a Core Service misses the 99.8% availability commitment in two consecutive months. It can also terminate for an uncured material breach. In either case it gets a pro-rated refund of prepaid amounts.[3] In all other cases there is no refund. Committed fees for the full term, and any usage fees already accrued above them, become immediately due.[3] After termination, a designated user may download Customer Data for up to 30 days.[3] Catalog: Committed fees for the full term are due on early termination.
Trials, partners and organizations
Free trials for new customers last 14 days. Free and beta services become chargeable at Pricing Page rates when the free period ends, or on 15 days’ notice if the Order sets no term.[3] Using the Services for the benefit of third parties requires acceptance into the Datadog Partner Network.[3] A child organization created under a parent inherits the parent’s plan and is added to the parent’s billing account. The parent can see total and billable usage for all its organizations.[8] Catalog: Child organizations inherit the parent plan and billing account.
Changes to the terms
Datadog may change the MSA by posting a new version. Changes take effect on the first day of the month after posting. For Orders with a fixed term of 12 months or longer, they take effect only at the next Renewal Order Term, and the customer’s only remedy is not to renew. Each Order follows the MSA version in force when it was placed.[3] Catalog: MSA changes apply from the next month or the next renewal of 12-month Orders.
Out of scope
- Negotiated Orders and signed enterprise agreements, which can change any of these defaults.
- Marketplace private offers and reseller terms, which replace MSA sections 5 and 6.
- The Data Processing Addendum, Supplemental (service-specific) Terms and Support Terms, apart from their references in the MSA.