SaaS Pricing Power Test Calculator
Run the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter on your SaaS — ask customers 4 calibrating questions to find the optimal price, the range of acceptable prices, and elasticity. Calculate revenue lift from a price test.
| Current Price | — |
| Too Cheap Threshold | — |
| Cheap/Bargain | — |
| Expensive but Considered | — |
| Too Expensive Threshold | — |
| Optimal Price Point (OPP) | — |
| Indifference Price Point (IPP) | — |
| Acceptable Range Low | — |
| Acceptable Range High | — |
| Current Annual Revenue | — |
| Revenue at OPP (no elasticity) | — |
| Raw Revenue Lift | — |
| Realistic Lift (with elasticity) | — |
Van Westendorp Methodology
The Price Sensitivity Meter (PSM), developed by economist Peter van Westendorp in 1976, asks 4 calibrating questions: (1) At what price would this be SO cheap you'd doubt the quality? (2) At what price would you say it's a great deal? (3) At what price would it start to feel expensive? (4) At what price would it be so expensive you wouldn't consider it?
Plot the cumulative distributions and find: Optimal Price Point (OPP) at the intersection of 'too cheap' and 'too expensive'. Indifference Price Point (IPP) at intersection of 'cheap' and 'expensive'. Acceptable price range between Point of Marginal Cheapness (PMC) and Point of Marginal Expensiveness (PME).
Source: Van Westendorp PSM methodology + Price Intelligently SaaS pricing research
How to Run the Survey
Survey 100-500 of your target customers (existing paying customers OR qualified prospects). Use SurveyMonkey, Typeform, or Google Forms. Ask the 4 calibrating questions plus 2-3 about their pain, current solution, and buying authority.
Common pitfalls: surveying non-target customers (skews data), leading questions, sample too small (under 50 = unreliable), and not segmenting by buyer persona. Always segment results — enterprise buyers and SMBs price differently.
Interpreting Results
Optimal Price Point (OPP): the price minimizing the percentage of respondents finding it too cheap or too expensive. This is your best 'list price' for marketing.
Indifference Price Point (IPP): where as many people think it's expensive as cheap. Often roughly equal to the average price respondents would expect. Acceptable Range: prices outside the PMC-PME range trigger 'too cheap' or 'too expensive' alarm for over 25% of customers.
Implementing a Price Test
Don't change existing customer prices abruptly — grandfather them. Test the new price on new signups only for 30-90 days. Track: conversion rate, ARPU, gross retention, payback period. A 30%+ price increase often shows minimal conversion impact if positioning is right.
Most B2B SaaS companies under-price by 20-50%. Customers value the outcome, not the cost of running the software. Charge for value delivered. See our SaaS Magic Number calculator for sales efficiency at higher prices.