specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Evidence
providerId: evidence-dev
created: '2026-06-20'
modified: '2026-06-20'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Business Intelligence
- BI as Code
- SQL
- Markdown
- Data Apps
- Open Source
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Evidence spend. The open-source framework (Evidence core, including
  the Universal SQL / DuckDB query layer) is MIT-licensed and free; its only direct
  costs are the self-hosting compute/CDN you choose (Netlify, Vercel, own server) plus
  the cost of the upstream data warehouses you query. Evidence Cloud is the managed
  product and bills seat-based per user/month (Team $15, Pro $25, Enterprise custom)
  with bundled monthly AI-credit allowances and metered AI-credit overage at $0.01
  per credit. Because Evidence is a framework rather than a metered REST API, there
  are no per-token or per-request inference charges to model.
notes: >-
  Evidence Cloud tier prices and AI-credit allowances are subject to change; verify
  against https://evidence.dev/pricing during reconciliation. Self-hosting costs are
  external (hosting provider + data warehouse) and not billed by Evidence.
sources:
- https://evidence.dev/pricing
- https://docs.evidence.dev/
- 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: Evidence
serviceCategory: Analytics and Business Intelligence
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Seat-Based and Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Evidence Cloud
  ServiceCategory: Analytics and Business Intelligence
  ProviderName: Evidence
  PublisherName: Evidence
  InvoiceIssuerName: Evidence
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Seat-Based and Usage-Based
meters:
- name: cloud_seats
  description: Evidence Cloud user seats billed per user per month by plan (Team/Pro/Enterprise).
  unit: users
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: ai_credits_included
  description: Monthly AI-credit allowance bundled per user (1,000 Team / 3,000 Pro / custom Enterprise).
  unit: ai_credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: ai_credits_overage
  description: AI credits consumed beyond the included allowance, billed at $0.01 per credit.
  unit: ai_credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: self_hosting_compute
  description: External hosting/CDN cost for self-hosted open-source deployments (not billed by Evidence).
  unit: hours
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - host
- name: upstream_warehouse_queries
  description: Cost of queries run against connected upstream data warehouses (billed by those providers).
  unit: queries
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - source
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track Evidence Cloud seat counts and AI-credit burn; separately track upstream warehouse and hosting spend driven by Evidence usage.
- name: Allocation
  description: Map seats and projects to teams/cost centers; tag self-hosted deployments by environment.
- name: Optimization
  description: Use the free MIT self-hosted framework where managed hosting is not needed; right-size AI-credit usage to avoid overage; cache and schedule syncs to limit warehouse query cost.
- name: Accountability
  description: Review seat and AI-credit consumption monthly against budget; assign owners per project and deployment.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com