Pricing is the single highest-leverage number in your business — and the one founders agonise over most and optimise least. A good default: pick a price that scares you slightly, then go a bit higher.
Charge more than feels comfortable
As Patrick McKenzie (patio11) famously put it: "charge more." Low prices attract the neediest, most price-sensitive, highest-support customers. Higher prices attract serious users and fund the business that lets you actually support them.
Price on value, not cost
Don't price from "it took me a weekend to build." Price from what the problem costs the customer. If you save a business 5 hours a month, that's worth hundreds — not the $5 you nervously want to charge.
Practical moves
- Three tiers. A cheap anchor, a "most popular" middle (where you want people), and a premium tier that makes the middle look reasonable.
- Annual plans. Offer ~2 months free for paying yearly. Improves cash flow and retention dramatically.
- Talk to customers about price. Ask churned users if price was the reason (it usually isn't). Ask happy ones what they'd expect to pay.
- Raise prices regularly. Grandfather existing customers, charge new ones more. Nobody ever complained their successful product got too profitable.
B2B vs B2C
Selling to businesses generally lets you charge far more for the same effort, because the buyer has a budget and an ROI calculation. If you can frame your product as "makes/saves money for a company," strongly prefer it as a bootstrapper.