Money, Pricing & Model

How many pricing tiers should I have and how should I package them?

A starting point

Three tiers is the sweet spot: a clear entry plan, a 'most people pick this' middle tier, and a premium tier that makes the middle look reasonable. Package around customer segments and their willingness to pay, not around random feature lists. Always have an enterprise 'call us' option so you never leave big money on the table.

Go deeper

Watch

▶️ Video
Free Beginner

Startup Pricing 101

On ycombinator.com by Kevin Hale (Y Combinator) ~35 min video + transcript

Why we picked it

Kevin Hale's YC lecture is the clearest introduction to pricing first principles and the mistakes founders repeat. The pricing-thermometer framework (cost, price, value) is worth the watch alone.

  • The most common pricing mistake is charging far too little
  • Price sits between your cost and the value delivered, anchor to value
  • Small price increases often have an outsized impact on your ability to grow
Open ycombinator.com →

Read

📄 Article
Free Intermediate

Pricing Your SaaS Product

From lennysnewsletter.com by Patrick Campbell (ProfitWell), via Lenny's Newsletter long-form guide

Why we picked it

Patrick Campbell built ProfitWell on pricing data from thousands of companies, and this is the single best free deep-dive on SaaS pricing strategy. It's the canonical starting point for value metrics, segments, and packaging.

  • Get your value metric right and you can afford to get other things wrong
  • Pricing is built on quantified buyer personas and willingness to pay
  • Optimize pricing quarterly, it's an ongoing process, not a one-time decision
Open lennysnewsletter.com →
📄 Article
Freemium Intermediate

The Ultimate Guide to Willingness to Pay

From lennysnewsletter.com by Lenny Rachitsky & Patrick Campbell long-form guide

Why we picked it

The most concrete guide to actually measuring what customers will pay, including survey methods and tier design. It turns pricing from guesswork into a research-driven process.

  • Measure willingness to pay directly through structured customer research
  • Design tiers around distinct customer segments, not arbitrary feature bundles
  • Localize pricing by market and currency to capture willingness to pay everywhere
Open lennysnewsletter.com →

People also ask

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