SaaS pricing strategy for your first product: the just-start price, the 10-20% value test, three tiers, and the 4 signals it is time to raise. Full walkthrough.
Price your first SaaS in three phases: a "just start" price of €10–50/month to get your first 3–5 customers paying anything, a value-test price at 10–20% of the ROI you deliver once you have 5–10 customers, and three tiers once you have 10–20. Your first price is a guess — the goal isn't to get it perfect, it's to start charging, learn, and iterate.
This is the step-by-step decision walkthrough. If you want the research method for picking a number within a range, that's the four-question zero-data pricing framework; if you need proof you're almost certainly underpricing, that's you're charging too little. This post answers the practical question: which number goes on the pricing page this week — and what triggers changing it.
Why first-SaaS pricing is different
Traditional pricing advice assumes an established brand, proven value, customer testimonials, market data, and competitors to benchmark against. You have none of that. You have an MVP that barely works, a hypothesis about value, and zero customers. So stop reading pricing guides written for established companies — you're not optimizing revenue yet, you're validating that anyone will pay at all. Everyone gets pricing wrong at first. The founders who win are the ones who start charging anyway.
Phase 1: the "just start" price
Goal: get your first 3–5 customers paying anything. Pick a number that feels uncomfortably low but isn't free, covers your costs, is easy to say yes to, and can be raised later — €10/month for a SaaS tool, €50/month for a B2B service, €99 one-time for a course or template.
The script: "We're in beta, so pricing is €10/month. This will go up to €49 when we're out of beta, but early customers are locked in at €10." That framing removes friction, rewards early adopters, and lets you practice charging real money. The mindset shift: you're not pricing for revenue. You're pricing for validation.
Phase 2: the value test
Once you have 5–10 customers, price on the value you deliver — never on your costs. The math: if your tool saves a customer 5 hours a week on reporting, at €50/hour that's €250 a week, or €1,000 a month in value. Price at 10–20% of that ROI: €100–200/month. Test both ends on new customers (existing ones keep their rate), and justify it out loud: "You're saving €1,000+ a month in time, so this pays for itself in week one."
Phase 3: three tiers
After 10–20 customers you'll see segments, and tiers capture them: a Starter at €29–49/month with core features for individuals, a Pro at €99–149/month for growing teams, and a Business at €249–499/month with everything plus premium support. The psychology does the work: most people pick the middle tier, and the high tier exists mostly to make the middle one look reasonable. Tiering also lifts average revenue — in one worked example from the course, splitting a single €99 plan into €49/€99/€249 tiers moved average revenue per customer from €99 to €118.
The four signals it's time to raise
- You're converting too fast. If 80%+ of prospects say yes immediately, with no objections, you're too cheap. Raise 30–50% for new customers.
- Customers say "that's it?" If people are surprised by how low the price is, double it for new customers — same product, same conversion rate, twice the revenue.
- You're delivering more value than expected. Grandfather existing customers at their rate, raise for new ones, and tell both sides why.
- Demand exceeds your capacity. If sign-ups outrun what you can support, raise 50–100% — fewer customers, more revenue, saner workload.
When you're unsure, test sequentially: run the same offer at a different price point for a week or two each, and let revenue decide instead of your gut. A worked example from the course:
| Price | Customers | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| €49/month | 10 | €490 |
| €79/month | 8 | €632 |
| €99/month | 6 | €594 |
| €149/month | 4 | €596 |
Winner: €79 — the highest revenue with a still-healthy conversion rate. Notice that the cheapest price produced the least revenue.
Skip the free trial
Free trials attract tire-kickers, delay revenue, and convert at 2–5%. Two alternatives work better for a first product. The money-back guarantee: "Try it for 14 days. If it doesn't save you 10 hours in week 1, I'll refund you personally." They pay up front, they actually use it, and refund rates run under 5% if you deliver value. Or the €1 trial: "Try it for 7 days for €1, then €99/month unless you cancel" — it captures payment details and converts at 20–40%. Paid trials convert 4–10x better than free ones.
Discount the same way — strategically, never desperately. Not "50% off the first month" (that attracts bargain hunters who churn), but: "You're customer #8. Beta pricing is €29/month forever. This becomes €99/month once we hit 100 customers." Lifetime deals can work for cash flow and superfans, but cap them at your first 10–20 customers.
Finally: you don't need perfect pricing; you need pricing that lets you start selling. You're ready when you've set a price, can explain the ROI behind it, aren't giving it away free, can raise it later, have tested it with 3+ real customers, and are tracking conversion. The five mistakes to dodge: pricing on your costs instead of their value, copying competitors who solve a different problem, undercutting to "be competitive" (cheap customers churn fastest), analysis paralysis (two weeks of real customer data beats three months of research), and never raising prices as your product improves. Getting pricing wrong while charging is infinitely better than getting it "right" while charging nothing.
Frequently asked questions
What should I charge for my first SaaS?
Start with a "just start" price that feels uncomfortably low but isn't free — €10–50/month — framed as beta pricing that early customers keep for life. Once 5–10 customers are paying, move to a value-based price at 10–20% of the monthly ROI you deliver.
When should I raise my prices?
On any of four signals: 80%+ of prospects convert instantly (raise 30–50%), customers are surprised how cheap you are (double it for new customers), you're delivering more value than when you priced (grandfather existing, raise for new), or demand exceeds your capacity (raise 50–100%).
Should I offer a free trial?
No. Free trials convert at 2–5% and attract tire-kickers. Use a money-back guarantee ("if it doesn't save you 10 hours in week 1, I'll refund you personally") or a €1 seven-day trial, which converts at 20–40%. Paid trials convert 4–10x better than free ones.
Should I price based on my costs or my competitors?
Neither. Price on the value you deliver: if customers save €500/month and you charge €99, the ROI sells itself. Cost-based pricing anchors you to your expenses, and competitor-based pricing assumes you solve the same problem for the same customer — you usually don't.