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SaaS Pricing Models & Billing

pricing-models

SaaS pricing models: per-seat, usage-based, tiered, freemium economics. Stripe subscription schema (Products, Prices, Subscriptions, Metered billing), upgrade/downgrade proration, trial periods, dunning management, LTV:CAC ratio targets. Pricing psychology principles. Use when designing pricing s...

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SaaS Pricing Models & Billing

When to use

  • Choosing pricing model for a SaaS product
  • Implementing subscription billing with Stripe
  • Designing upgrade/​downgrade flows with proration
  • Setting up usage-based metered billing
  • Managing failed payments (dunning)

Core principles

  1. Pricing is product strategy — your pricing model determines what behavior you incentivize
  2. Value metric alignment — the thing you charge for should grow as value delivered grows
  3. Freemium is a distribution strategy, not a pricing model — conversion rate 1-5% is normal; plan the economics
  4. Metered billing lowers entry cost — but increases customer unpredictability anxiety
  5. LTV:CAC > 3x is the benchmark — below 1x is burning cash; below 3x means slow growth

References available

  • references/​saas-pricing.md — per-seat vs usage-based vs tiered vs flat-rate decision guide, freemium economics
  • references/​billing-integration.md — Stripe subscription schema, proration behavior, dunning retry schedule, trial reminders
  • references/​freemium-strategy.md — conversion benchmarks, activation milestone design, churn targets by segment