Cloud providers and software companies like Amazon.com, Microsoft, Figma, and Workday are rolling out fresh discount packages for AI products aimed at clients and consulting partners. Many customers, already weary of shifting pricing models, are feeling the strain. Firms previously boosted budgets to purchase tools such as Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, trimming other expenses to offset the new outlays. Now, businesses are approaching AI tool selection with far greater caution.

Software vendors have switched to charging based on usage or completed tasks, a move that can drive up costs and has drawn complaints from numerous enterprises. For instance, an executive at a multinational manufacturer with a market value exceeding $40 billion said that Microsoft offered at least a one-month grace period after adjusting the billing for its GitHub Copilot coding assistant to a consumption-based model, allowing the company to continue paying on a per-seat subscription during that time. Following this pricing shift, the manufacturer now faces an additional monthly charge of roughly $150,000 to Microsoft for employee usage of the tool. Additionally, after the usage-based billing took effect, Microsoft gifted the company tens of thousands of dollars in free credits each month for three consecutive months. However, the executive noted that due to the billing changes, the team is considering migrating its coding operations to Anthropic's Claude Code and Cursor, a product under SpaceX's umbrella.

This new wave of discounts signals that, as the AI boom enters its fourth year, traditional software vendors are still figuring out how to compete with emerging players like Anthropic and OpenAI. These newcomers keep refining automation technologies across fields such as finance and design, with each projected to generate tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue this year. Complicating the competitive landscape further, OpenAI has also been cutting its model prices, adding pressure on legacy software firms. These traditional vendors need to license models from Anthropic and OpenAI to embed AI features into their enterprise applications, hoping to retain clients and prevent budgets from shifting toward native AI companies. But the cost of sourcing such model technology is steep, which is why many vendors have recently adjusted their pricing strategies.

While some software firms like Snowflake report accelerating revenue growth from AI products, the majority—including Workday, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Adobe—have not seen a noticeable acceleration in AI-related revenue.

Adoption, Adoption, Adoption Is the Priority

Mike Turck, Chief Information Officer at credit scoring firm FICO, said many traditional software vendors are working hard to retain large clients like FICO, preventing them from redirecting budgets to Anthropic and OpenAI, and FICO is benefiting as a result. He noted that dozens of FICO's software suppliers offered AI features for free during contract renewals this year, though he declined to name them. (FICO, with over 3,000 employees, currently uses products from Salesforce, Oracle, and Workday.) "If a supplier isn't offering steep discounts or bundling AI capabilities into the base license package, we're essentially not signing those contracts anymore," he explained, adding that he does not believe these AI tools justify extra payments.

Workday, a human resources software vendor, is among those rolling out incentives for select customers. The company said it launched a program this summer that grants top-tier clients free, unlimited access to its enterprise AI platform, Sana Enterprise, for one year. About 20 large enterprises are participating in the program, which includes built-in AI agents that can automate HR and finance tasks like new employee onboarding. In a late-August earnings call, Workday's Chief Technology Officer, Gerrit Kazmaier, stated: "Our core focus right now is adoption, adoption, adoption." He added, "As for converting that into sales and revenue, that's hard to answer at this stage, and it's not our current priority."

Pricing Flexibility Is Rising

Meanwhile, Figma's Chief Executive Dylan Field said at Goldman Sachs' technology conference in San Francisco this month that the design software firm has slashed the cost of using its AI products by up to half. After shifting to a usage-based billing model in March, Figma announced in late August that users could unlock additional usage beyond their subscription allowance at the same cost. Field said Figma's "primary goal" is to boost usage rather than chase high margins from automation design AI tools like Figma Make.

Shayan Mohanty, Chief Data and AI Officer at tech consultancy Thoughtworks, observed that software vendors have become noticeably more flexible with pricing over the past six months, aiming to hold onto clients who are grappling with rising costs from usage-based AI fees. He noted that vendors are now offering discounts of 30% to 35% on bundled software-plus-AI packages and extending trial periods for new products; previously, such discounts rarely exceeded 20% and were difficult for Thoughtworks and its clients to secure. FICO's Mike Turck echoed that dozens of FICO's software suppliers provided free AI capabilities during renewals this year, with vendors treating customers with "greater flexibility" as they recalibrate pricing.

HubSpot is a prime example. Yamini Rangan, CEO of the sales software firm, said the company launched free trials of AI agents for up to 30 days in April, adding a new billing model based on tasks completed by AI agents, on top of existing subscription fees. That change seemed minor, but in the fiscal quarter ending in June, HubSpot's revenue growth slowed, reflecting a cost on the revenue front.

Adobe, in turn, is offering free access to basic versions of some AI products, with advanced features available for an extra fee. Adobe said this strategy has boosted usage of Firefly, its AI image and video suite, but executives acknowledged in this month's earnings call that the freemium approach has weighed on the company's backlog of deferred revenue and annual recurring revenue growth.

Microsoft and Amazon Join the Fight

It's not just legacy software vendors launching promotional pricing; major cloud providers like Microsoft and Amazon.com are also stepping up incentives to draw customers to their AI offerings. A Microsoft employee familiar with the matter revealed that, beyond free credits and billing grace periods, the company has recently relaxed discount policies for its Copilot AI software aimed at corporate clients. Copilot subscriptions typically cost $30 per user per month, with extra usage-based fees for features like Copilot Cowork. The employee said that in recent months, Microsoft introduced a policy offering 5% to 10% discounts per seat for companies purchasing at least 2,000 seats. Previously, such discounts were reserved for mega-clients buying hundreds of thousands of seats, like KPMG or PwC. The new discounts could save customers hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Beyond its cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has long been active in software sales. Chris Daniluk, co-founder of consultancy Rhythmic Technologies, which helps businesses deploy on AWS, said AWS offered him free access for about four months to the highest-tier version of its AI coding assistant, Kiro. Daniluk declined the offer because his company is already using Claude Code. "Most clients have already chosen their tech stack, and AWS is trying to grab market share through discounts," Daniluk said. Despite the aggressive offers from AWS, he noted that Rhythmic and most of its clients have not adopted Kiro, although the product does have a user base among developers. An AWS spokesperson said, "We are committed to getting our AI technology into as many customers' hands as possible," adding that the number of developers using Kiro doubled between the first and second quarters of 2026. A person involved in the matter said AWS is finalizing a new program that would provide funding to select consulting partners to create AI product demos and pilot projects for clients. Consultants could receive up to about $50,000 for building demos, and pilot projects could qualify for funding of up to roughly $400,000.