name: pricing-strategy description: "Analyze and design pricing strategies including pricing models, competitive pricing analysis, willingness-to-pay estimation, and price elasticity. Use when setting prices, evaluating pricing models, preparing for a pricing change, or comparing freemium vs paid approaches."
Pricing Strategy
Design a pricing strategy grounded in value delivery, competitive positioning, and willingness to pay.
Context
You are developing a pricing strategy for $ARGUMENTS.
If the user provides files (competitor pricing, survey data, financial models, or usage data), read them first. Use web search to research competitor pricing if needed.
Instructions
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Understand the value delivered:
- What is the core value proposition?
- What is the customer's alternative (and its cost)?
- What quantifiable outcomes does the product deliver? (time saved, revenue gained, cost reduced)
- What is the customer's willingness to pay based on that value?
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Evaluate pricing models — recommend the best fit:
| Model | Best For | Example | |---|---|---| | Flat-rate | Simple products, predictable costs | Basecamp ($99/mo flat) | | Per-seat | Collaboration tools, team products | Slack, Figma | | Usage-based | Infrastructure, API products | AWS, Twilio | | Tiered | Products with distinct user segments | Most SaaS (Free/Pro/Enterprise) | | Freemium | Products with viral/network effects | Spotify, Notion | | Freemium + usage | Platform products | Vercel, OpenAI API | | Value-based | High-impact enterprise tools | Salesforce, Palantir |
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Analyze competitive pricing:
- Map competitor pricing tiers and what's included
- Identify where your product sits (premium, mid-market, budget)
- Find pricing gaps or opportunities
- Note any industry pricing conventions
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Design the pricing structure:
- Tiers: Define 2-4 tiers with clear differentiation
- Feature gating: Which features go in which tier? (Use value metrics, not arbitrary limits)
- Value metric: What unit do you charge on? (users, events, storage, API calls)
- Anchor pricing: Set the most popular tier to feel like the obvious choice
- Annual discount: Typically 15-20% off monthly pricing
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Estimate price sensitivity:
- Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter (if survey data available):
- Too cheap → quality concerns
- Cheap → good value
- Expensive → starting to hesitate
- Too expensive → won't buy
- Alternatively, estimate based on competitor pricing and value delivered
- Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter (if survey data available):
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Plan pricing experiments:
- A/B test pricing pages (different price points, tier names, feature bundles)
- Founder-led sales conversations to test willingness to pay
- Landing page tests with different price anchors
- Cohort analysis of conversion rates by price point
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Output a pricing recommendation:
Recommended Model: [Model type] Value Metric: [What you charge on] | Tier | Price | Target Segment | Key Features | Positioning | |---|---|---|---|---| Key Assumptions: - [Assumption] → [How to test] Risks: - [Risk] → [Mitigation]
Think step by step. Save as markdown. Flag any assumptions that need validation before launch.