specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Aligned News
providerId: aligned-news
created: '2026-05-06'
modified: '2026-05-06'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - FinOps
  - FOCUS
  - AI News
description: >-
  Aligned News bills via flat-rate Pro and contact-sales Enterprise
  subscriptions managed through Clerk Billing on top of Stripe. There is no
  metered usage-based billing surface today (Free has no API access; Pro
  unlocks the entire content corpus and the API for a single recurring fee;
  Enterprise is contact sales). FOCUS-style cost tracking is best modelled at
  the seat/subscription level rather than per-token or per-call. Reconciled
  is false because the public site does not expose price values for the Pro
  or Enterprise tiers.
sources:
  - https://alignednews.com/pricing
  - https://alignednews.com/developers
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Aligned News
serviceCategory: AI News Intelligence
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription (flat-rate)
  billingFrequency: Monthly or Annual (Pro); Contract (Enterprise)
  billingCurrency: USD
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Aligned News
  ServiceCategory: AI News Intelligence
  ProviderName: Aligned News
  PublisherName: Aligned News
  BillingCurrency: USD
notes:
  - No usage-metered billing surface is exposed publicly.
  - Subscriptions are managed via Clerk Billing; payments via Stripe.
  - Cost-allocation should attribute the seat/subscription to the consuming
    team rather than per-call.
meters:
  - name: pro_subscription
    unit: seat-month
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - billing_period
  - name: enterprise_subscription
    unit: contract
    aggregation: sum
    dimensions:
      - contract_term
principles:
  - name: Visibility
    description: Track Aligned News spend at the subscription level via Stripe billing
      exports.
  - name: Allocation
    description: Tag the subscription owner team or cost centre; Aligned News does
      not break out per-key usage.
  - name: Optimization
    description: Right-size between Pro and Enterprise based on team size and need
      for priority support and custom analysis.
  - name: Accountability
    description: Annual review of subscription value vs. usage of API and MCP
      surfaces.