Fixed-subscription incurring losses?

Here are 3 actionable tips for growing your SaaS product  

1. Implement gamification to boost engagement:
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Add gamification elements like leaderboards, badges, or reward systems within your product using tools like Playlyfe or Bunchball. Gamifying the user experience can drive higher engagement, and turns mundane tasks into enjoyable, goal-oriented experiences.
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‍2. Support your product with AI chatbots:
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Implement AI-powered chatbots like Drift or Intercom’s Operator to provide users with immediate, self-service support. These bots can answer common questions, guide users through troubleshooting steps, or even help with onboarding. By reducing reliance on human support, you not only improve response times but offer a seamless experience to your users.
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3. Create educational content & resources:
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Build a resource center with in-depth guides, webinars, and tutorial videos to help users understand how to get the most out of your SaaS product. See how SaaS products globally do it like Microsoft 365, Framer, and more. This will refrain your users to learn from 3rd party courses, and your free course will become a handy option for them.

One new thing I learned this week – Usage-based pricing is changing SaaS, and ChatGPT is the perfect case study!

Did you know that usage-based pricing is gaining traction as the next big thing in SaaS? Companies like Snowflake, Twilio, and AWS have already seen massive success by charging users based on their usage rather than flat subscriptions.

‍But here's the curveball: Even Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT, admitted they underestimated usage of their premium services. Their $20/month ChatGPT Plus plan seemed simple, but high usage by power users led to unexpected losses. This highlights a key issue with subscription models: pricing tiers often don’t match actual user behavior, leaving profitability on the table.

‍On the flip side, usage-based pricing could have allowed OpenAI to monetize power users more effectively while keeping casual users engaged. The takeaway? Aligning pricing with customer value unlocks both growth and profitability.

One of our clients also faced a similar challenge during their early stages when they offered a lifetime subscription at a fixed price. This led to a crazy use of their product, with users taking full advantage of the offer :/

‍Your thoughts? Do you think usage-based pricing could solve this challenge?