Billing, explained.
Practical guides on pricing models, usage billing, payment recovery, and the operations of charging for anything sold on repeat. Written to answer real questions, kept current.
How to raise subscription prices without losing customers
How to raise subscription prices: notice periods, grandfathering, explaining the value, annual renewals, testing on new customers, and complaints.
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How to choose subscription billing software: a checklist
A buyer's checklist for subscription billing software: pricing models, proration, dunning, portal, taxes, gateways, reporting, migration and fees.
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Cancellation flow best practices: save without trapping
How to build a subscription cancellation flow that keeps customers who would stay, lets the rest leave easily, and sets up a fair win-back later.
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Subscription metrics to track, and how they connect
The subscription metrics worth tracking, from MRR and churn to retention, ARPU and lifetime value, how they fit together, and which to watch at each stage.
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Subscription chargebacks: why they happen, how to stop them
Why subscription customers dispute charges, how to prevent chargebacks with reminders, clear descriptors and easy cancels, and how to respond with evidence.
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Free trial vs freemium: which fits your subscription?
Free trial or freemium for a subscription product: when each fits, card required or not, how long a trial should run, and what free users really cost.
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Monthly vs annual billing: how much discount to give
Monthly vs annual billing: what 2 months free really costs (16.7%), how annual plans change cash flow and churn, and handling refunds and upgrades.
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How to bill per seat: mid-cycle changes and true-ups
How to bill per seat: adding and removing seats mid cycle, proration vs true-ups, minimum seats, and annual contracts that grow, with worked numbers.
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How to bill gym memberships and class packs
Memberships, class packs and drop-ins, freezes, annual vs monthly, and failed cards: a practical billing setup for gyms, studios and clubs, with numbers.
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Paid newsletter pricing: monthly, annual and founding tiers
How to price a paid newsletter: monthly vs annual, a founding member tier, launch promo codes, free team access, and keeping readers whose cards expire.
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Direct primary care membership pricing: how to set it
How to price direct primary care memberships: adult, child and senior tiers, family caps, monthly vs yearly, visits outside the plan and failed payments.
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Magazine subscription pricing: print, digital and gifts
How to price magazine subscriptions: print vs digital vs a bundle, selling issues instead of months, gift subscriptions, renewal notices and readers abroad.
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How to charge marketplace sellers: fee plus revenue share
How to charge marketplace sellers a monthly fee plus a share of their volume: picking the rates, reporting volume, and showing the math on every invoice.
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How to design a membership pause policy that keeps members
Pause vs cancel, how long a pause should last, return dates, what happens to billing dates, and offering a pause in the cancel flow. With worked numbers.
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Retainer invoicing for agencies: net 30 and extra hours
How agencies should invoice retainers, extra hours and project work: net 30 terms, reminders on the due date, one invoice per client, and bank debit.
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Subscription box skip and pause policy: a practical guide
How to write a subscription box skip and pause policy: skip vs pause vs cancel, cutoff dates, prepaid and gift boxes, and failed cards before a box ships.
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Prepaid credits vs subscriptions: which to sell
When prepaid credits beat a subscription, when they do not, and the wallet mechanics that make them work: conversion rates, auto top up, low balance alerts.
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Proration explained: how to calculate it, with examples
How to calculate proration on a subscription invoice: the math for upgrades, downgrades and mid cycle changes, worked through with real numbers.
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How to price an API: models, free tiers, examples
How to price an API: pick the billable unit, size the free tier, choose tiered, volume or stepped rates, and keep developers trusting the meter.
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Dunning best practices: how to recover failed payments
Dunning best practices for subscriptions: why payments fail, retry schedules that work, recovery emails customers act on, and fixing cards before they fail.
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Subscription billing migration checklist
A step by step checklist for moving subscriptions, customers, and invoices to a new billing platform without double charging anyone or losing a renewal.
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Token based pricing: a practical guide for AI products
How to price an AI product by tokens: input vs output rates, hybrid plans, prepaid credits, and the billing mechanics that keep sub cent math exact.
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Usage based pricing: the models that work, with examples
The five usage based pricing patterns that show up in real products, with worked examples, the tradeoffs of each, and how to pick one without guessing.
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