Special edition

1 april 2024

~7 min read

Abaa charges a cat for using their software

Per user pricing has found its newest victim—a gray tabby that goes by the name Mr Mittens.

Cat looking at laptop.webp

Ever since software company Abaa started charging its customers based on the number of people viewing their application, they’ve been billing local start-up founder Jeff for his cat as well. 

“Mr Mittens likes to lounge on my lap, or sometimes on my keyboard, when I'm working. He pretends he doesn't care what I’m up to, but I’ve often caught him staring at my screen—and I got charged for that. I got a bill for two users, not one, last month,” lamented Jeff. “I mean, he’s a cat, he doesn’t actually use the application. He just likes to look.”

Abaa uses your device’s front camera to scan the faces viewing the screen to determine the number of users. Jeff is the only employee at his company and had been using the single user plan, but is now being asked to upgrade to the team plan to account for Mr Mittens’ usage.

The internet is divided on this issue, with half defending Abaa and the other supporting Jeff, but they’re united in their demand for cat tax. “I’m inclined to side with Abaa here—today, it was a cat, but tomorrow, it could be another employee on Jeff’s lap,” a source stated. “I’m Team Abaa. It’s been two days and Jeff hasn’t even posted a single picture of Mr Mittens yet!” complained an enraged twitter user. Abaa and Mr Mittens have declined to comment.