Business Strategy

SaaS Pricing Models: Freemium vs Subscription vs Usage-Based

Compare different SaaS pricing models with real examples, pros and cons, and expert recommendations for choosing the right model for your product and market.

Business Analyst
January 8, 2024
10 min read

Choosing the right pricing model is one of the most critical decisions for any SaaS business. Your pricing strategy directly impacts customer acquisition, retention, and revenue growth. In this comprehensive comparison, we'll examine the three most popular SaaS pricing models and help you determine which one is right for your product.

📊 Key Statistics

Companies that optimize their pricing model see an average revenue increase of 20-40%. The right choice depends on your product, market, and growth stage.

Quick Comparison

Freemium Model

Free tier + paid upgrades

Conversion: 2-5%
Best for: Network effects
Example: Slack, Dropbox

Subscription Tiers

Multiple pricing plans

Conversion: 15-25%
Best for: Most SaaS products
Example: HubSpot, Notion

Usage-Based

Pay for what you use

Conversion: 25-40%
Best for: APIs, data processing
Example: Stripe, AWS

Ready to Implement Your Pricing Strategy?

Our SaaS template includes pre-built pricing pages for all these models. Start with a proven foundation and customize to your needs.

See Pricing Templates