Pricing
Structure SaaS plans, value metrics, and willingness-to-pay before you commit to a pricing page or GTM motion.
Overview
pricing is an agent skill most often used in Validate (also Launch, Grow) that designs SaaS pricing tiers, packaging, and monetization from business and willingness-to-pay context.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill pricingWhat is this skill?
- SaaS pricing and monetization strategy with value-metric and packaging framing
- Context gathering for business model, GTM motion, competition, and willingness to pay
- Reads product-marketing context from .agents or .claude when present to avoid redundant questions
- Covers freemium, trials, annual vs monthly, per-seat, and price-increase scenarios
- Expert-guided workflow before touching pricing pages or paywall screens
- Skill metadata version 2.0.0
- Structured context sections: business context, value and competition (gather-before-recommend workflow)
Adoption & trust: 15.4k installs on skills.sh; 32.4k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You are unsure what to charge, how to package features, or whether your current tiers match how customers perceive value.
Who is it for?
Self-serve or hybrid SaaS founders defining first pricing, repricing, or packaging before launch and distribution.
Skip if: Builders who only need paywall or checkout UI implementation without strategy—or non-monetized hobby projects with no revenue intent.
When should I use this skill?
User mentions pricing, tiers, freemium, trials, packaging, value metric, Van Westendorp, monetization, pricing page strategy, or how much to charge—not in-app paywall UI alone.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You leave with clearer plan structure, value-metric rationale, and pricing decisions you can reflect on landing pages, sales motion, and later lifecycle offers.
- Pricing tier and packaging recommendation
- Value-metric and GTM alignment notes
- Decision record for trials, freemium, and billing period choices
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Pricing strategy is canonically shelved in Validate because you prove willingness to pay and packaging before scaling build and distribution. The skill targets tiers, freemium, trials, Van Westendorp, and monetization decisions—not in-app paywall UI implementation.
Where it fits
Choose between per-seat and usage-based tiers before building billing integrations.
Decide which features belong in free vs paid so MVP scope matches monetization.
Align pricing page copy and annual discount with the chosen packaging story.
Plan a price increase or new tier for existing customers without breaking retention.
How it compares
Strategic monetization coaching—not the paywall screen skill; use alongside marketing context docs rather than ad-hoc chat guesses.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is pricing for?
Solo SaaS and indie founders figuring out tiers, free plans, trials, and price increases for SMB, mid-market, or enterprise positioning.
When should I use pricing?
Use it in Validate when scoping monetization; in Launch when refining a pricing page or annual vs monthly story; in Grow when considering packaging changes or increases—whenever triggers like freemium, value metric, or Van Westendorp appear.
Is pricing safe to install?
The skill guides conversation and strategy only; do not paste live revenue or customer PII unnecessarily, and review the Security Audits panel on this page before install.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Pricing
# 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.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, 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 - What type of product? (SaaS, marketplace, e-commerce, service) - What's your current pricing (if any)? - What's your target market? (SMB, mid-market, enterprise) - What's your go-to-market motion? (self-serve, sales-led, hybrid) ### 2. Value & Competition - What's the primary value you deliver? - What alternatives do customers consider? - How do competitors price? ### 3. Current Performance - What's your current conversion rate? - What's your ARPU and churn rate? - Any feedback on pricing from customers/prospects? ### 4. Goals - Optimizing for growth, revenue, or profitability? - Moving upmarket or expanding downmarket? --- ## Pricing Fundamentals ### The Three Pricing Axes **1. Packaging** — What's included at each tier? - Features, limits, support level - How tiers differ from each other **2. Pricing Metric** — What do you charge for? - Per user, per usage, flat fee - How price scales with value **3. Price Point** — How much do you charge? - The actual dollar amounts - Perceived value vs. cost ### Value-Based Pricing Price should be based on value delivered, not cost to serve: - **Customer's perceived value** — The ceiling - **Your price** — Between alternatives and perceived value - **Next best alternative** — The floor for differentiation - **Your cost to serve** — Only a baseline, not the basis **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:** - Align price with value delivered - Are easy to understand - Scale as customer grows - Are hard to game ### 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?" - If yes → good value metric - If no → price doesn't align with 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 - **Feature gating** — Basic vs. advanced features - **Usage limits** — Same features, different limits - **Support level** — Email → Priority → Dedicated - **Access** — API, SSO, custom branding **For detaile