OnSumoTools

SaaS Pricing Tier Optimizer

Stack up to three packages with real conversion and cost-to-serve , see MRR, ARR, blended margin, and how shifting mix moves the margin curve before you publish new prices.

100% client-side. No pricing spreadsheet leaves this tab.

Tune conversion, annual mix, and up to three tiers, feature bullets are for your own packaging notes and do not change the math.

Total MRR

$8,272

ARR estimate

$99,264

Blended margin

89.1%

Paying customers

200

MRR contribution by tier

Blended margin sensitivity (model only)

Curve sweeps Starter share from 50%–90% while Pro takes the remainder.

Tier 1

Healthy

Features (labels only)

Tier 2

Healthy

Features (labels only)

Per-tier economics

TierCustomersMRRMonthly costGrossMargin
Starter140$3,816$420$3,39689.0%
Pro60$4,456$480$3,97689.2%

How does the SaaS Pricing Tier Calculator work step by step?

Most SaaS products sell through two or three pricing tiers, each with a different price and a different cost to serve. This calculator starts at the top of your funnel: monthly website visitors multiplied by your free-to-paid conversion rate gives total paying customers. Those customers split across tiers by the percentage you assign. Per-tier MRR combines monthly and annual billing: monthly billing MRR = tier customers x (1 - annual plan %) x tier price; annual billing MRR = tier customers x (annual plan %) x tier price x (1 - annual discount). Cost-to-serve per user is subtracted from each tier to show gross margin per tier. Two warning badges appear automatically: orange when a tier margin falls below 20%, red when cost-to-serve equals or exceeds tier price. The blended margin across all tiers gives a company-level profitability metric at your current traffic and conversion assumptions.

What does a typical SaaS Pricing Tier Calculator result look like?

10,000 visitors. 2% conversion rate. 200 paying customers. 30% on annual billing with a 20% discount. Starter $29/month at 60% customer split: tier MRR $3,271, margin 89%. Pro $79/month at 30% split: tier MRR $4,456, margin 89%. Business $199/month at 10% split: tier MRR $3,741, margin 89%. Total MRR $11,468, ARR $137,616, blended margin 89.2%. Despite Starter having 60% of customers, Pro generates the most MRR. If Business cost-to-serve rises to $199, the red badge appears and that tier loses money per user.

Frequently asked questions

  • How many pricing tiers should a SaaS product have?

    Three tiers is the standard for most SaaS products. The lowest tier anchors price-sensitive buyers, the middle tier captures the majority of revenue (typically 50% to 60% of MRR), and the top tier serves power users or teams. Two tiers works for early-stage products that have not yet differentiated enough to justify a third.

  • What is a good SaaS gross margin?

    70% to 85% for software businesses. Below 60% suggests your hosting, support, or third-party API costs are too high relative to revenue. Margins vary by tier. Lower tiers often have higher margins in percentage terms because cost-to-serve is low, but they contribute less in absolute dollars. Use this metric consistently over time to track improvement rather than optimizing for a single period's snapshot.

  • How do I estimate cost-to-serve per user?

    Add your monthly hosting or infrastructure costs, customer support costs, and any third-party API fees that scale with users. Divide by your active user count. For SaaS with tiered features, higher tiers typically have higher cost-to-serve because they access more compute, storage, or premium integrations.

  • What free-to-paid conversion rate should I enter?

    2% to 5% is typical for product-led SaaS with a freemium or free-trial model. Sales-led products may show 10% to 30% from qualified leads. If you do not have conversion data yet, start with 2% as a conservative baseline and adjust as you collect real numbers.

  • What is a typical annual billing discount?

    15% to 25% off the monthly rate is standard. A 20% discount means a $79/month plan costs $758/year instead of $948/year. The discount reduces per-user revenue but improves cash flow and reduces churn because annual customers are locked in for a full year. Use this metric consistently over time to track improvement rather than optimizing for a single period's snapshot.

  • Why does the tool show an orange badge on my tier?

    An orange badge appears when a tier's gross margin drops below 20%. At margins this thin, a small increase in support tickets, API usage, or infrastructure costs can push the tier into negative territory. Consider raising the price, reducing cost-to-serve, or merging the tier into a higher one.

Related tools

Why model your tiers

Pricing is one of the cheapest levers you have, and one of the least tested. Moving a price takes no new code. Yet many founders set plans once and never look again.

This tool models two or three tiers. For each you enter price, customer count and cost to serve. It then shows the MRR and margin each tier brings in, and how the total shifts when customers move between tiers.

Annual versus monthly

Annual plans bring cash early and lower churn, usually at a discount. Monthly plans convert easier. The mix matters. The optimizer lets you set the share on each and see the blended result.

A 15 percent annual discount sounds large. But if it moves a fifth of customers to annual and cuts their churn, it can pay for itself fast.

Reading the charts

The stacked revenue chart shows how much each tier contributes. If one tier carries most of the revenue, that's your real product. The others may exist mainly to make it look reasonable.

The mix sensitivity view shows what happens if customers drift up or down. A small shift toward the top tier can beat a big gain in total customers.

Testing price changes

Many founders underprice. Raising prices for new customers is cheap to test. If conversions barely move, you were leaving money on the table. If they drop hard, you've learned something, and you can undo it.

Leave existing customers alone at first. Grandfathering avoids churn spikes.

Inputs to be honest about

Use real customer counts and real cost to serve. Include support, hosting and payment fees. Guessing here makes margin look better than it is.

The output is a model, not a prediction. Real buyers react in ways a spreadsheet can't. Your figures stay in your browser.