Revenera’s Monetization Monitor 2026 Outlook: AI on course to transform Software Monetization

AI-enabled products and features are squeezing margins, usage-based monetization is now mainstream, and data gaps amplify customer retention challenges

ITASCA, Ill., Oct. 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revenera, producer of leading solutions that help technology companies build better products, accelerate time-to-value, and unlock new revenue opportunities, today released the Revenera Monetization Monitor: Software Monetization Models & Strategies 2026 Outlook report. Based on the insights of 501 product leaders at global technology companies, the findings reflect an industry balancing rapid innovation with the need to address mounting profitability pressures:

• Among those developing AI products or features, 70 percent say delivery costs are eroding margins, with 52 percent planning new pricing models to mitigate cloud spend.
  
• Usage-based pricing is emerging as a key strategy, and is now the most common approach for those who primarily offer cloud and embedded deployments.
  
• Overall, 56 percent expect usage-based revenue to grow by 2027, with prepaid, post-paid, and blended subscription-plus-consumption models gaining traction.
  
• Only 14 percent of producers say they have an efficient renewal process, with “limited visibility into customer entitlements and usage data” and “difficulty in identifying at-risk renewals early,” each reported by 43 percent.
  
  

“AI is transforming the software economy, but it’s also testing the limits of traditional monetization strategies,” said Nicole Segerer, SVP and General Manager at Revenera. “With 70 percent of producers who offer AI products or features saying delivery costs are cutting into profitability, companies are increasingly adopting usage-based pricing to balance the books and drive growth. More than half are specifically planning new models to offset rising cloud costs, with blended subscription-and-consumption strategies growing in popularity as suppliers aim to improve flexibility while safeguarding margins. As 56 percent of producers expect usage-based revenue to grow by 2027, data-driven transparency and measurable value are now essential for sustainable monetization in the AI era.”

Key findings from the Revenera Monetization Monitor: Software Monetization Models & Strategies 2026 Outlook report include:

• AI monetization is accelerating but squeezing margins.
  • 80 percent of respondents already offer AI-enabled products or features, but 70 percent of this group say delivery costs are eroding profitability.
  • Rising cloud spend is cited as the biggest blocker to growing annual recurring revenue (ARR) (cited by 57 percent), with 52 percent specifically planning new monetization models to offset cloud costs.
  • The top factor driving the decision to introduce AI features or products is to increase the value customers receive, reported by 47 percent.
  • However, more than a third (36 percent) report “uncertainty around pricing AI features” as a blocker for aligning price and value of software.
    
    
• Flexibility is reshaping how software is monetized and deployed.
  
  
  • Subscription is currently the most common monetization model for AI (42 percent), but pure subscription is projected to decline as usage-based approaches – prepaid, post-paid, and blended – are set to grow.
  • Usage-based pricing is now mainstream; it’s the most common approach for companies that primarily deliver software via public cloud, private cloud, or embedded deployments. In total, 74 percent of all suppliers have adopted usage-based models at least moderately, with 56 percent expecting usage-based revenue to grow by 2027.
  • Outcome-based models are losing momentum, as plans to implement outcome-based pricing have declined from 60 percent a year ago to 38 percent today, highlighting the challenges of quantifying results – especially amid ongoing AI experimentation.
  • More than half of respondents (54 percent) expect their use of cloud services to rise, highlighting the need to track escalating costs and review product and feature pricing to protect margins.
    
    
• Growing ARR requires focused monetization initiatives.
  
  
  • Data gaps amplify churn and retention challenges: 32 percent cite churn as a major blocker to revenue growth, while only 14 percent claim to have an efficient renewal process.
  • Leading challenges of ensuring customer renewals are “limited visibility into customer entitlements and usage data” and “difficulty in identifying at-risk renewals early,” each reported by 43 percent.
  • The most common timeline for introducing a new monetization model is 3–9 months, reported by 57 percent; only 14 percent were able to implement a new monetization model in less than 3 months.
  • The top challenges within the quote-to-cash (Q2C) process, reported by 54 percent, are complex or manual workflows, with too many manual steps, bottlenecks, or errors that slow down quoting, billing, or invoicing. A minority of respondents, 11 percent, report “no major challenges” in their Q2C process.
  • Mergers and acquisitions demand attention, with 68 percent of respondents indicating that integrating acquired products into their existing monetization platform during an M&A event is challenging. The most challenging aspects are “difficulty consolidating entitlements and usage data” and “fragmented customer experience across platforms,” each reported by 22 percent.
    
    

• Product usage data is a critical foundation for driving innovation and profitability.
  • Price and value alignment remains elusive. Only 36 percent of companies report strong alignment between pricing and the value customers receive. This is the same figure as last year, with no improvement being made in a time of uncertainty and experimentation as companies navigate the AI era.
  • The top blocker to aligning price and value is “understanding customer value drivers (e.g., identifying what customers truly value and are willing to pay for),” cited by 55 percent.
  • Only 41 percent of respondents report that they have the ability to gather product usage data “very well,” indicating that the majority of software suppliers have significant room for improvement.
  • Top ways of implementing product usage data are to identify upsell opportunities (70 percent), identify customer churn/retention risk (60 percent) and prioritize product roadmap decisions (49 percent).
    
    

Methodology

The Revenera Monetization Monitor 2026 Outlook series of reports is based on 501 complete responses to a survey conducted by Revenera from April through June 2025. Job levels of these survey respondents were C-level/executive (42 percent), SVP/VP (7 percent), director (34 percent), manager/team leader (15 percent), and individual contributors/non-manager/consultant (3 percent). This report focuses on Software Monetization Models and Strategies; subsequent reports in this series will address Software Piracy & License Compliance and Software Monetization Analytics.

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About Revenera
Revenera helps product executives build better products, accelerate time-to-value, and monetize what matters. Revenera’s leading solutions help software and technology companies drive top-line revenue with modern software monetization, understand usage and compliance with software usage analytics, empower the use of open source with software composition analysis, and deliver an excellent user experience—for embedded, on-premises, cloud, and SaaS products. To learn more, visit www.revenera.com.

Media Contact
Clement | Peterson PR on behalf of Revenera
revenerapr@clementpeterson.com

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