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Usage-Based Pricing Is Outpacing Seat Models
UBP-powered SaaS firms grow 38% faster!
Nikita Gupta
July 15, 2025
SaaS founders are rethinking seat-based pricing, and for good reason.
It slows down expansion, adds friction during procurement, and often leads to customers paying for seats they don’t fully use.
Meanwhile, usage-based pricing (UBP) is gaining ground across the board. According to OpenView, SaaS companies using UBP are growing 38 % faster and trading at 50 % higher revenue multiples than those with traditional pricing.
The reason’s simple: customers like paying for what they actually use. And when pricing scales with value, retention improves too.
Takeaway
• Run a usage-based pilot on one feature this quarter
• Let new users start small, succeed quickly, and scale over time
• Use what you learn to improve pricing across the product, not just the pricing page
🛠️ 4 SaaS Tools to Try
Tool | What It Does | Quick Win |
|---|---|---|
End-to-end usage billing platform | Stand-up metered invoices without in-house code | |
Usage-based rating & analytics layer | Spot under-priced power users in real time | |
Usage & subscription in one API | Add pay-per-unit to an existing Stripe stack fast | |
Rev-analytics for usage SaaS | See expansion ARR & net-retention at a glance |
Worth-Saving Resources
Usage-Based Pricing: OpenView’s deep dive with case studies and metrics.
Kyle Poyar’s playbook on designing, launching, and measuring UBP
I almost never subscribe to a SaaS if pricing is based on page views.
This metric is not predictable, like when you tweet something and become viral. It doesn't mean you get richer.
But in the other hands it seems fair for some businesses that have costs directly correlated to
— Pauline Cx (@Pauline_Cx)
1:00 PM • Jul 10, 2025
Content Idea of the Week
Industry | Working Title | Funnel Stage | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
FinOps Tools | “Your Cloud Bill Scales—Does Your Price?” | MOFU | Targets finance leaders looking for value-based pricing |
Have feedback or a great tool to feature? Just hit reply — I read every email.
— Nikita