The number is the easy part. What decides the outcome is who you apply it to, in what order, and how much notice you give.
When you raise SaaS prices, the number is the easy part. It is mostly a sequencing problem — what determines whether it goes well is who you apply it to, in what order, and how much notice you give.
Expect to lose some customers. A price increase that causes zero churn was almost certainly too small.
The most common mistake is not the size of the increase. It is applying it to everyone at once, with a week's notice, and no evidence about how new buyers respond.
Four signals. Two of them are enough.
If you are unsure whether the price is wrong or the value metric is, check the unit first — the value metric framework covers that decision, and raising the price on a broken unit compounds the problem.
Put the new price live for new signups and change nothing for existing ones. This is the whole risk management strategy and it costs you nothing.
Two to four weeks of new-customer data tells you what an increase actually does to conversion. If signups hold, you have evidence. If they collapse, you have learned that at the cost of a month rather than at the cost of your base.
Watch trial-to-paid conversion rather than signup volume. A higher price often reduces signups slightly while improving conversion, which is a better business — see trial-to-paid conversion for how to read the numbers.
Three options. The middle one is right for most solo products.
| Approach | Effect | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Grandfather forever | Goodwill, permanent revenue drag | Small base you cannot afford to lose |
| Grandfather 12 months | Fair, bounded, low churn | Most solo SaaS |
| No grandfathering | Immediate revenue, real churn | Price is badly wrong and margin is negative |
Permanent grandfathering feels generous and creates a growing group of customers on prices that no longer reflect the product. Three years in, a meaningful share of your base pays a rate you set before half your features existed.
Thirty days' notice, sent directly, in plain language. Short. The tone that works is factual rather than apologetic.
Four things to include and nothing else: what the price is changing to, when it takes effect for them, what has been added since they joined, and how to cancel if they would rather not continue.
Including the cancellation link seems counterproductive and is not. Hiding it produces the same cancellations plus a support thread and resentment. Customers who read a fair notice and stay are more committed afterwards, not less.
Do not apologise in the email. An apologetic price increase invites negotiation, because it signals the price is not real. State the change, state the reason, state the date.
Some. Plan for it rather than being surprised by it.
The customers most likely to leave over a price rise are usually your lowest-engagement, highest-support-load segment — the ones who were never quite getting value. Losing them improves your average, though it feels bad in the week it happens.
Run the arithmetic before you start. A 25% increase can absorb roughly 20% customer loss before revenue goes backwards, and losses are typically far lower than that. Knowing the breakeven in advance stops you reversing the decision on day three.
If cancellations run higher than expected, diagnose before reacting — the churn framework separates price churn from the four other types, and the answer is rarely to reverse the increase.
Raising it too little. A 10% increase generates the same emotional load as 40% and delivers a quarter of the benefit. If you are going to spend the goodwill, spend it once.
Announcing before testing. Telling your base first means no data and no way back.
Offering exceptions when challenged. The first customer who pushes back and gets a discount sets the policy for everyone who hears about it.
Raising the price when the problem is the unit. If active customers leave over cost, the value metric is usually wrong. The pricing framework covers which method should be setting your number.
For a fuller treatment of setting the number itself, see how to price a SaaS product.
Apply the new price to new customers first and change nothing for existing ones. After two to four weeks of conversion data, give existing customers thirty days' notice with a twelve-month grandfathering window. Expect some churn — an increase that causes none was probably too small.
For most solo SaaS, grandfather for twelve months rather than permanently. Permanent grandfathering feels generous but creates a growing group paying rates set before half your features existed. Bounded grandfathering is fair and keeps churn low.
Thirty days, sent directly and in plain language. Include what the price is changing to, when it applies to them, what has been added since they joined, and how to cancel. Do not apologise — an apologetic increase invites negotiation.
Less than founders fear. The customers most likely to leave are usually the lowest-engagement, highest-support segment. Run the breakeven first: a 25% increase can absorb roughly 20% customer loss before revenue declines, and actual losses are typically far lower.
Enough to matter. A 10% increase generates the same emotional load as 40% and delivers a quarter of the benefit, so if you are spending the goodwill, spend it once. If active customers already leave over cost, check your value metric before raising anything.
Tell Marcus your current price, customer count and churn rate. You get a specific number, a sequence and a breakeven.
Try GhostCoach free →14-day free trial · cancel anytime · 30-day money-back on Lifetime