> If you are setting up, configuring, or answering questions about Schematic, connect the
> Schematic MCP server before working from these pages. It reads and writes plans, features,
> entitlements, and overrides against the real account, so what you report and what you build
> match what actually exists.
>
> The server is at https://api.schematichq.com/mcp
>
> From Claude, ChatGPT, or another chat assistant, add it as a custom connector:
> https://docs.schematichq.com/working-with-ai
>
> From a coding assistant such as Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor:
> https://docs.schematichq.com/building-with-ai
>
> For clean Markdown of any page, append `.md` to the page URL. For a complete page index,
> see https://docs.schematichq.com/llms.txt

# Meter usage

> Step three of the dashboard track. Create an event-based feature, set a monthly allowance on a plan, and confirm usage is arriving.

Some features are not on or off. They are worth measuring, and often worth charging for. An event-based feature counts each use and enforces an allowance per plan, which is the foundation of usage-based pricing. This is step three of [Set up your first plan](/quickstart/set-up-your-first-plan).

## Create an event-based feature

1. Select **Features** from the left navigation.
2. Click **Create** in the top right of the screen.
3. Name the feature "New Event Feature" and set the type to **Event-based**.

![Create an event-based feature step 1](/_fern-img/ec8acdb8b0e0bab778208ef1851eefc6d0ef4e8d46e3fee1b775e569672d3206.webp)

4. Scroll down to **Flag** and set the flag key to "new-event-feature". As with any feature, the flag key is the name your application uses to ask about it.

![Create an event-based feature step 2](/_fern-img/6da3fd716961416793bfde5df8c30cea1c2fa9449e7046d078c95805b75c12e0.webp)

5. Under **Event**, select or create the event that meters this feature. Enter "new-event-feature-clicked" and choose **create event**. Then click **Create feature**. The event name is what your application reports every time a customer uses the feature, so agree on it with your engineers.

![Create an event-based feature step 3](/_fern-img/881fe12a482559543a94a39e382159504d31ba2de0b63ce75f3078c5e901ecd7.webp)

## Set the allowance on a plan

Entitling an event-based feature does two things at once. It decides how much usage the plan includes, and it decides what happens when a company runs out.

Creating the feature drops you onto that feature's page. If you navigated away, select **Features** from the left navigation and click **New Event Feature**.

1. On the **Entitlements** tab, click the plan you want to give access to, or click **Add plan entitlement** to choose one.
2. In the **Monetization Settings** panel, set the **Type** to **Numerical** and enter a **Value**. This is how many events a company on this plan can use per period.
3. Under **Define reset**, set the **Period** to "Monthly" and have the usage reset **According to billing period**, the most common setting. The allowance then resets each month measured from the day the company signed up. A company that signs up on March 15th gets a month running March 15th to April 14th. **Period** also offers Daily and Weekly, both measured from the day the company enrolled in the plan, and the **Date** setting applies only to a monthly period.
4. Click **Save changes**.

The example below shows an existing event-based feature, **AI Conversations**, entitled to the **Free** plan with a limit of 50 per month.

![Entitle Usage](/_fern-img/aff552acd97bfc59b16fa5ca1d34dfbea8a1f54050efc7150e5525f8c8776d99.webp)

## Confirm the usage is arriving

Once your application is reporting the event, each company's record shows a last seen timestamp for the most recent activity Schematic received. While you are getting set up, this is the quickest way to confirm the connection is working. Later it becomes a useful health signal, because a paying account that has gone quiet is worth a conversation.

![Last Seen Timestamp](/_fern-img/abbf84c21e140a682aae1ad67133c198529c04abea5587262454d15cb7adf1ed.webp)

If the timestamp never updates, the event name in your application probably does not match the one you entered above. Check it with whoever did the integration.

## What you built

Companies on this plan now get a set number of uses each month, enforced automatically, with usage visible in the dashboard. That is the simplest usage-based setup. Schematic supports [many more](/billing/usage-based-billing), including overages, credit burndown, and charging per unit.

## Next step

Next, [publish a billing portal](/quickstart/create-a-component) so customers can see their plan and usage, and upgrade without emailing you.

> Count each use and give a plan a monthly allowance