Understanding actions in Triggre: pay only for what you use

When you develop an application, efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness are key. Triggre has a unique approach to managing application costs: actions. But what exactly are actions in Triggre, and how do they influence the cost and capacity of your application? Let's dive in.

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What is an action?

In the realm of Triggre, an action is essentially every step your application takes to perform its duties. From looking up a data entry, sending an email, to showing a page, every step in a process counts as an action. For example, if your application process includes searching for a person and then sending them an email, you've utilized two actions.

In other words, the only things that count as actions are steps in Flow parts and pages in User flows. For example, decisions or looking something up in the application using the built-in search functionality do not count as actions.

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Estimating your action needs

Determining the number of actions your application will require each month is crucial for planning and budgeting. This number hinges on various factors: the number of users, the frequency of application use, and the complexity of processes executed.  

If you are new to Triggre, begin with a free Starter subscription to estimate the action usage of your application. As an option, you can imitate standard activity at the testing stage to get an idea of how many actions a standard flow would require. Action usage varies per company, but understanding your application's functionality and user engagement can provide a rough estimate.

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The advantages of the action-based model

Normally, platforms base their pricing on two key factors: the amount of functionality, and / or number of users per product.

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Let’s look at the four main scenarios above. Pricing per amount of functionality or per user would not cover all of them. For instance, there are many software products that offer buying functionality per module, but that doesn’t make sense in some situations, since that functionality is not used often enough or is used by very few application users.  

Triggre's action-based model offers a flexible and predictable approach to application costs (this is especially important for companies looking to scale their operations):

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Practical example: an application with 1,000 users each performing one action per month would total 1,000 actions/month. Equivalently, an application with a single user performing 1,000 actions in a month would also total 1,000 actions/month, placing both applications in the same pricing tier.

Bluntly put, actions = value. This model ensures that you're paying in proportion to the value your application delivers, making it a cost-effective solution for different use-cases.  

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Optimizing action usage

To maximize the efficiency of your application and minimize costs, it's essential to optimize action usage. One effective strategy is to reduce scheduled automations, especially those involving frequent data lookups. For instance, an automation set to run hourly can consume a significant number of actions over time, many of which may be unnecessary. Instead, consider triggering automations based on specific external inputs, e.g. through integration with platforms like Zapier, to use actions only when needed.

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Triggre's action-based pricing model offers a unique, value-aligned approach to application development and cost management. By understanding what actions are and how they are counted, you can make informed decisions about your application's design and functionality, ensuring you only pay for what you use.

Whether you're building a simple app for a small user base or a complex system for a wide audience, the flexibility and fairness of the action-based model make Triggre an attractive choice when you seek to maximize value while keeping costs in check, especially if your business is at a scaling stage.