Pricing Your SaaS Right: 5 Mistakes I Made

Pricing is the biggest lever for your revenue. A 10% price increase goes straight to your profit – without a single new customer. Yet pricing is the area where we solo devs make the most mistakes.

Here are the 5 most expensive mistakes I made. So you don't have to repeat them.

Mistake #1: Pricing Too Low Out of Fear

This is the classic. And I was the master of it.

My thoughts back then:

• "Who's going to pay $49 for a tool from a nobody?"
• "At $9, the barrier is lower, I'll get more customers"
• "I can always raise prices later when the product is better"

All wrong.

Why Low Prices Sabotage You

1. You attract the wrong customers

Customers who find $9 too expensive are rarely the customers you want. They often have the highest expectations, need the most support, and have the lowest loyalty.

Customers who are willing to pay $49 or $99 understand the value of good tools. They stay longer, complain less, and refer others to you.

2. You need 10x more customers for the same revenue

Simple math:

• At $9/month, you need 111 customers for $1,000 MRR
• At $49/month, you only need 21 customers

You can personally support 21 customers. 111 customers become a full-time job.

3. Low prices signal low value

Whether we like it or not: people associate price with quality. A tool for $9 "can't be that good." One for $99 "must be legit."

The Solution

Double your price. Today.

I'm serious. If you're currently charging $19, make it $39. Watch what happens.

In 90% of cases: nothing bad. Your conversion rate might drop by 10-20%, but your revenue still increases.

If you're scared: Test it with new customers. Existing customers stay at the old price (grandfathering). You have nothing to lose.

Mistake #2: Too Many Pricing Tiers

My first pricing page had 5 tiers:

• Free
• Starter ($9)
• Pro ($19)
• Business ($49)
• Enterprise (contact us)

I thought more options = more chances someone will buy.

The opposite was true.

The Paradox of Choice

Psychological studies show: Too many options lead to decision paralysis. People don't buy anything because they're afraid of choosing the wrong option.

Also: Five tiers mean five different feature sets that you need to maintain, document, and support. As a solo dev, that's insanity.

The Solution

Maximum 3 tiers. Better: 2.

The best setup for most Micro-SaaS:

1. Free Trial (14 days, all features) – no permanently free version
2. Pro (your main product, one price)
3. Optional: Enterprise (only if you really want large customers)

Done. No Starter-Pro-Business confusion. One decision: Yes or No.

Mistake #3: Pricing by Features Instead of Value

My old pricing looked like this:

• Starter: 5 projects, 1 user
• Pro: 20 projects, 5 users
• Business: Unlimited projects, 20 users

The problem? My customers didn't think in "projects." They thought in "time saved" and "problems solved."

What Value-Based Pricing Means

Instead of asking "What does this feature cost me?", you ask: "What is the outcome worth to my customer?"

An example:

Your tool saves a freelancer 5 hours per week. At an hourly rate of $80, that's $400 per week, $1,600 per month.

Is $49/month too much for that? Of course not. That's an ROI of 3,200%.

But if you price by "number of projects," this value is hidden.

The Solution

Find the metric that matters to your customers.

• Does your tool save time? → "X hours saved per month"
• Does it increase revenue? → "Y% more conversions"
• Does it reduce costs? → "$Z less spending"

Communicate this metric on your pricing page. Let the customer calculate for themselves why your tool is worth it.

Mistake #4: Never Raising Prices

After launch, I kept the same price for 18 months.

During that time:

• I added dozens of features
• Inflation went up
• My customers got more and more value

My price? Unchanged.

Why We're Afraid of Price Increases

• "My existing customers will be angry"
• "I'll lose customers to the competition"
• "It feels greedy"

All understandable. All wrong.

What Actually Happens

I finally raised my price from $19 to $39. The result:

• 3 customers cancelled (out of over 200)
• 0 complaints from existing customers (who kept the old price)
• New customers paid without hesitation

Revenue from new customers doubled. Overnight.

The Solution

Raise your prices at least once a year.

Here's how to do it painlessly:

1. Grandfathering: Existing customers keep their old price (or only get 50% of the increase)
2. Advance notice: Inform them 30 days in advance via email
3. Justification: Show what features you've added

Most customers understand this. And those who cancel over $10 more were never your best customers anyway.

Mistake #5: Lifetime Deals at the Wrong Time

Ah, Lifetime Deals. The temptation for every indie hacker.

I offered an LTD for $99 – too early, too cheap, sold too many.

The result: 150 customers who expect support forever, want new features forever, and will never pay another cent.

When LTDs Make Sense

• You need quick capital for development
• You want to build your user base for social proof
• Your product is stable and you know exactly what features are coming

When LTDs Ruin You

• Your product is still being built
• You have no idea how much support you'll need to provide
• You sell unlimited LTDs

The Solution

If you do LTDs, do them right:

1. Limit the quantity (e.g., maximum 100 units)
2. Calculate realistically: An LTD should equal at least 3 years of subscription revenue
3. Communicate clearly: What's included, what's not (e.g., "all features up to version 2.0")
4. Timing: Only when your product is stable and you know what's coming

Even better: Instead of LTDs, offer an annual plan with 2 months free. You get upfront payment, the customer gets a discount, but you keep recurring revenue.

Bonus: My Pricing Checklist

Before you set your prices, go through these questions:

• Have I talked to at least 10 potential customers about willingness to pay?
• Is my price at least 2x higher than my first instinct?
• Do I have a maximum of 3 pricing tiers?
• Is my pricing based on customer value, not my costs?
• Do I have a plan for annual price increases?
• If LTD: Is the quantity limited and the price realistic?

Conclusion: Your Price is a Statement

Your price says something about you and your product.

$9 says: "I'm not sure if this is worth anything." $99 says: "I solve a real problem, and that has its price."

You've invested months or years in your product. You've solved a real problem. You deserve to be paid fairly for it.

So stop underselling yourself.

Raise your prices. Today.

What pricing mistake have you made? Or are you currently facing the decision of how to price? Write me – I reply to every message.