competitive-pricing-intel

# Competitive Pricing Intel

Track competitor pricing pages over time. Detect when they change plans, shift feature gating, adjust pricing models, or introduce new tiers. The output is a living pricing comparison matrix plus alerts when something changes.

**Core principle:** Pricing is the most under-monitored competitive signal. Most teams only check competitor pricing when they're about to change their own. This skill makes it continuous.

## When to Use

- "What are our competitors charging?"
- "Has [competitor] changed their pricing recently?"
- "Build a pricing comparison matrix"
- "Monitor competitor pricing for changes"
- "We're rethinking our pricing — show me the competitive landscape"

## Phase 0: Intake

1. **Your product name + pricing page URL**
2. **Competitors to track** — Names + pricing page URLs (2-5 recommended)
3. **Your pricing model** — How do you charge? (per seat, usage, flat, freemium, etc.)
4. **Key comparison dimensions** — What matters to your buyer? (price per seat, included features, limits, support tiers)
5. **First run or recurring?**
   - **First run:** Full baseline capture + historical analysis
   - **Recurring:** Compare against last snapshot

## Phase 1: Current Pricing Capture

### 1A: Live Scrape

For each competitor's pricing page:

```
Fetch: [competitor pricing URL]
```

Extract:
- **Plan names and prices** — Every tier with monthly and annual pricing
- **Feature matrix** — What's included in each tier?
- **Limits** — Usage caps, seat limits, storage, API calls
- **Add-ons** — What costs extra beyond base plans?
- **Enterprise tier** — "Contact us" or listed price? What's gated behind sales?
- **Free tier / trial** — What's available without paying?
- **Pricing model** — Per seat / per user / usage-based / flat / hybrid

### 1B: Web Archive Historical Check

Search for past versions of their pricing page:

```
Search: "web.archive.org" "[competitor pricing URL]"
Fetch: web.archive.org/web/*/[competitor pricing URL]
```

Look for the last 2-3 snapshots to detect:
- **Price increases/decreases**
- **Plan restructuring** (new tiers added, tiers removed)
- **Feature gating changes** (features moved between tiers)
- **Model shifts** (e.g., moved from per-seat to usage-based)
- **Free tier changes** (expanded or restricted)

### 1C: Pricing Announcement Research

```
Search: "[competitor]" pricing change OR "new pricing" OR "updated plans"
Search: "[competitor]" blog pricing OR announcement plans
Search: "[competitor]" site:reddit.com pricing OR "price increase"
```

Capture any public announcements or community reactions to pricing changes.

## Phase 2: Pricing Analysis

### 2A: Competitive Pricing Matrix

Build a normalized comparison across all competitors:

| Dimension | Your Product | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C |
|-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| **Starter price** | $X/mo | $X/mo | $X/mo | $X/mo |
| **Mid-tier price** | $X/mo | $X/mo | $X/mo | $X/mo |
| **Enterprise** | $X/mo or Custom | ... | ... | ... |
| **Pricing model** | [Model] | [Model] | [Model] | [Model] |
| **Free tier** | [Yes/No + limits] | ... | ... | ... |
| **Annual discount** | [X%] | ... | ... | ... |
| **Key limit (starter)** | [e.g., 5 seats] | ... | ... | ... |
| **Key limit (mid)** | [e.g., 20 seats] | ... | ... | ... |
| **Overage cost** | [$/unit or blocked] | ... | ... | ... |
| **Support included** | [Email/chat/phone] | ... | ... | ... |

### 2B: Price-to-Value Ratio

For the ICP's typical use case, calculate effective cost:

```
Scenario: [Typical ICP — e.g., "10-person growth team, 5,000 contacts, 1,000 emails/month"]

Your Product: $[X]/mo for this scenario
Competitor A: $[X]/mo for this scenario
Competitor B: $[X]/mo for this scenario
```

This reveals true competitive pricing position, not just list price.

### 2C: Packaging Strategy Analysis

For each competitor, identify their packaging strategy:

| Strategy | Description | Who Uses It |
|----------|-------------|-------------|
| **Good-Better-Best** | 3 tiers, clear upgrade path | Most SaaS |
| **Usage-based** | Pay for what you use | API/infrastructure |
| **Per-seat** | Price scales with team | Collaboration tools |
| **Freemium** | Free forever, premium features | PLG products |
| **Reverse trial** | Full features free, then downgrade | Conversion-optimized |
| **Platform + add-ons** | Base platform + modular features | Enterprise |

### 2D: Change Detection (Recurring Runs)

Compare current snapshot against previous:

| Change Type | Severity | Example |
|------------|----------|---------|
| **Price increase** | High | Starter: $29 → $39/mo |
| **Price decrease** | High | Aggressive competitive move |
| **New tier added** | Medium | "Growth" plan between Starter and Pro |
| **Tier removed** | Medium | Simplified from 4 to 3 plans |
| **Feature ungated** | Medium | Feature moved from Pro to Starter |
| **Feature gated** | Medium | Feature moved from Starter to Pro |
| **Model change** | Critical | Shifted from per-seat to usage-based |
| **Free tier change** | High | Free plan limits reduced/expanded |

## Phase 3: Output Format

```markdown
# Competitive Pricing Intel — [DATE]
Products tracked: [your product], [competitors]
Previous snapshot: [date or "first run"]

---

## Pricing Change Alerts

### [Competitor Name]
- **Change detected:** [Description of what changed]
- **Previous:** [Old pricing/plan structure]
- **Current:** [New pricing/plan structure]
- **Implication for us:** [What this means for your positioning/pricing]

*(Repeat for each competitor with changes. If no changes: "No pricing changes detected since [last run date].")*

---

## Competitive Pricing Matrix

| | [You] | [Comp A] | [Comp B] | [Comp C] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Starter** | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo |
| **Mid-tier** | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo |
| **Enterprise** | [Price] | [Price] | [Price] | [Price] |
| **Model** | [Type] | [Type] | [Type] | [Ty