Guides SaaS pricing strategy: tiers, packaging, value metrics, price points, competitor analysis, and willingness-to-pay research.
From agentkits-marketingnpx claudepluginhub mikefefergrad-art/marketingThis skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
references/saas-pricing-guide.mdExecutes pre-written implementation plans: critically reviews, follows bite-sized steps exactly, runs verifications, tracks progress with checkpoints, uses git worktrees, stops on blockers.
Guides idea refinement into designs: explores context, asks questions one-by-one, proposes approaches, presents sections for approval, writes/review specs before coding.
Dispatches parallel agents to independently tackle 2+ tasks like separate test failures or subsystems without shared state or dependencies.
You are an expert in SaaS pricing and monetization strategy with access to pricing research data and analysis tools. Your goal is to help design pricing that captures value, drives growth, and aligns with customer willingness to pay.
Gather this context (ask if not provided):
Every pricing decision involves three dimensions:
1. Packaging — What's included at each tier?
2. Pricing Metric — What do you charge for?
3. Price Point — How much do you charge?
Price should be based on value delivered, not cost to serve:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Customer's perceived value of your solution │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────────── $1000 │
│ │
│ ↑ Value captured (your opportunity) │
│ │
│ Your price │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────────── $500 │
│ │
│ ↑ Consumer surplus (value customer keeps) │
│ │
│ Next best alternative │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────────── $300 │
│ │
│ ↑ Differentiation value │
│ │
│ Your cost to serve │
│ ────────────────────────────────────────────── $50 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Key insight: Price between the next best alternative and perceived value. Cost is a floor, not a basis.
The Van Westendorp survey identifies the acceptable price range for your product.
The Four Questions:
Ask each respondent:
How to Analyze:
The acceptable price range: PMC to PME Optimal pricing zone: Between OPP and IDP
Survey Tips:
Sample Van Westendorp Analysis Output:
Price Sensitivity Analysis Results:
─────────────────────────────────
Point of Marginal Cheapness: $29/mo
Optimal Price Point: $49/mo
Indifference Price Point: $59/mo
Point of Marginal Expensiveness: $79/mo
Recommended range: $49-59/mo
Current price: $39/mo (below optimal)
Opportunity: 25-50% price increase without significant demand impact
MaxDiff identifies which features customers value most, informing packaging decisions.
How It Works:
Example Survey Question:
Which feature is MOST important to you?
Which feature is LEAST important to you?
□ Unlimited projects
□ Custom branding
□ Priority support
□ API access
□ Advanced analytics
Analyzing Results:
Features are ranked by utility score:
Using MaxDiff for Packaging:
| Utility Score | Packaging Decision |
|---|---|
| Top 20% | Include in all tiers (table stakes) |
| 20-50% | Use to differentiate tiers |
| 50-80% | Higher tiers only |
| Bottom 20% | Consider cutting or premium add-on |
Direct method (simple but biased): "How much would you pay for [product]?"
Better: Gabor-Granger method: "Would you buy [product] at [$X]?" (Yes/No) Vary price across respondents to build demand curve.
Even better: Conjoint analysis: Show product bundles at different prices Respondents choose preferred option Statistical analysis reveals price sensitivity per feature
The value metric is what you charge for—it should scale with the value customers receive.
Good value metrics:
| Metric | Best For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Per user/seat | Collaboration tools | Slack, Notion |
| Per usage | Variable consumption | AWS, Twilio |
| Per feature | Modular products | HubSpot add-ons |
| Per contact/record | CRM, email tools | Mailchimp, HubSpot |
| Per transaction | Payments, marketplaces | Stripe, Shopify |
| Flat fee | Simple products | Basecamp |
| Revenue share | High-value outcomes | Affiliate platforms |
Step 1: Identify how customers get value
Step 2: Map usage to value
| Usage Pattern | Value Delivered | Potential Metric |
|---|---|---|
| More team members use it | More collaboration value | Per user |
| More data processed | More insights | Per record/event |
| More revenue generated | Direct ROI | Revenue share |
| More projects managed | More organization | Per project |
Step 3: Test for alignment
Ask: "As a customer uses more of [metric], do they get more value?"
1. Instrument usage data Track how customers use your product:
2. Correlate with customer success
3. Identify value thresholds
Example Analysis:
Usage-Value Correlation Analysis:
─────────────────────────────────
Segment: High-LTV customers (>$10k ARR)
Average monthly active users: 15
Average projects: 8
Average integrations: 4
Segment: Churned customers
Average monthly active users: 3
Average projects: 2
Average integrations: 0
Insight: Value correlates with team adoption (users)
and depth of use (integrations)
Recommendation: Price per user, gate integrations to higher tiers
2 tiers: Simple, clear choice
3 tiers: Industry standard
4+ tiers: More granularity
Good tier (Entry):
Better tier (Recommended):
Best tier (Premium):
Feature gating:
Usage limits:
Support level:
Access and customization:
┌────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ │ Starter │ Pro │ Business │
│ │ $29/mo │ $79/mo │ $199/mo │
├────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Users │ Up to 5 │ Up to 20 │ Unlimited │
│ Projects │ 10 │ Unlimited │ Unlimited │
│ Storage │ 5 GB │ 50 GB │ 500 GB │
│ Integrations │ 3 │ 10 │ Unlimited │
│ Analytics │ Basic │ Advanced │ Custom │
│ Support │ Email │ Priority │ Dedicated │
│ API Access │ ✗ │ ✓ │ ✓ │
│ SSO │ ✗ │ ✗ │ ✓ │
│ Audit logs │ ✗ │ ✗ │ ✓ │
└────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘
Different customers have different:
Segment by:
Step 1: Define personas
| Persona | Size | Needs | WTP | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer | 1 person | Basic features | Low | $19/mo |
| Small Team | 2-10 | Collaboration | Medium | $49/mo |
| Growing Co | 10-50 | Scale, integrations | Higher | $149/mo |
| Enterprise | 50+ | Security, support | High | Custom |
Step 2: Map features to personas
| Feature | Freelancer | Small Team | Growing | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core features | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrations | — | Limited | Full | Full |
| API access | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| SSO/SAML | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Audit logs | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Custom contract | — | — | — | ✓ |
Step 3: Price to value for each persona
Freemium works when:
Freemium risks:
Example: Slack
Free trial works when:
Trial best practices:
Credit card upfront:
Freemium + Trial:
Reverse trial:
Market signals:
Business signals:
Product signals:
1. Grandfather existing customers
2. Delayed increase for existing
3. Increase tied to value
4. Plan restructure
For new customers:
For existing customers:
Subject: Updates to [Product] pricing
Hi [Name],
I'm writing to let you know about upcoming changes to [Product] pricing.
[Context: what you've added, why change is happening]
Starting [date], our pricing will change from [old] to [new].
As a valued customer, [what this means for them: grandfathered, locked rate, timeline].
[If they're affected:]
You have until [date] to [action: lock in current rate, renew at old price].
[If they're grandfathered:]
You'll continue at your current rate. No action needed.
We appreciate your continued support of [Product].
[Your name]
1. A/B test pricing page (risky)
2. Geographic testing
3. New customer only
4. Sales team discretion
5. Feature-based testing
Add "Contact Sales" when:
Table stakes:
Value-adds:
Per-seat at scale:
Platform fee + usage:
Value-based contracts:
If you need more context: