Setting Prices

Pricing your module is one of the most important decisions you'll make. This guide helps you think through pricing strategy and set prices that work for both you and your licensees.

How Pricing Works on CodeLibra

What You Set

You set the annual subscription price for your module. This is the price for your module alone—any license dependencies are priced separately and added automatically.

What Licensees See

Licensees see a total price that includes:

• Your module's price
• Plus the price of each license dependency
• Minus any credits for dependencies they already have licenses to

What You Receive

You receive 80% of your module's license price. The 20% commission covers:

• Payment processing fees
• Platform infrastructure
• License administration and tracking

Pricing Philosophy

Value-Based Pricing

The best approach is to price based on the value your module provides, not just the effort you put in. Consider:

Time savings: How many hours would it take to build equivalent functionality? At typical developer rates, even modest time savings can justify meaningful prices.

Risk reduction: Does your module reduce risk (security, compliance, reliability)? Reduced risk has significant value.

Revenue enablement: Does your module help licensees generate revenue? A module that enables $100,000 in business value easily justifies a $500 annual license.

Anchor Points

Some useful reference points:

• Developer time costs $75-250+/hour depending on location and seniority
• A module that saves 10 hours of work has saved $750-2,500+
• Commercial alternatives often cost hundreds to thousands per year
• SaaS products regularly charge $10-100+/user/month

Starting Lower vs. Higher

Starting lower:

• More licensees initially
• Easier to raise prices later than lower them
• Good for building traction and testimonials

Starting higher:

• Signals quality and seriousness
• Attracts customers who value quality over price
• Easier to offer discounts than to raise prices

There's no universal right answer—it depends on your goals and market.

Practical Pricing Guidelines

Minimum Viable Price

Don't price too low. A $5/year license:

• Suggests the module isn't valuable
• Generates negligible revenue ($4/year after commission)
• May attract customers who don't value what they get

In most cases, the minimum practical price is around $25-50/year.

Considering Your Audience

Developer tools and libraries

• Small utilities: $25-100/year
• Significant libraries: $100-500/year
• Major frameworks: $500-2,000+/year

Specialized/niche modules

• Can command premium prices due to limited alternatives
• Consider the cost of building in-house

Commodity functionality

• Price competitively if alternatives exist
• Differentiate on quality, support, or features

License Dependencies and Composite Pricing

When your module has license dependencies, the pricing picture gets more complex.

How It Works

If your module costs $100/year and has two dependencies costing $50/year each, a new licensee sees a total of $200/year.

But if a licensee already has active licenses to your dependencies, they only pay $100/year for your module.

Pricing Strategy with Dependencies

Consider the composite price when setting your module's price. If your dependencies are expensive, your module's price might need to be lower to keep the total reasonable.

Conversely, if you're building on low-cost dependencies, you have more room for your own pricing.

When You Add Dependencies

If you add a new license dependency in a later release, existing subscribers receive that dependency license at no additional charge—you cover the cost. This is a one-time payment from your revenue.

Plan ahead: if you know you'll add dependencies later, factor this into your pricing.

Changing Prices

When Changes Apply

Price changes apply to:

• New subscribers immediately
• Existing subscribers at renewal time

Existing subscribers keep their current price until their subscription expires.

Raising Prices

You can raise prices at any time. Existing subscribers are protected until renewal. This means:

• No surprise bills for current customers
• Time for existing customers to budget for increases
• New customers pay the new price immediately

Lowering Prices

Lowering prices also applies to new subscribers and renewals. Existing subscribers continue at their current (now higher) rate until renewal, then get the lower price.

Communicate Changes

For significant price changes, consider:

• Announcing in advance
• Explaining the reasoning
• Offering existing subscribers a chance to renew early at the old rate

Example Scenarios

Scenario 1: Small Utility Library

A validation library that saves developers a few hours of work.

Analysis:

• Time savings: 2-5 hours (~$150-500 value)
• Many alternatives exist
• Used widely but not critical

Suggested price: $50-100/year

Scenario 2: Specialized Framework

A framework for building real-time applications with unique architecture.

Analysis:

• Time savings: 40+ hours (~$3,000+ value)
• Few alternatives
• Critical to applications that use it

Suggested price: $500-1,500/year

Scenario 3: Niche Industry Module

A module for healthcare data processing with compliance features.

Analysis:

• Specialized knowledge required
• Regulatory compliance value
• Limited market but high willingness to pay

Suggested price: $1,000-5,000/year

Common Mistakes

Pricing too low: Undervaluing your work leaves money on the table and signals low quality.

Ignoring the market: Not researching what alternatives cost or what customers pay for similar solutions.

One-size-fits-all: Using the same pricing logic for vastly different modules.

Forgetting total cost: Not considering how dependency prices affect the total your licensees pay.

Analysis paralysis: Spending so much time optimizing price that you delay launching. You can always adjust.

Getting Feedback

Before finalizing:

• Ask potential customers what they'd pay
• Look at what similar projects charge
• Consider what you'd pay as a customer

After launching:

• Monitor conversion rates
• Listen to customer feedback
• Adjust based on real data

Next Steps

• Revenue Sharing — Understand how earnings are distributed
• Payouts — Getting paid
• License Dependencies — How dependencies affect pricing