Go-to-market
B2B SaaS Pricing: Test Willingness to Pay Before Plans
Most founders design three pricing tiers before a single buyer has reacted to a number. Pricing works better the other way round: test what buyers will pay and on what unit, then build the plans around what you learned.
Price a B2B SaaS product by testing willingness to pay before designing plans. Say a real price in early sales conversations and pilots, try a structured survey such as Van Westendorp with your target buyers, choose a pricing unit that tracks the value they get, and only then group features into tiers.
Pricing is also one of the fastest validation tests available. A buyer who accepts a price has told you more than one who says the product sounds useful.
Key takeaways
- Test the price before the plans.
- Say a number in every early sales conversation and record the reaction.
- Choose the unit carefully: per seat, per account, per usage or per outcome.
- Use Van Westendorp's four questions for a structured read on price ranges.
- Design tiers last, around the segments that paid.
Why should you test willingness to pay before designing plans?
Because plans built on guesses lock in the wrong prices and units, and changing them later is harder than getting them roughly right early.
Buffer tested pricing before it had a product, by adding a pricing page to its landing page and watching which plan people clicked. Joel Gascoigne explained the extra step "tests the pricing (by detecting which plan they click on) and also tests further the demand for the product" (Buffer).
How do you test price in sales conversations?
State a specific price for a specific package, then stop talking and note the reaction. Silence, pushback on scope and pushback on price each tell you something different.
| Reaction | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Agrees immediately | Probably too low for this buyer |
| Asks what is included | Engaged; the package needs to be clearer |
| "That's more than we budgeted" | Price may be right; the budget owner may be wrong |
| Pushes back on the unit ("per seat won't work for us") | The pricing unit does not match how they get value |
| Loses interest | Problem not urgent enough, or price far too high |
The strongest test is a paid pilot at a stated price. See founder-led sales for how to structure one.
How do you use a willingness-to-pay survey?
The Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter asks four questions to find the range buyers consider acceptable. Use it with people who fit your buyer, and treat the results as a range to test, not a final price.
Introduced by Dutch economist Peter van Westendorp in 1976, it asks (Wikipedia):
- At what price would you consider the product to be so expensive that you would not consider buying it?
- At what price would you consider the product to be priced so low that you would feel the quality couldn't be very good?
- At what price would you consider the product starting to get expensive, so that it is not out of the question, but you would have to give some thought to buying it?
- At what price would you consider the product to be a bargain, a great buy for the money?
Stated prices are still opinions. Confirm the range with real offers, and be careful with small samples; our guide to online survey tools covers the limits.
How do you choose a pricing unit for B2B SaaS?
Pick the unit that grows with the value the customer gets and that they can predict. Check that it also tracks your own costs, especially for AI products.
| Unit | Fits when | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Per seat | Value grows with the number of users | Customers limiting seats to save money |
| Per account (flat) | Value is similar for every customer in the segment | Large customers paying the same as small ones |
| Per usage | Value and cost both grow with volume | Unpredictable bills |
| Per outcome | You can measure a result the buyer values | Disputes about attribution |
For AI products, costs can grow with usage. Andreessen Horowitz found AI companies often had gross margins "in the 50-60% range", below SaaS benchmarks (a16z, 2020). A unit that ignores usage can make heavy users unprofitable.
When should you design pricing tiers?
After you know which segments pay and what they value. Tiers should separate segments with different needs, not just add features to justify a higher number.
A useful rule: each tier should match a real buyer you have sold to or tested with. If you cannot name the buyer for a tier, it is probably a guess.
Start with fewer tiers than you think you need. It is easier to add a tier for a segment that keeps asking than to remove one customers have already chosen.
How can NELL help with SaaS pricing?
DeepValidate scores pricing and willingness to pay as part of its monetization pillar, using sourced competitor pricing, and Launchpad's go-to-market strategy includes recommended pricing tiers.
See the pricing and monetization sections in the sample report, or start with a free Quick Validate.
Frequently asked questions
How should an early-stage B2B SaaS company set prices?
Test willingness to pay first: state a price in early sales conversations and pilots, run a structured survey with target buyers, choose a pricing unit that tracks value, and design tiers last.
What is the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter?
A survey method introduced by Peter van Westendorp in 1976 that asks four questions about prices that feel too expensive, too cheap, getting expensive and a bargain, to find an acceptable price range.
Should B2B SaaS price per seat or per account?
Per seat fits when value grows with users. Per account fits when value is similar across customers. Choose the unit that tracks the value customers get, and test it in early deals.
How many pricing tiers should a SaaS startup have?
As few as your real buyer segments require. Many early startups start with one or two and add tiers when a distinct segment keeps asking for something different.
When should you raise prices?
When buyers accept your price without hesitation, when you are adding significant value, or when costs rise. Test increases with new customers before changing prices for existing ones.
Start where you are
A buyer accepting a price tells you more than any number of compliments.
Sources
- Buffer, Idea to Paying Customers in 7 Weeks: How We Did It (2011)
- Wikipedia, Van Westendorp's Price Sensitivity Meter
- Martin Casado and Matt Bornstein, The New Business of AI, Andreessen Horowitz (2020)
The reaction table is a rule of thumb, not a rule. Pricing depends on your buyer, market and costs.