specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Mendable
providerId: mendable
created: '2026-06-20'
modified: '2026-06-20'
reconciled: false
tags:
- AI
- Answers
- Enterprise Search
- RAG
- Support
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Mendable spend. Mendable bills through a monthly message-credit
  model where each chat answer consumes credits that vary by the underlying
  model (for example GPT-3.5-Turbo ~1 credit, Claude ~2, GPT-4 / tool-using ~3).
  A Free tier includes a fixed monthly credit allotment; the Enterprise tier is
  sales-led with custom credit volumes, bring-your-own-key models, SSO, and SLA.
  Data ingestion is included within the plan rather than separately metered.
notes: >-
  Per-model credit costs and the exact Free allotment are subject to change;
  verify against the Mendable pricing page during reconciliation. Enterprise
  pricing is contact-sales, so dollar amounts are not reconciled.
sources:
- https://www.mendable.ai/pricing
- https://docs.mendable.ai/mendable-api/overview
- 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: Mendable
serviceCategory: AI and Machine Learning
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Credit-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Adjustment
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Mendable
  ServiceCategory: AI and Machine Learning
  ProviderName: Mendable
  PublisherName: Mendable
  InvoiceIssuerName: Mendable
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Credit-Based
meters:
- name: message_credits
  description: Credits consumed per chat answer, varying by the model used to generate the answer.
  unit: credits
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - project
  - model
- name: answers
  description: Number of chat answers served via mendableChat.
  unit: messages
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - project
- name: ingested_documents
  description: Raw documents and crawled pages ingested into projects.
  unit: documents
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - project
  - source_type
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Use the Mendable analytics platform and data export to inspect message-credit burn per project.
- name: Allocation
  description: Separate API keys / projects per workload or team and map credit consumption to cost centers.
- name: Optimization
  description: Route lower-complexity questions to cheaper models (1-credit) and reserve GPT-4 / tool-using answers (3-credit) for high-value queries; tune retriever_options to control retrieval cost.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign owners per project, review monthly credit consumption against the plan allotment, and upgrade only when sustained overage warrants it.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com