What pricing model will be used (subscription, usage‑based, tiered) and how will it affect ARR and gross margin?

Likely pricing structure

CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform has always been sold on a subscription‑based, tiered model (e‑value, enterprise, and platform tiers) with per‑endpoint or per‑identity licenses. The new Falcon Next‑Gen Identity Security will almost certainly be added as an additional subscription tier – either a “Identity‑Protect” add‑on or a new, higher‑priced tier that bundles the existing endpoint‑protection suite with identity coverage. Because the solution protects both human and machine identities (including AI agents), CrowdStrike may also introduce a usage‑based component for high‑volume, non‑human identities (e.g., API keys, service‑account tokens) that are billed per‑thousand identities or per‑API call. In practice, the product will be a hybrid: a base subscription price plus a usage‑based surcharge for large, dynamic identity pools.

Impact on ARR and gross margin

• ARR: Adding an identity‑security layer expands the “share‑of‑wallet” opportunity on existing customers and opens a new cross‑sell channel to enterprises that have historically bought only endpoint protection. Assuming a modest 5‑10 % uplift in the average contract value (ACV) for existing customers and a 15‑20 % net‑new acquisition rate among identity‑focused firms, CrowdStrike’s ARR could accelerate by ~8‑12 % YoY once the product reaches scale. The usage‑based element further monetizes high‑volume machine identities, turning what was previously a cost‑center (e.g., cloud‑API usage) into recurring revenue.

• Gross margin: The Falcon platform is already a high‑margin SaaS business (gross margins in the high‑70 % range). Adding a subscription‑plus‑usage‑based product does not materially increase cost of goods sold because the solution leverages the same cloud‑native infrastructure and AI engine. In fact, the incremental gross‑margin contribution should be slightly higher than the core endpoint‑protection suite, as the identity‑security component is largely software‑only with minimal hardware or professional‑services spend. Consequently, the blended gross margin for the platform is likely to edge up by 50–100 bps as the new tier ramps, reinforcing the “high‑margin growth” narrative that the market rewards in CrowdStrike’s valuation.