Strategies: Pricing

Guides pricing strategy and structure for SaaS, tools, and products. Covers pricing models, tier design, anchoring, and when to apply discounts. For pricing page content and layout, see pricing-page-generator. For discount and promotional pricing, see discount-marketing-strategy.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for product, value proposition, and competitors.

Identify:

1. Product type: SaaS, tool, e-commerce
2. Value metric: What drives value (seats, usage, features)
3. Market: Competitor pricing; willingness to pay
4. Goals: Revenue, adoption, retention

Pricing Models

Model	Use
Subscription	Recurring; monthly/annual; most SaaS
Freemium	Free tier + paid; adoption then conversion
Usage-based	Pay per use; API, credits
One-time	Perpetual license; some tools
Hybrid	Base + usage; tiered + overage

Variable-cost products (compute, API, AI): When per-user cost varies widely (heavy users cost 10×+ light users), uniform subscription often fails. Use usage-based, credits, or tiered-by-usage; align price to cost structure.

Tier Design

• 2–4 tiers typical; avoid too many options
• Differentiation: Clear "best for" per tier; feature gates
• Anchoring: Lead with mid-tier or annual; make target option obvious
• Value metric: Align price to value (seats, projects, API calls)

Anchoring & Presentation

• Annual discount: 15–25% for annual prepay; improves cash flow
• Decoy: Higher tier makes mid-tier look better
• Most popular: Highlight recommended plan
• Price display: Monthly vs annual; show savings

When to Use Discounts

Discounts apply on top of base pricing. See discount-marketing-strategy for:

• Annual commitment discounts
• First-time / new customer promotions
• Lifetime deals (LTD)
• Seasonal (BFCM)
• Referral, contest, affiliate codes

Principle: Set base price for long-term value; use discounts tactically for acquisition, retention, or cash flow.

Output Format

• Pricing model recommendation
• Tier structure (plans, features, price points)
• Anchoring approach
• Discount fit (when to use; reference discount-marketing-strategy)
• pricing-page-generator (page execution)

Related Skills

• discount-marketing-strategy: Promotional pricing; when and how to discount
• pricing-page-generator: Pricing page content, structure, conversion
• landing-page-generator: Click-through to pricing
• localization-strategy: Pricing by market (true localization vs cosmetic); see Pricing Strategies section