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Indie Hacker Pricing Calculator

Stop guessing your price. Enter your target monthly income, tool costs, expected paying customers, and a buffer for tax and churn. The calculator backs into a recommended price instantly. The math works only when the niche supports the price, IkigaiNiche helps you pick one with actual willingness to pay.

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Indie Hacker Pricing Calculator

Reverse-engineer a sensible subscription price from your monthly target, costs, and customer assumptions.

How it works

The calculator adds your income goal and tool costs, then grosses up by your buffer percentage to arrive at a gross revenue target. Dividing by expected customers gives you the recommended monthly price. All calculations happen instantly in your browser.

  1. Enter the monthly income you need after expenses.
  2. Add your monthly tool and infrastructure costs.
  3. Estimate realistic paying customers, not sign-ups, paying ones.
  4. Set a buffer for tax, churn, and failed payments (25% is a reasonable starting point).
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IkigaiNiche

Pricing collapses in weak niches. IkigaiNiche maps where passion, skill, demand, and reward overlap so your number has a market that can actually pay it.

Explore IkigaiNiche →
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SaaS Idea Scorecard

Validate whether your idea has the audience willing to pay the price this calculator suggests.

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MVP Launch Checklist

Before you publish that price, make sure everything else about your launch is ready.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I price a SaaS product?

Price a SaaS product by starting from your income goal, not your competitors. Add your monthly income target to your tool costs, gross that up by 20 to 30 percent for tax and churn, then divide by the realistic number of paying customers you expect in year one. That gives you a price that clears your actual goal, not a price that just feels right.

How much should I charge for my SaaS?

For a B2B micro SaaS solving a specific pain, $19 to $49 per month is the common sweet spot. Below $15 the support load per customer eats the margin, and above $99 most indie hackers don't have the distribution or trust to close at that price. If the math demands a higher price, either go niche B2B with value pricing or cut your customer count target.

What is the SaaS pricing calculator formula?

Recommended price = (income target + tool costs) × (1 + buffer percent) ÷ expected paying customers. The buffer typically ranges from 20 to 40 percent to cover tax, refunds, failed payments, and churn. This reverse-engineers the price from the outcome you actually need, not from vague competitor benchmarks.

How many paying customers do I need to make $3000 MRR?

At $30 per month, you need 100 paying customers for $3000 MRR. At $50 per month, 60 customers. At $99 per month, just over 30. The higher your price, the fewer customers you need and the more support-efficient your business becomes, but the harder the sale. Indie hackers almost always underprice, not overprice.

Should I price my SaaS monthly or annually?

Offer both, and discount annual by 15 to 20 percent to reward commitment. Monthly converts better on first purchase because the perceived risk is lower. Annual improves cash flow and cuts churn dramatically, annual customers churn at roughly one-fifth the rate of monthly ones. Most healthy SaaS businesses end up with 30 to 50 percent of MRR on annual plans.

How do I price a SaaS product with no traction?

Launch with a founding-member price (30 to 50 percent off the target price) capped at a set number of customers. This gives early adopters a reason to buy now, gives you pricing validation, and lets you raise to the real price once the founding cohort is full. Avoid a free tier at this stage, it attracts users who won't reveal whether your real price works. Before you publish a price, pressure-test the idea with the SaaS Idea Scorecard.