dev-tool-pricing
Applies when you are guessing at a price, priced on a gut feeling and feel stuck, don't know where the free line goes, or believe your users won't pay so you never charge. Produces a value metric, a free-to-paid packaging model, and a defensible number, from evidence rather than fear.
The three decisions, in order
Most founders skip to the third and wonder why nothing converts.
- Value metric — what you charge per. The most important call; get it wrong and no tier structure saves you.
- Packaging — what is free, paid, and enterprise, and what triggers the upgrade.
- The number — the actual price on each tier.
Price against the value the customer receives, never against your cost or your fear. Your infrastructure bill is a floor, not a strategy.
Are you ready to price?
Do not gate before you have proof people come back. If second-week retention is weak, a paywall just turns a leaky funnel into a smaller one; prove retention first, then monetize. The exception: if buyers are already asking to pay you, that is a green light at any stage. Stated willingness to pay is the strongest signal there is.
The value metric
Charge for the thing that grows as the customer gets more value. A good metric scales with their success (seats, active users, projects, events, calls, data, builds), stays predictable enough to forecast, and is legible in one sentence.