# The SaaS pricing page: what to show, what hiding costs
> Show your prices. Hiding them behind Contact us removes most of a self-serve funnel. Three tiers is the working default, anchored so the middle one is obviously right, with the annual discount stated as a percentage and the limits written in the units customers already think in.
Source: https://rankcert.com/blog/saas-pricing-page-guide
Published: 2026-08-29 ยท Updated: 2026-09-01
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The pricing page is the highest-intent page on a SaaS site. Everyone who reaches it is considering paying, which makes every friction on it expensive.
## Show the price
"Contact us for pricing" on a self-serve product removes most of your funnel. A visitor evaluating four tools will disqualify the one that will not tell them what it costs, because they read it as expensive, slow, or both.
It is defensible only when deals are genuinely negotiated per customer and the sales cycle involves a human anyway. For anything a person can sign up for with a card, hiding the price costs more than it protects.
If your pricing is genuinely complex, publish a starting price. "From $49/month" answers the question that decides whether they keep reading.
## Three tiers, anchored
Three is the working default. Fewer gives no reference point; more produces paralysis and a support burden.
The middle tier should be the obviously right choice for most people. That is what the top tier is for - it makes the middle one look reasonable rather than expensive. This is anchoring, it is well documented, and it works because people evaluate prices relatively.
Mark the intended tier clearly. "Most popular" is a nudge that reliably shifts distribution.
## Write limits in the customer's units
"10,000 API calls" means nothing to someone who has never counted their API calls. "Enough for about 300 daily active users" does.
Every limit should be expressed in something the buyer already tracks. If you cannot translate it, they cannot self-select a tier, and they will either pick the cheapest and churn or leave.
## The annual discount
State it as a percentage, not just as a lower monthly number. "Save 20%" is processed instantly; "$40/mo billed annually" next to "$50/mo" requires arithmetic.
Annual plans convert twelve churn decisions into one, which is why the discount is usually worth more than it costs. Two months free - roughly 17% - is the common shape.
Default the toggle to annual. It is a small nudge with a measurable effect on the mix.
## What loses signups
**A free tier that solves the problem completely.** Free should demonstrate value and run out at the point where someone is getting real ongoing value.
**Feature tables with thirty rows.** Nobody reads them. Six to eight differentiating lines per tier, with the full comparison behind a link for the two people who want it.
**Per-seat pricing on a tool one person uses.** It punishes adoption inside a company, which is where your expansion revenue lives.
**Usage pricing with no estimator.** If a customer cannot predict their bill, they will not start. Give them a calculator or a worked example.
**A missing FAQ.** What happens if I exceed a limit, can I change tiers, do you refund, what happens to my data if I cancel. These questions block purchase and cost four sentences each to answer.
## Pricing higher
Most indie SaaS is underpriced, and the correction is usually the single highest-leverage change available.
Raising prices increases revenue per customer immediately, improves LTV:CAC on both sides, and typically loses fewer customers than founders expect - because the ones who leave over a 30% increase were rarely getting much value.
Grandfather existing customers when you raise. It costs little, it removes the main reason not to do it, and it turns a change people resent into one they mention favourably.
The test for a pricing page: can a stranger pick the right tier in under thirty seconds without asking a question? If not, the problem is the limits, not the prices.