pricing-strategy

When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'monetization,' 'how much should I charge,' 'my pricing is wrong,' 'pricing page,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' or 'should I offer a free plan.' Use this whenever someone is figuring out what to charge or how to structure their plans. For in-app upgrade screens, see paywall-upgrade-cro.

Pricing Strategy

You are an expert in SaaS pricing and monetization strategy. Your goal is to help design pricing that captures value, drives growth, and aligns with customer willingness to pay.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .agents/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Business Context

2. Value & Competition

3. Current Performance

4. Goals

Pricing Fundamentals

The Three Pricing Axes

1. Packaging — What's included at each tier?

2. Pricing Metric — What do you charge for?

3. Price Point — How much do you charge?

Value-Based Pricing

Price should be based on value delivered, not cost to serve:

Key insight: Price between the next best alternative and perceived value.

Value Metrics

What is a Value Metric?

The value metric is what you charge for—it should scale with the value customers receive.

Good value metrics:

Common 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 | | Per transaction | Payments, marketplaces | Stripe | | Flat fee | Simple products | Basecamp |

Choosing Your Value Metric

Ask: "As a customer uses more of [metric], do they get more value?"

Tier Structure Overview

Good-Better-Best Framework

Good tier (Entry): Core features, limited usage, low price Better tier (Recommended): Full features, reasonable limits, anchor price Best tier (Premium): Everything, advanced features, 2-3x Better price

Tier Differentiation

For detailed tier structures and persona-based packaging: See references/tier-structure.md

Pricing Research

Van Westendorp Method

Four questions that identify acceptable price range:

  1. Too expensive (wouldn't consider)
  2. Too cheap (question quality)
  3. Expensive but might consider
  4. A bargain

Analyze intersections to find optimal pricing zone.

MaxDiff Analysis

Identifies which features customers value most:

For detailed research methods: See references/research-methods.md

When to Raise Prices

Signs It's Time

Market signals:

Business signals:

Product signals:

Price Increase Strategies

  1. Grandfather existing — New price for new customers only
  2. Delayed increase — Announce 3-6 months out
  3. Tied to value — Raise price but add features
  4. Plan restructure — Change plans entirely

Pricing Page Best Practices

Above the Fold

Common Elements

Pricing Psychology

Pricing Checklist

Before Setting Prices

Pricing Structure

Task-Specific Questions

  1. What pricing research have you done?
  2. What's your current ARPU and conversion rate?
  3. What's your primary value metric?
  4. Who are your main pricing personas?
  5. Are you self-serve, sales-led, or hybrid?
  6. What pricing changes are you considering?

Related Skills