- Choose the billing period
Use costs for the same monthly, quarterly, or annual period as the price.
- Enter direct service cost
Include goods, licensing, or usage costs incurred for one paid period.
- Add support and fulfillment
Allocate variable support, packing, or delivery labor per payment.
- Enter payment fees
Use the percentage and fixed components of the expected processor fee.
- Set a contribution margin target
This is the share of price remaining after entered variable costs and fees.
- Review and market-test the price
The result is a cost-based floor, not a prediction of customer willingness to pay.
Subscription Price Estimator
This estimator finds a subscription price that covers recurring service cost, payment fees, and a target contribution margin.
It helps operators test sustainable plan pricing before taxes and fixed overhead, while making the effect of percentage processing fees explicit.
Enter your values
Result
—
Suggested subscription price
Total fixed variable cost—
Estimated processing fee—
Contribution per payment—
Price = (Service cost + Support cost + Fixed payment fee) ÷ (1 − Processing fee rate − Target margin rate)
Both rates are converted from percentages to decimals. Their sum must be less than 100%. The model excludes taxes and fixed overhead unless allocated into the cost inputs.
What the result means
The result is the price needed for the entered variable costs and payment fees to leave the target contribution margin.
Final pricing should also consider customer value, competitive positioning, discounts, churn, taxes, and plan mix.
Given
A monthly plan has $12.50 service cost, $3.25 support cost, a $0.30 fixed fee, 2.9% processing, and a 35% target margin.
Calculation
Fixed variable cost = $12.50 + $3.25 + $0.30 = $16.05.
Price = $16.05 ÷ (1 − 0.029 − 0.35) = $25.85.
Result
The cost-based suggested price is $25.85 per billing period.
Is the suggested price before tax?
Yes. Add tax according to the rules that apply to your product and customer location.
Where should fixed overhead go?
This model focuses on per-payment economics. You may allocate a reasonable overhead amount into support cost for a fuller cost-based price.
Why must the two rates total less than 100%?
At or above 100%, no positive price can both pay those percentage claims and cover fixed variable costs.
Should I round the result?
You may round upward to a market-friendly price, then recalculate the actual margin at that price.
Does this identify the best market price?
No. It identifies a cost-based price for the target margin. Demand research and pricing tests are still needed.