specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Daily
providerId: daily-co
created: '2026-05-08'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-08, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-08'
reconciled: true
tags:
- Realtime
- WebRTC
- Video
- Audio
- SDK
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FOCUS-aligned FinOps profile for Daily. Daily's billing is consumption-based on
  participant-minutes (Video SDK), agent runtime minutes (Pipecat Cloud) and
  underlying WebRTC infrastructure usage; bills are invoiced monthly in USD.
notes: >-
  Daily exposes per-room and per-meeting analytics via the REST API
  (/meetings, /meetings/:meeting/participants), which can be used to allocate
  participant-minute consumption back to internal cost centers.
sources:
- https://www.daily.co/pricing/
- https://docs.daily.co/reference/rest-api/meetings
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
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: Daily
serviceCategory: Realtime Communications
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Daily Video SDK
  ServiceCategory: Realtime Communications
  ProviderName: Daily
  PublisherName: Daily
  InvoiceIssuerName: Daily
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingUnit: participant-minute
meters:
- name: participant_minutes
  description: Participant-minutes consumed in Daily rooms (primary Video SDK meter).
  unit: minute
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - room
  - meeting
- name: recording_minutes
  description: Cloud recording minutes generated.
  unit: minute
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - room
- name: transcription_minutes
  description: Speech-to-text transcription minutes generated.
  unit: minute
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - room
- name: pipecat_agent_minutes
  description: Voice-AI agent runtime minutes on Pipecat Cloud.
  unit: minute
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - agent
- name: dial_out_minutes
  description: PSTN/SIP dial-out minutes (separately metered).
  unit: minute
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - destination
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Use /meetings and /meetings/:meeting/participants to pull near-real-time minute consumption.
- name: Allocation
  description: Tag rooms with cost-center identifiers in their name or metadata to allocate participant-minutes downstream.
- name: Optimization
  description: Right-size recording (cloud-recording vs. raw-tracks) and disable transcription when not needed; negotiate volume discounts above sustained monthly minute thresholds.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign owners per top-level domain/sub-account; review monthly invoices against /meetings analytics.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com