Usage-based pricing is usually a win for brands. You only pay for what you use, avoiding bloated software bundles. But the implementation of usage-based pricing matters. It works best when usage maps to a single, predictable variable, such as tokens, compute, or storage.

The Problem

Air recently shifted to a credit-based pricing model, and they missed the mark completely. Instead of a clean, single-variable system, Air maps its credits across three distinct features: storage, asset enrichment, and AI asset generation. When you bundle three disjointed features into one use-it-or-lose-it currency, usage-based pricing stops being transparent. It becomes a confusing, unpredictable trap.

Air charges 1 credit per GB for storage, 5 credits per GB for asset enrichment, and 20 credits per video generation. We’ll model some scenarios later on.

Bundles don't work for ad creative teams

Air’s new pricing forces a bloated bundle. Air makes you overpay for a generation tool you won't use, while under-delivering on the AI tagging features you actually need. Here is why it fails creative teams:

• Mediocre Asset Enrichment: You pay a premium for basic AI-enrichment that lacks essential performance creative features, such as creator tagging, visual search, and automated scene clipping for videos.

• Forced AI Generation: The asset manager is the last place to generate and edit images and videos. Creative teams build systems and execute complex workflows for production and editing. They use dedicated tools such as Nano Banana and Higgsfield. Yet, Air's credit pool forces you to subsidize their built-in generation suite anyway.

The Wastage: 3 Real-World Scenarios

To see how poorly this model scales, let's look at the financial math for a standard mid-market brand on Air's Business Plan, which costs $1,100 per month and provides 30,000 credits.

Scenario 1: Using Air for Storage Only

If you turn off all AI features and just use Air as a standard cloud drive, it costs 1 credit per GB. Because you are forced to buy a massive pool of 30,000 credits designed to subsidize expensive AI generation, you end up throwing away almost your entire monthly fee.

Scenario 2: AI Enrichment + Storage

If you turn on AI Enrichment so your team can actually search for files, the cost spikes 500% to 6 credits per GB. Even with this massive "AI Tax," a standard DTC brand with 1TB or 2TB of assets still leaves hundreds of dollars on the table because they aren't generating new videos.

Scenario 3: AI Enrichment + Storage + Generation

Let's assume a brand actually tries to use the platform exactly as Air intended. They store their files, enrich them, and use the platform's AI to generate 50 new videos a month (20 credits per video).

(Note: 5TB of enriched storage leaves 0 credits for generation, so we cap the final row at 4TB to show a functioning workspace under the 30,000 credit limit.)

The Bottom Line

Usage-based pricing only works when it aligns with actual user behavior. Air’s credit system is built to fund a built-in AI generation suite that most ad teams will never use, while taxing them heavily for basic search functionalities.

For DTC brands looking to scale creative production efficiently, this is a bundle you can afford to skip.