21 Examples of a Revenue Model

John Spacey, updated on May 18, 2023

A revenue model describes how a business generates income. This is less comprehensive than a business model that describes how an business captures value. Revenue models are specific to how revenue is structured and priced. The following are common revenue models.

Admission Fees Paying to attend an event or club good such as a theme park.	Advertising Fees to get a message to an audience.
Arbitrage Trying to buy low and sell high to take advantage or price differences between markets.	Commissions Earning a commission on a transaction such as a real estate agent who charges the buyer or seller a fee to close a transaction.
Donations Donations or ongoing donations by subscription.	Fixed Fee Delivering labor on a project, activity, task or deliverable for one fixed fee.
Franchises Providing a turnkey business for a fee.	Free Trials Offering a limited time for free after which a service requires payment.
Freemiums Offering a free version of a service with charges for upgrades.	Hourly rate Charging an hourly rate for labor, consulting, freelancing or professional services.
Insurance Fees for transferring a risk. This generates a fund that can be invested until the risk occurs.	Interest Interest on loans and other credit products.
Licensing Allowing others to use intellectual property for a fee.	Memberships A recurring fee for access to a service.
Pay-per-use Charges based on use or consumption of a resource.	Pay-per-user Membership, licensing or subscription fees for multiple users. Common in industries such as business software.
Rental and Leasing Paying to use an asset for a period of time.	Sales Markup Selling goods and services at more than your cost. A common revenue model across manufacturing, wholesale, retail and ecommerce.
Subscriptions A recurring fee for access or regular deliveries.	Time and materials Charging an hourly fee for labor plus any expenses that are incurred on behalf of the customer.
Transaction Fees Fees for a transaction such as a payment.

While there are a large number of business models and industries, there are very few revenue models. Most businesses either charge markup, service fees, usage fees, commissions or transaction fees. Subscriptions are a type of recurring service fee.

21 Examples of a Revenue Model

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