C1.ai now offers two ways to buy the same product system: Platform for predictable scope and Flex for measured usage.
That choice reflects how enterprise work has changed. People still need lifecycle management, access requests, JIT access, reviews, remediation, and evidence. Agents and workloads add tool calls, scoped credentials, policy checks, and system actions that do not map neatly to a human seat.
One commercial model cannot answer both needs equally well.
Flex measures billable work#
Flex uses C1 Tokens for every billable event. The catalog covers roughly 40 event types today and will evolve as C1.ai adds supported work.
Customers see usage and spend live in the C1.ai application. Billing happens monthly. Exact event definitions live in the versioned product catalog rather than fixed marketing copy.
Flex is useful when a team wants the commercial model to follow measured work. It does not mean cheaper, no commitment, or unrestricted access to every C1.ai product. Approved rates and contract terms remain part of a scoped quote.
Platform makes scope predictable#
Platform prices selected C1.ai SKUs per user so a team can plan around a defined product scope.
The subscription includes a percentage-based C1 Token allowance for ordinary variable-cost use, such as in-product AI chat. Only the approved hard-cost subset, including external costs such as LLM inference, remains consumption-metered. Ordinary work covered by purchased SKUs is not charged again as Flex token spend.
Platform answers a different set of questions: which products and users are in scope, what token allowance is included, which hard-cost events remain metered, and which services and instance apply.
One C1.ai, two ways to buy#
Platform and Flex lead into the same C1.ai product system. They do not define separate product families, and they do not force every customer through the same adoption path.
A team can start with the product that solves the first job. If that product is enough, stop there. Add another only when a new job and owner justify it.
The technical path stays equally specific. A supported identity source, target connection, credential path, or policy check may be required for the selected job; a technical dependency does not silently become another purchased SKU.
What the public pricing page explains#
The C1.ai pricing page publishes the buying models and the questions that shape cost:
- Platform and Flex roles
- the two uses of C1 Tokens
- live usage and spend visibility
- monthly Flex billing
- instance status
- technical support and hands-on service categories
The public page does not expose rates, token unit prices, allowance amounts, a detailed event rate card, or a calculator. A scoped quote confirms approved product scope, rates, token terms, services, instance, and contract details.
This structure gives buyers a useful choice without creating a second product story: plan around selected C1.ai scope, measure billable work, or discuss which path fits the job.
