Why We Stopped Counting Events (And Started Counting Signals)

Today we're introducing a change to how we bill for Anacoic usage. We're moving from counting "events" to counting signals—a metric that better represents the infrastructure processing you actually use.

The Problem with "Events"

In traditional analytics, an "event" means a user action:

• Button click
• Page view
• Purchase

But Anacoic does more than track user actions. We're edge infrastructure that:

• Processes ad platform conversions
• Handles AI Agent requests (MCP)
• Applies security filtering
• Retries failed deliveries

When we only counted "events," we weren't capturing the full picture of infrastructure usage. This led to:

1. Hidden costs for us (retries, security processing)
2. Unclear billing for you (why did my bill vary?)
3. Misaligned incentives (we should optimize for efficiency together)

What is a Signal?

A signal is any data packet processed by Anacoic's edge infrastructure.

Think of it this way:

• Events are what you send
• Signals are what we process

Signal Types

Why This Matters

For You: Transparent Pricing

With signals, you see exactly what you're paying for:

Before: "10,000 events = $10"
After:  "10,000 signals = $10 (8,000 deliveries + 1,500 security + 500 retries)"

For Us: Sustainable Infrastructure

Signals align our costs with revenue:

• High security traffic? Higher costs (fair)
• Lots of retries? Higher costs (incentive to improve)
• AI Agent usage? Counted separately (accurate)

For Everyone: Better Optimization

Now you can optimize based on signal type:

Before:

• "I have 100K events, why is my bill $150?"

After:

• "I have 100K signals: 80K deliveries + 20K security blocks"
• "I can reduce bot traffic to save $20/month"

Real-World Example

Let's trace a single "Purchase" event through our infrastructure:

Your Website
    ↓
[Send "Purchase" event]
    ↓
Anacoic Edge Worker
    ├─ Receive & validate (1 signal)
    ├─ Security check (1 signal)
    ├─ Dispatch to Meta (1 signal)
    ├─ Dispatch to TikTok (1 signal)
    └─ Dispatch to Google (1 signal)
    ↓
5 total signals

Before: Billed as 1 event After: Billed as 5 signals (accurate to processing cost)

Pricing Changes

Along with signals, we're updating our pricing structure:

New Tiers

What's Included Now

Pro tier now includes 100,000 signals—making it a better value for most users:

MCP is Now on Core (With Limits)

We've enabled MCP (AI Agent Gateway) on Core tier with a 100 requests/day limit. This lets you:

• Test AI Agent integration
• Drive more signal volume (revenue for us)
• Upgrade to Pro for unlimited access

Migration for Existing Users

If you're already an Anacoic customer:

1. No immediate changes to your billing
2. Dashboard updated to show signal breakdown
3. Historical data preserved (we'll show both events and signals during transition)
4. Gradual rollout over 30 days

Your First Signal-Based Bill

When you receive your first signal-based bill, you'll see:

Signals Processed: 45,000
  - Delivery: 38,000
  - Security: 5,000
  - Agent: 1,500
  - Retry: 500

Cost: $49.00 (Pro tier, 100K included)

Industry Context

We're not the first to move beyond "events":

• Cloudflare bills "requests" (not page views)
• AWS API Gateway bills "API calls"
• Vercel bills "function invocations"

Signals are our equivalent—a technical metric that accurately reflects infrastructure usage.

FAQ

Will my bill increase?

For most users: no change or slight decrease.

Pro now includes 100K signals (was: pay per event). If you use under 100K signals, you're likely saving money.

How do I reduce signal count?

1. Filter test traffic (don't send from localhost)
2. Optimize destinations (disable unused platforms)
3. Improve data quality (fewer retries)
4. Monitor security (reduce bot traffic)

See our optimization guide.

Why not just call them "requests"?

"Requests" implies HTTP requests only. Signals include:

• SSE connections (MCP)
• Internal processing (retries)
• Security blocks (no HTTP response)

"Signals" captures the full scope of edge processing.

What about my current subscription?

Active subscriptions continue until renewal. At renewal, you'll be switched to signal-based billing with any applicable credits applied.

What's Next

Over the next month:

1. Dashboard updates with signal breakdown
2. Optimization tools to reduce unnecessary signals
3. Alerting for unusual signal patterns
4. Documentation for signal-based optimization

Try It Today

New to Anacoic? Start a 7-day trial with 10,000 free signals:

Start Trial

Existing customer? Check your dashboard to see your signal usage.

Questions? Contact us at support@anacoic.com or check our signals documentation.