Your DMARCER bill is based on the domains you have under management, counted as two separate licence types. This article explains what gets counted, how those counts compare against your plan allowance, what happens if you go over, and how to view and check the numbers (including sending them to a PSA contract).
What DMARCER counts
DMARCER counts two licence types separately, because each has its own allowance and its own over-allowance rate:
- Standard domains (shown as "actively sending"): a normal managed domain with mail flow, plus full SPF, DKIM and DMARC management and reporting.
- Parked domains (shown as "defensive hold, no MX"): a monitoring profile for domains you hold defensively and that should not send mail. DMARCER keeps an eye out for any sending activity and alerts you if it spots any.
Each domain is one type at a time, and its type can change over its life. DMARCER keeps a history of those changes, so a count for any past date reflects what the domain was on that date, not what it is today.
How your allowance and over-allowance charges work
Your plan (or your custom, account-managed or contract terms) sets a limit for each licence type: a maximum number of Standard domains and a maximum number of Parked domains. Some plans set a limit to unlimited, shown on the page as an infinity symbol. Anything up to the limit is included in your base price.
- While you are at or under a limit, the page shows how many you have left for that type.
- When you go over a limit, the page shows an "Over by" badge with the number of extra domains.
- If your plan has a rate set for extra domains of that type, each extra one is billed at that per-domain, per-month rate and added to your next invoice. The page tells you the rate and the projected amount.
- If no extra-domain rate is set, your plan lets you go over temporarily at no charge while we get in touch about upgrading.
Standard and Parked are worked out separately throughout, so going over on one type does not affect the other, and each shows its own rate and projected cost.
Viewing your current usage
Open the Subscription page to see where you stand right now, at a glance.
- The Standard usage strip shows your current Standard count against your limit, plus a progress bar and either "X remaining" or an "Over by X" badge.
- The Parked usage strip shows the same for Parked. It only appears when your plan includes Parked or you already hold Parked domains; otherwise you will see a note that Parked licences are not currently included on your plan.
- If you are over a limit, a panel below the strips explains the rate and the amount that will be added to your next invoice.
To move to a different plan, use the Change subscription button, which opens the Compare Plans picker. This is available to people who have the Change subscription permission, and only for self-serve subscriptions. If your subscription is account-managed or set by a contract, the page shows "To change plan, contact your Account Manager" instead of the picker.
Checking counts with the License Usage report
The Subscription page shows where you are right now. To check your figures against what you bill your own customers, or to look up a past figure, use the License Usage report (found in the billing tabs). It answers "how many domains were licensed as of a given date", grouped by customer and split by licence type.
Pick an As-of date, a Count method, and (where it applies) a Direction, then press Recalculate. The three count methods are:
- Exact count: counts by each domain's actual add and remove dates.
- Start of subscription window: lines each add or remove up with the start of the subscription period it falls in, so the figures match your real renewal cycles.
- Start of month: the same idea, but lined up with calendar months, which is easier if you do not think in renewal cycles.
When the method is not Exact, the Direction setting decides how each change is lined up: Back rounds down to the previous boundary, Forward rounds up to the next, and Majority uses the middle of the period to decide. Direction does not apply (and is greyed out) when the method is Exact.
The report shows headline totals for Standard, Parked and the combined Total, a weekly or monthly history strip with up and down arrows showing the change between periods, and a per-customer breakdown. You can expand each customer to list every domain known for them, its type as of the date, its add and remove dates, the billing window it was lined up to, and a Counted tick showing whether it used a licence on the as-of date. Your chosen Count method, Direction and history view are remembered for next time.
Sending unit counts to your PSA
If you use a PSA integration with billing turned on, DMARCER can send these counts onto a contract line for you automatically, so your PSA quantities keep up with your DMARCER usage. DMARCER runs this on a schedule and, for each billing rule you have set up, sends the current count for the matching customer.
- Each rule has a Count mode: Total (Standard plus Parked), Standard only, or Parked only.
- Timing is set per integration: Daily, or Monthly on a chosen day of the month (if a monthly run is missed, it catches up on the next eligible day).
- A rule set to Don't bill records a skipped send rather than sending a quantity.
- The counts sent use the same default the License Usage report uses (Exact count, rounded back), so the PSA figure matches what you would see for "now" in the report.
Every attempt is recorded (Success, Skipped or Failed) with a reason, so you always have a clear record. A failed send is retried on the next run, and an unchanged count is skipped to save effort, with a regular re-check so that any manual edits you make in the PSA get put right.
Common pitfalls
- Standard and Parked have separate limits and separate rates. Being comfortably under one does not protect you on the other, so check both strips.
- The Subscription page is a live "now" view; the License Usage report is the tool for past or month-end figures. Use the right one for the question you are asking.
- Direction only matters when the Count method is not Exact. If you change Direction but leave the method on Exact, nothing changes.
- Removing a domain stops it counting from its removal date onwards; it does not remove it from earlier periods, which is the correct behaviour for billing.
- If you cannot see the Change subscription button, either you do not have the Change subscription permission, or your subscription is account-managed or set by a contract; in the managed case, contact your Account Manager.
- A PSA send only happens for rules that are turned on, linked to a contract line, with billing turned on and working sign-in details for the integration. Check the send history if a quantity looks out of date.