The usage-based pricing model used by New Relic takes into account various factors that can affect data ingest costs for organizations. To estimate these costs, users can set up a test New Relic account and extrapolate their usage from it or use the cost estimator spreadsheet provided by the company. The spreadsheet allows users to input estimated data volumes for different types of data sources, such as APM agents, infrastructure agents, and logs, and provides an estimated total cost based on these inputs. Additionally, users can adjust retention settings to account for longer-term storage of data, which affects the overall cost. While the cost estimator is designed to provide directional guidance, it's essential to note that actual costs may vary depending on individual organization architectures and New Relic setups.