Bill a gameserver per slot and per hour

A worked example: a gameserver is sized by player slots (a configurable option with a volume discount) and billed for the hours it actually runs (a metered dimension). This combines a per-slot quantity option with hourly runtime billing on one item.

The pieces are covered in Addons and options, Products and prices, and Usage billing. This page wires them together.

The catalog

Gameserver product

The base gameserver is a metered product: there is no fixed monthly fee, you bill runtime hours plus the slot option. Add a zero-amount metered price so the item can carry a billing cycle.

use Meteric\Models\{Product, Price};
use Meteric\Enums\{PricingModel, PricePurpose, Interval, BillingMode};

$gameserver = Product::create([
    'type' => 'gameserver',
    'slug' => 'gameserver-minecraft',
    'name' => 'Minecraft server',
    'pricing_model' => PricingModel::Metered,
    'is_proratable' => true,
]);

$runtimePrice = Price::create([
    'product_id' => $gameserver->id,
    'currency' => 'EUR',
    'amount_minor' => 0,
    'purpose' => PricePurpose::Recurring,
    'pricing_model' => PricingModel::Metered,
    'interval' => Interval::Month,
    'interval_count' => 1,
    'billing_mode' => BillingMode::InArrears,
]);

Slots: a volume-priced quantity option

Slots are a quantity option priced with PricingModel::Volume: the more slots, the cheaper each one. A tier is ['up_to' => int|null, 'unit_minor' => int], ordered low to high, up_to: null is the last unbounded tier.

$slotProduct = Product::create([
    'type' => 'option',
    'slug' => 'option-slots',
    'name' => 'Player slots',
    'pricing_model' => PricingModel::Volume,
    'is_proratable' => true,
]);

$slotPrice = Price::create([
    'product_id' => $slotProduct->id,
    'currency' => 'EUR',
    'purpose' => PricePurpose::Option,
    'pricing_model' => PricingModel::Volume,
    'tiers' => [
        ['up_to' => 10,   'unit_minor' => 50], // 1 to 10 slots at €0.50 each
        ['up_to' => 50,   'unit_minor' => 40], // 11 to 50 slots at €0.40 each
        ['up_to' => null, 'unit_minor' => 30], // 51+ slots at €0.30 each
    ],
]);

With Volume, the whole quantity prices at the tier it lands in. Check it:

$slotPrice->amountFor(32);  // Money €12.80  (32 × €0.40)
$slotPrice->amountFor(64);  // Money €19.20  (64 × €0.30)

Runtime: an hourly meter dimension

Runtime is a metered dimension on the gameserver. rate is the price per hour as a high-precision string. No allowance here, every hour bills.

use Meteric\Models\MeterDimension;
use Meteric\Enums\Aggregation;

MeterDimension::create([
    'product_id' => $gameserver->id,
    'key' => 'runtime_hours',
    'unit' => 'hour',
    'aggregation' => Aggregation::Sum,
    'rate' => '0.05000000',   // €0.05 per running hour
    'currency' => 'EUR',
    'included_qty' => 0,
]);

Provision and size the server

Subscribe the customer to the gameserver item, then set the slot count. setOption() prorates the option's price over the item's remaining period.

use Meteric\Facades\Meteric;

$subscription = Meteric::subscribe($user)
    ->add($runtimePrice, qty: 1, resource: $gameserverRecord)
    ->create();

$item = $subscription->items()->first();

Meteric::setOption(
    item: $item,
    key: 'slots',
    value: '32',
    type: 'quantity',
    price: $slotPrice,
    qty: 32,
);

Resizing reprices the delta. Raising slots charges the prorated increase; lowering credits the prorated difference:

Meteric::setOption($item, 'slots', '64', 'quantity', $slotPrice, qty: 64);

Record runtime

Report the hours the server ran. Batch them or report per hour. recordUsage() is idempotent on key, so a retried meter push does not double-bill.

use Carbon\CarbonImmutable;

Meteric::recordUsage(
    item: $item,
    dimension: 'runtime_hours',
    quantity: 6.0,                    // ran 6 hours this window
    occurredAt: CarbonImmutable::now(),
    key: 'runtime-2026-06-19-00',
);

Roll up and invoice

At cycle close, rollupUsage() aggregates the runtime records into one in-arrears charge. The slot option already accrued its prorated charge when you set it, and renews with the item's cycle.

use Meteric\Support\Period;

$cycle = Meteric::billingCycle($item);
$charges = Meteric::rollupUsage($item, $cycle);  // one runtime_hours charge

Then bill the account. The runtime usage (in arrears) and the slot option (in advance) land on the same invoice:

use Meteric\Models\BillingAccount;

$account = BillingAccount::firstOrCreate(
    ['owner_type' => $user->getMorphClass(), 'owner_id' => $user->getKey()],
    ['currency' => 'EUR'],
);

$invoice = Meteric::invoicePending($account);
// lines: slot option (€12.80 for 32 slots), runtime (6h × €0.05 = €0.30)

A changed hourly rate takes effect immediately, usage before the change bills at the old rate, usage after at the new one. Roll up the old window before switching the rate for a clean cutover. See Plan changes.

What the invoice looks like

A monthly invoice for a 16-slot server with metered runtime. With the Lexware Office driver the line title becomes the lexoffice name, the description stays the description, unit becomes unitName, and amounts post as net with a tax percentage so lexoffice computes the gross. The numbers below use 19% German VAT. The billed cycle posts as a service period with an inclusive end (2026-06-01 to 2026-06-30, not to 2026-07-01).

Item	Detail	Qty	Unit	Net	VAT	Gross
Gameserver - mc-eu-04.example	2026-06-01 to 2026-06-30	16	slots	€40.00	€7.60	€47.60
Gameserver - mc-eu-04.example	Runtime: 540 hours	540	hours	€5.40	€1.03	€6.43
Subtotal (net)				€45.40
VAT (19%)					€8.63
Total (gross)						€54.03

The slot line is priced through the volume tiers; the runtime line is the rolled up hourly usage for the cycle.