specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Kinde
providerId: kinde-so
created: '2026-07-02'
modified: '2026-07-02'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Authentication
- User Management
- Identity
- SaaS
- MAU
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Kinde spend. Kinde is billed primarily on Monthly Active Users
  (MAU): each plan (Free, Pro, Plus, Scale) carries a base monthly subscription
  and a large included MAU allowance (10,500 at the time of writing), with usage
  above the allowance billed per additional MAU at a per-plan rate that drops as
  you move up tiers ($0.0175 Pro, $0.0163 Plus, $0.0151 Scale). Users on a paid
  subscription are excluded from the MAU count. The Management API is included at
  no extra per-call charge. Secondary metered costs include SMS (~$0.07/message)
  and payment transaction fees (~0.5%-0.7%) on Kinde's own billing product.
notes: >-
  Per-unit rates reflect the pricing page on the created date and are not
  reconciled here; verify on the Kinde pricing page. The dominant cost driver is
  MAU, so the primary optimization levers are managing active-user counts,
  choosing the tier whose per-MAU rate best fits your volume, and moving paid
  users onto subscriptions (which removes them from MAU).
sources:
- https://kinde.com/pricing/
- https://docs.kinde.com
- https://docs.kinde.com/kinde-apis/management/
- 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: Kinde
serviceCategory: Identity and Access Management
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Kinde
  ServiceCategory: Identity and Access Management
  ProviderName: Kinde
  PublisherName: Kinde
  InvoiceIssuerName: Kinde
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
meters:
- name: monthly_active_users
  description: Monthly Active Users above the plan's included allowance, billed per additional MAU. The primary Kinde cost driver.
  unit: users
  aggregation: max
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
  - environment
- name: base_subscription
  description: Flat monthly plan subscription fee (Pro/Plus/Scale).
  unit: months
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
- name: sms_messages
  description: SMS messages sent for MFA and verification, billed per message (~$0.07) unless bringing your own provider.
  unit: messages
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - environment
- name: transaction_fees
  description: Payment transaction fees (~0.5%-0.7% by tier) on Kinde's own billing product.
  unit: percent
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - plan
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track MAU against the plan allowance monthly; monitor SMS volume and any transaction fees on the billing product.
- name: Allocation
  description: Use environments and organizations to attribute MAU and SMS spend to teams, tenants, or product lines.
- name: Optimization
  description: Choose the tier whose per-MAU rate matches your volume; move paid users onto subscriptions to remove them from MAU; bring your own SMS provider to cut per-message cost.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign an owner to review monthly MAU trends against the allowance and forecast overage before it lands on the invoice.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com