How to Price a Lifetime Deal Without Losing Money on It Later
Price a SaaS lifetime deal from the cost of serving each user: cash kept per code, the break-even month, tier limits and the public price rule.
Key takeaways
- Start from what one lifetime user costs you per month, not from what competitors charge.
- Cash kept per code = price × your share after the marketplace × (1 − refund rate).
- Break-even month = cash kept per code ÷ monthly cost per user. Aim for at least 24 to 36 months.
- Give every tier hard limits (projects, seats, AI credits) and sell top-ups for heavy users.
- Keep each lifetime tier below a year of the matching public plan, or buyers and marketplaces will notice.
To price a lifetime deal, work backwards from what each buyer will cost you. Take the cash you keep per code, divide it by what that user costs you each month, and you get the month your deal stops paying for itself. Choose a price, limits and costs that push that month at least two to three years out.
Most founders do the opposite: they look at similar deals, pick a familiar number like 49 or 59, and hope usage stays low. Here's a more reliable way.
Step 1: Work out what one lifetime user costs per month
List every cost that grows with users:
- Hosting and database per active user
- AI usage per user, if your product calls a model. Lifetime users often use less than subscribers, but plan for some heavy ones.
- Email, storage and third-party APIs that charge per use
- Support time: tickets per user per month × minutes per ticket × what an hour costs you
Suppose it comes to 0.60 for hosting, 0.90 for AI and 0.25 for support. That's 1.75 per user per month. Write it down. Everything else depends on it.
If you're unsure about AI, our guide to AI cost per user walks through the calculation.
Step 2: Work out the cash you keep per code
The price on the listing isn't what you receive:
Cash kept per code = price × your share after the marketplace × (1 − refund rate)
At a price of 59, keeping 30% after the marketplace's share, with 10% refunds: 59 × 0.30 × 0.90 = 15.93 per code.
Marketplace splits are set in their partner terms and can change, so plug in the current numbers when you apply. If you sell directly from your own site, your share is much higher, but you bring the buyers yourself.
Step 3: Find the break-even month
Break-even month = cash kept per code ÷ monthly cost per user
15.93 ÷ 1.75 = about 9 months. After that, every lifetime user costs you money every month.
That's too short for comfort. A deal like this needs a higher price, lower costs, or limits that cut the cost of heavy users. Here's how the levers compare:
| Change | Cash kept per code | Cost per user per month | Break-even month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting point | 15.93 | 1.75 | about 9 |
| Price 79 instead of 59 | 21.33 | 1.75 | about 12 |
| Lifetime users get half the AI usage | 15.93 | 1.30 | about 12 |
| Users bring their own AI key | 15.93 | 0.85 | about 19 |
| All three together | 21.33 | 0.85 | about 25 |
No single lever fixes it. Together they turn a deal that loses money in year one into one that pays for itself for two years, which buys you time to sell upgrades.
Step 4: Build tiers with real limits
Most lifetime deals use two to four tiers, with higher tiers unlocked by buying more codes. A simple ladder:
| Tier | Price | Projects | Seats | AI credits a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 1 code | 3 | 1 | 50 |
| Tier 2 | 2 codes | 10 | 3 | 150 |
| Tier 3 | 3 codes | 25 | 5 | 300 |
The limits do two jobs. They stop one buyer consuming a hundred users' worth of resources, and they give buyers a reason to upgrade. Avoid the word "unlimited" on anything that costs you money per use. That single word has sunk more lifetime deals than any bad launch.
Step 5: Add a paid path for heavy users
Lifetime buyers can still become recurring revenue:
- Credit packs for AI usage beyond the tier's monthly allowance
- Extra seats for teams that grow
- Features reserved for subscribers, such as white-label, integrations or client portals
Even a small share of lifetime users buying a monthly add-on can move the break-even month out by a year.
Step 6: Check the public price rule
Buyers compare your lifetime price with your normal pricing page, and marketplaces do too. A lifetime tier that costs more than a year of the matching public plan looks like a bad deal and can get an application questioned. A simple check: each tier should cost less than 12 months of the plan it replaces.
If your public plan is 12 a month, Tier 1 should be below 144. If Tier 2 matches a 29-a-month plan, it should be below 348.
Step 7: Match the code cap to your hours
Pricing isn't only about money. A launch can bring hundreds of new users in a week, and every one of them may have a question. Estimate tickets per user in launch week, multiply by minutes per ticket, and compare it with the hours you actually have. If the answer is "more than I have", cap the codes, publish help docs first, or line up part-time support before you launch.
Common lifetime deal pricing mistakes
- Pricing from competitors. Their costs, limits and goals aren't yours.
- Forgetting refunds. A generous refund window means some of your early cash goes back.
- Pricing AI features as if usage were average. Heavy users decide your costs.
- One tier with everything. No upgrade path, and no protection from heavy users.
- No end date for the deal. An open-ended campaign keeps adding lifetime users long after the maths stopped working. Set a duration and a code cap.
Putting it together
A good lifetime deal price comes from four numbers: cost per user per month, cash kept per code, break-even month and the hours you have for support. Once you have them, the price mostly chooses itself.
The free lifetime-deal profit calculator runs all four. If you're weighing whether to do a deal at all, start with our honest AppSumo guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good price for a lifetime deal?
One where the cash you keep per code, after the marketplace share and refunds, covers at least 24 to 36 months of serving that user. Work it out from your own costs per user rather than copying other deals, and keep each tier below a year of your matching public plan.
Should a lifetime deal include unlimited usage?
Not for anything that costs you money per use, such as AI generations, storage or messages. Unlimited tiers let a few heavy users consume what hundreds of normal users would. Use clear monthly limits and sell top-ups for anyone who needs more.
How many tiers should a lifetime deal have?
Two to four tiers is common, with higher tiers unlocked by stacking codes. Each tier should add meaningful limits, such as more projects, seats or credits, so buyers have a reason to upgrade and heavy users pay for heavier use.
What happens when lifetime users cost more than they paid?
From that month on, the deal costs you money every month. You can soften it with add-ons, lower hosting and AI costs, or sleeping idle accounts, but it is far easier to price and limit the deal correctly before launch.