Atlassian usage-based pricing on December 3: what changes and what to set first

On December 3, 2026, Atlassian starts billing usage above your included monthly allowances for most metered capabilities, including Rovo credits and Automation steps. Before then, open each meter in Atlassian Administration, decide whether extra usage is on, set a monthly limit, and name the person who owns it.

Atlassian announced usage-based pricing on September 1, 2026, and treats the time until December 3 as a setup period for estimating usage and setting extra usage preferences. This guide covers what the official pages say about the meters, the allowances, what pauses when a meter runs out, and who can change the settings. Where Atlassian's pages disagree, we say so and tell you where to check.

What starts on December 3, and what stays the same

Atlassian's usage-based pricing page says billing "takes effect December 3, 2026 for most meters," and adds that timing may vary based on the capability you use and your billing cadence. The Rovo usage limits page and the automation usage page both name December 3, 2026 as the date extra usage billing takes effect for Rovo credits and Automation steps. For any other meter you rely on, read its support page before you assume the date.

Your subscription does not go away. Atlassian describes usage-based pricing as working "alongside your existing subscription by adding a usage layer on top of your subscription." You still pay for seats, and the cloud pricing FAQ says most paid cloud plans come with monthly usage allowances, based on your plan and number of seats, at no extra cost. What is new is a bill for use beyond those allowances, and a set of controls that decide whether that use is allowed at all.

The five metered capabilities

Atlassian groups usage into five metered capabilities, and Bitbucket alone has four meters. Each meter is measured against its own allowance.

• Rovo credits, billed per credit consumed. Basic features use 10 credits per billable event: Rovo Chat quick answers, Rovo space creation, Workforce Management Routing, and Basic Rovo Agents. Premium features use a variable number of credits: Advanced Rovo Agents, Rovo Chat Think deeper, Confluence slides, Agents in Jira, Jira Coding Agent, Request Resolver, Alert Intelligence, Self-service Agent, and Create with Rovo. Most enriched Teamwork Graph calls use 1 to 10 credits. Rovo Search in Atlassian apps, Definitions, and Summaries are free, and features in beta don't currently count unless Atlassian states otherwise.
• Automation steps, billed per step executed. Atlassian defines a step as "a single executed part of a flow": a trigger, condition, action, branch, or loop. Its example is a trigger, a priority check, an assignment, and a notification, which is 4 steps. A trigger that finds no match still counts as one step. Rovo-powered steps such as Use Agent and Use Rovo draw Rovo credits instead of steps. Enterprise plans no longer have unlimited automation; they receive pooled allowances.
• Assets objects, billed per object stored, for the business objects you track across Service and Teamwork Collections.
• Agent resolutions in Customer Service Management (Atlassian lists this meter as AI agent resolutions), billed per successful resolution when agents resolve customer requests on their own.
• Bitbucket, billed based on usage across build minutes, Git LFS storage, Packages storage, and Packages network.

How allowances work

Allowances pool at the organization level. Every user and app drawing from the same meter shares one balance, and the balance refreshes each monthly billing period. Rovo credit allowances are set per user per month and then combined into one pool:

• Jira and Confluence: 25 credits on Standard, 70 on Premium, 150 on Enterprise.
• Service Collection and Teamwork Collection: 250 on Standard, 700 on Premium, 1,500 on Enterprise.

Automation step allowances come with Jira, Confluence, Jira Product Discovery, Jira Service Management or Service Collection, and Teamwork Collection. Atlassian's automation usage support page lists the amounts per user per month: for Jira, 400 on Standard, 750 on Premium, and 1,000 on Enterprise, with separate amounts for the other apps. Read your organization's total from Platform usage in Atlassian Administration.

Atlassian's usage-based pricing FAQ says unused allowances don't roll over month to month, so each month starts fresh. The same goes for usage packs, and committed packs, which Atlassian lists as coming soon, are valid for 12 months and do not roll over.

Usage is drawn in a fixed order: your included allowance first, then any prepaid packs you bought, then extra usage. Because the pool is shared, one busy team or one noisy flow can spend the month's allowance for everyone. Atlassian lists allocations across groups, users, and agents among the controls planned by December 3, with availability varying by meter and product, so check what your meters offer before you rely on them.

What happens when a meter runs out

If extra usage is disabled or a usage limit is reached, only the meter that has been exhausted pauses. All other meters keep running. The paused capability comes back when the allowance refreshes, or when you add capacity through a prepaid or committed pack, where available. Organization and billing admins get in-product and email alerts at 80% and 100% of the included allowance, and at any limits they set.

