Newsletter · 12 min read

The good, bad and ugly of SaaS pricing changes

Rob Litterst and John Kotowski · Growth Unhinged Freemium Intermediate

Worked examples rather than theory, across hundreds of tracked price changes: who repackaged well (Ahrefs, Loom, Pipedrive), who took the backlash (Docker at 67 to 80 percent), and what separated them. Read it to calibrate how big a move you can make.

  • PricingSaaS tracked 339 changes across the top SaaS companies in one year: 126 pricing updates and 213 packaging updates.
  • Pipedrive added an Enterprise plan to anchor high, making the Professional tier look like the sensible buy.
  • Docker raised Pro 80 percent and Team 67 percent but left Business flat, missing its least price sensitive segment.
  • Zapier's new Professional plan shipped the same functionality at a 61 percent discount, roughly 30 dollars of price left behind.
Open on growthunhinged.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. I want to raise prices. What happens to the customers who are already paying me, and should I grandfather them?

Read with it

  1. Podcast · ~60 min How Khadim Batti Built Whatfix Into a ~$900 Million Global SaaS Leader Khadim Batti
  2. The most sympathetic answer to this question: raise on new customers, leave the early believers alone while you are growing... SaaStr Article · 6 min read Dear SaaStr: How Do You Change the Price of Your SaaS Product Without Upsetting Existing Customers? Jason Lemkin
  3. A primary source rather than commentary: how India's largest software company actually told customers about a 15 percent rise.... Zoho Article · 5 min read Zoho Price Change Notice Zoho
  4. Video · 35 min Zapier’s Pricing Transformation: From Testing Gone Wrong to Usage-Based Wins | Beelieve 2025 Zapier monetization team
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