A Quick Look at SitecoreAI 'Essentials Tier'

Since the announcement of SitecoreAI, people have had questions about how the pricing works on a unified platform comprised of multiple modules and services, with all AI functionality "included".

Sitecore has made it clear that there is a difference between SitecoreAI (the unified software platform) and the underlying contract that Sitecore has with its customers. Customers will benefit from easily expanding their marketing capabilities via baseline entitlements for modules such as Search, Personalize, AI, and CDP, but beyond a certain level of usage, customers will need to amend their contract.

If you have an existing contract with Sitecore that included what was previously known as XM Cloud, when you log in to the Sitecore portal, you will be presented with a prompt to accept additional terms, which entitles you to use the "Essentials Tier" of SitecoreAI, which includes gen AI functionality.

Sitecore's legal order definitions provides insight into the definitions of these metrics.

The Essentials Tier agreement and table above do not call out "Visits" as a metric, though it was mentioned at Symposium 2025. Looking at the legal order definitions, "Visits" does appear in numerous sections:

An instance where an application (e.g. website or any other software application running on a digital device) is presenting, using or otherwise leveraging content, data or functionality originating from (whether accessed directly or indirectly) the SaaS Product to service a single person within a given Time Frame.

In other words, a Visit could be considered a single user session, up to some threshold.

Any instance in which the SaaS Product dynamically personalizes, delivers, or responds to a user's activity, profile, or context across digital channels. Examples include, but are not limited to, search queries, personalized content, recommendations, messages, or offers. “Experience Interactions” also include system-triggered, agentic, or user-defined events configured within the application, such as custom actions, signals, or API calls that initiate or record a personalized or contextual response.

Based on this definition, it sounds like one could blow through this quite quickly. What consumption rates look like in practice is not yet clear.

A permission-based role within the Sitecore Agentic Studio that grants an individual the ability to create and configure Custom Agents.

Here's what the contract says:

If You exceed the SitecoreAI Essentials Entitlements during Your applicable subscription term, You should contact Your Sitecore representative to enter into a new Agreement within 30 days of exceeding the SitecoreAI Essentials Entitlements. If not, Sitecore will be entitled to invoice You for any usage above the SitecoreAI Essentials Entitlements, at its then-current applicable rates.

This looks like the usual honor system that Sitecore customers are used to, with the caveat of being responsible for paying for any usage above the Essentials Tier entitlements. Sitecore customers would be wise to closely monitor their usage. It's possible that Sitecore will provide a way to monitor usage, but that's not yet clear.

Keep billing,

-MG