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Pricing Models

In B2B SaaS environments, pricing models need to be flexible to match various use cases and customer requirements. Alguna supports several pricing models that can be applied to your products and services, from simple fixed fees to complex metered billing structures.

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1. Fixed Pricing Model

Definition:
The Fixed pricing model charges a consistent, unchanging fee for a product or service, regardless of usage. This is ideal for services with predictable costs. Example:
A company like Salesforce offers fixed pricing for certain packages, such as a CRM tool where users pay a flat monthly fee of $9.99 per user, regardless of how much the service is used. 
Units: 10
Price per Unit: $9.99
Total: $99.99
Billing Cycle: Annual
Charge Type: Recurring Charge

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2. Unit-Based Pricing Model

Definition:
With the Unit-Based model, customers are charged a fixed price for each unit of service or product used. This model is common for services that are billed based on measurable quantities like data usage or transactions. Example:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) uses unit-based pricing for services like S3 storage, where businesses pay per GB of data stored or transferred. 
Price per Unit: $9.99
Total: Calculated based on usage
Billing Cycle: Monthly
Charge Type: One-off Charge

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3. Tiered Pricing Model

Definition:
In the Tiered pricing model, the price per unit decreases as customers use more of the service. This incentivizes higher usage by offering lower prices at higher usage tiers. Example:
HubSpot uses a tiered pricing model for its marketing tools, where the cost per lead decreases as the number of leads increases, encouraging businesses to scale their usage. 
Tier 1: 0-100 units = $150.00/unit
Tier 2: 101-200 units = $100.00/unit
Tier 3: 201+ units = $70.00/unit
Fixed Fee: $2,000 for the first 100 units
Note: Tiered pricing can be used both for metered products (usage charged in arrears) and for fixed products (upfront). For fixed products, you specify Upfront Units which are charged immediately, and pro‑rations apply if the billing period is partial.

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4. Prepaid with Overages

Definition:
In this model, customers prepay for a certain amount of usage, with additional overage charges applied if the customer exceeds the prepaid amount. Example:
Twilio offers prepaid packages for messaging services, where businesses prepay for a set number of messages. If they exceed this amount, they are charged an overage fee per additional message. 
Prepaid Units: 700
Fixed Fee: $500
Price for Overages: $0.312 per additional unit

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5. Volume Percentage Pricing Model

Definition:
The Volume Percentage model charges a percentage of the total value of transactions or usage. This is particularly useful for transaction-based businesses where fees are proportional to the value processed. Example:
Stripe applies a volume percentage pricing model, where businesses are charged a percentage (e.g., 2.9% + $0.30) of each transaction processed through the Stripe platform. 
Price per Transaction: 5% + $0.50
Billing Cycle: Quarterly
Charge Type: Recurring Charge

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6. Graduated Percentage Pricing Model

Definition:
The Graduated Percentage pricing model applies different percentage rates based on usage. Higher usage leads to lower percentage fees, making it attractive for businesses with growing volumes. Example:
A B2B payments company like Adyen uses this model to charge lower fees for businesses processing larger transaction volumes, such as 10% for the first $100,000 and lower percentages for higher volumes. 
0 - 100 units = 10% + $2,000.00 fixed fee
101 - 200 units = 5% + $1,650.00 fixed fee
201+ units = 2% + $1,200.00 fixed fee

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7. Graduated Tiered Pricing Model

Definition:
The Graduated Tiered pricing model applies different rates based on progressive usage. Units are applied to the first tier, with remaining units applied to the second tier, and so on. Fixed products are billed in advance, while metered products are billed in arrears. When a fixed billing period is partial, proration applies to both the per‑unit and any fixed‑fee components. This differs from Prepaid with Overages pricing model, which is a hybrid model with a fixed fee in advance and metered overages in arrears. Example:
A company may use this model to charge lower fees for businesses processing larger transaction volumes, such as $10/unit for the first 5 units and lower rates for subsequent volumes: 
1 - 5 units = $10/unit + $10 fixed fee
6 - 10 units = $8/unit + $5 fixed fee
11+ units = $6/unit
If 8 units are used: 
5 units @ $10/unit + $10 fixed fee = $60
3 units @ $8/unit + $5 fixed fee = $29
Total = $89