pricing · tier-structure

Tier Structure and Packaging

Contents

• How Many Tiers?
• Good-Better-Best Framework
• Tier Differentiation Strategies
• Example Tier Structure
• Packaging for Personas (Identifying Pricing Personas, Persona-Based Packaging)
• Freemium vs. Free Trial (When to Use Freemium, When to Use Free Trial, Hybrid Approaches)
• Enterprise Pricing (When to Add Custom Pricing, Enterprise Tier Elements, Enterprise Pricing Strategies)

How Many Tiers?

2 tiers: Simple, clear choice

• Works for: Clear SMB vs. Enterprise split
• Risk: May leave money on table

3 tiers: Industry standard

• Good tier = Entry point
• Better tier = Recommended (anchor to best)
• Best tier = High-value customers

4+ tiers: More granularity

• Works for: Wide range of customer sizes
• Risk: Decision paralysis, complexity

Good-Better-Best Framework

Good tier (Entry):

• Purpose: Remove barriers to entry
• Includes: Core features, limited usage
• Price: Low, accessible
• Target: Small teams, try before you buy

Better tier (Recommended):

• Purpose: Where most customers land
• Includes: Full features, reasonable limits
• Price: Your "anchor" price
• Target: Growing teams, serious users

Best tier (Premium):

• Purpose: Capture high-value customers
• Includes: Everything, advanced features, higher limits
• Price: Premium (often 2-3x "Better")
• Target: Larger teams, power users, enterprises

Tier Differentiation Strategies

Feature gating:

• Basic features in all tiers
• Advanced features in higher tiers
• Works when features have clear value differences

Usage limits:

• Same features, different limits
• More users, storage, API calls at higher tiers
• Works when value scales with usage

Support level:

• Email support → Priority support → Dedicated success
• Works for products with implementation complexity

Access and customization:

• API access, SSO, custom branding
• Works for enterprise differentiation

Example Tier Structure

┌────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────┐
│                │ Starter         │ Pro             │ Business        │
│                │ $29/mo          │ $79/mo          │ $199/mo         │
├────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Users          │ Up to 5         │ Up to 20        │ Unlimited       │
│ Projects       │ 10              │ Unlimited       │ Unlimited       │
│ Storage        │ 5 GB            │ 50 GB           │ 500 GB          │
│ Integrations   │ 3               │ 10              │ Unlimited       │
│ Analytics      │ Basic           │ Advanced        │ Custom          │
│ Support        │ Email           │ Priority        │ Dedicated       │
│ API Access     │ ✗               │ ✓               │ ✓               │
│ SSO            │ ✗               │ ✗               │ ✓               │
│ Audit logs     │ ✗               │ ✗               │ ✓               │
└────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────┘

Packaging for Personas

Identifying Pricing Personas

Different customers have different:

• Willingness to pay
• Feature needs
• Buying processes
• Value perception

Segment by:

• Company size (solopreneur → SMB → enterprise)
• Use case (marketing vs. sales vs. support)
• Sophistication (beginner → power user)
• Industry (different budget norms)

Persona-Based Packaging

Step 1: Define personas

Step 2: Map features to personas

Step 3: Price to value for each persona

• Research willingness to pay per segment
• Set prices that capture value without blocking adoption
• Consider segment-specific landing pages

Freemium vs. Free Trial

When to Use Freemium

Freemium works when:

• Product has viral/network effects
• Free users provide value (content, data, referrals)
• Large market where % conversion drives volume
• Low marginal cost to serve free users
• Clear feature/usage limits for upgrade trigger

Freemium risks:

• Free users may never convert
• Devalues product perception
• Support costs for non-paying users
• Harder to raise prices later

When to Use Free Trial

Free trial works when:

• Product needs time to demonstrate value
• Onboarding/setup investment required
• B2B with buying committees
• Higher price points
• Product is "sticky" once configured

Trial best practices:

• 7-14 days for simple products
• 14-30 days for complex products
• Full access (not feature-limited)
• Clear countdown and reminders
• Credit card optional vs. required trade-off

Credit card upfront:

• Higher trial-to-paid conversion (40-50% vs. 15-25%)
• Lower trial volume
• Better qualified leads

Hybrid Approaches

Freemium + Trial:

• Free tier with limited features
• Trial of premium features
• Example: Zoom (free 40-min, trial of Pro)

Reverse trial:

• Start with full access
• After trial, downgrade to free tier
• Example: See premium value, live with limitations until ready

Enterprise Pricing

When to Add Custom Pricing

Add "Contact Sales" when:

• Deal sizes exceed $10k+ ARR
• Customers need custom contracts
• Implementation/onboarding required
• Security/compliance requirements
• Procurement processes involved

Enterprise Tier Elements

Table stakes:

• SSO/SAML
• Audit logs
• Admin controls
• Uptime SLA
• Security certifications

Value-adds:

• Dedicated support/success
• Custom onboarding
• Training sessions
• Custom integrations
• Priority roadmap input

Enterprise Pricing Strategies

Per-seat at scale:

• Volume discounts for large teams
• Example: $15/user (standard) → $10/user (100+)

Platform fee + usage:

• Base fee for access
• Usage-based above thresholds
• Example: $500/mo base + $0.01 per API call

Value-based contracts:

• Price tied to customer's revenue/outcomes
• Example: % of transactions, revenue share

Source: https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/skills/pricing/references/tier-structure.md · v2.1.1 · MIT License (c) 2025 Corey Haines.