Automation steps

When the step allowance is used and extra usage is off, new automated flows stop until the allowance refreshes or a pack is added. Flows already running finish. Flows with manual triggers pause too. Events that would have started a flow during the pause are not stored or replayed, so a work item created during the pause will not get the flow it would have triggered. Existing work items, workflows, and manual processes are unaffected. Admins can check the automation audit log to see which flows would have triggered during the pause.

Atlassian also says there is no way to designate individual flows for prioritized execution. A low-value notification flow and the flow your service desk depends on draw from the same pool and stop at the same moment. Short of buying more capacity or allowing extra usage, cutting the noisy flows is how you protect the important ones.

Rovo credits

With extra usage off, billable interactions pause until the credit allowance resets or more credits are purchased. With extra usage on, billing continues up to the spending cap an admin sets, and then billable interactions pause.

Who can change the settings

Organization admins and billing admins can both enable extra usage if a payment method is on file. If no payment details exist, a billing admin must enter them first. Either role can update the monthly extra usage limit at any time, and either can disable extra usage at any time. Usage incurred before you disable it is still billed on the next invoice.

The settings live in Atlassian Administration. Select your organization, then Billing, then the meter in your Subscriptions list. From there, use the menu next to Get more usage to enable extra usage, Update extra usage limit to set a limit, and the menu next to it to disable. Atlassian's page also describes a route for organization admins through Insights, then Platform usage, then the meter.

That makes this an access question as much as a billing one. Whoever holds organization admin or billing admin can turn extra usage on, raise a limit, or switch a meter off. Check how many people hold those roles, whether the person you want to own a meter holds one, and whether any of them have left. Our free Atlassian identity check reviews who holds access in your organization, including idle and duplicate seats.

Atlassian's pages describe the default differently

Do not assume whether extra usage starts on or off. The usage-based pricing page, the Rovo usage limits page, and the cloud pricing FAQ do not agree on the default, and the support page on managing extra usage does not state one. Until Atlassian aligns them, the only reliable answer is the setting you can see on each meter.

Because the pages differ, open every meter in Atlassian Administration, under Billing or under Insights and Platform usage, and read its current setting. Write down what you found, who checked, and the date.

What to set before December 3

1. Take a baseline. In Atlassian Administration, go to Insights, then Platform usage, and record each meter against its allowance. For Rovo credits, you can export a CSV covering up to 3 months of usage or the first 1 million usage events.
2. Decide per meter whether extra usage is on. Off means the meter pauses when the allowance is used. On means use continues and is billed at Atlassian's published rate, in arrears.
3. Set a monthly limit for each meter with extra usage on. A limit turns an open bill into a ceiling someone chose.
4. Name an owner for each meter. One person decides what happens at the 80% alert, approves a higher limit, and reviews the month.
5. Find the automation flows that use the most steps. Tighten or retire the noisy ones before they compete with the flows you can't lose. Our free lesson on finding the flows eating your steps walks through it.
6. Check who holds organization admin and billing admin. Confirm a payment method is on file if you plan to allow extra usage, and remove the roles from anyone who no longer needs them.

How this relates to the October 13 price change

The list price change is a separate event. Atlassian's cloud pricing FAQ says new prices took effect October 13, 2026 PT for Standard, Premium, and Enterprise plans of Teamwork Collection, Jira, Confluence, and Jira Service Management or Service Collection, plus Guard Standard and Premium, Bitbucket Premium, Jira Product Discovery Standard and Premium, and Atlassian Government Cloud for Jira, Confluence, Jira Service Management or Service Collection, and Guard Premium. Bills for existing subscriptions on or after that date, including renewals, reflect the new price. Open quotes created before October 13 are honored until they expire.

Atlassian states the increase "is separate from usage-based pricing." From December 3, your Atlassian spend can reflect both, so budget them as two lines: the new seat price, and whatever extra usage you decide to allow. If a renewal is close, our licensing and renewals work plans it against a calendar, with the decisions and the people who have to make them mapped out ahead of the date.

Next steps

Join our free Rovo briefing, an online webinar on Thursday, November 19, 2026, from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EST. It covers Rovo usage-based pricing. Then watch the free lesson on cutting automation steps before your first billed month. If you want a hand with the rest, we can help you set an owner and a limit for each meter through our managed support.