home / skills / phrazzld / claude-config / business-model-preferences

business-model-preferences skill

safe

This skill helps you enforce a simple pricing model by reviewing checkout flows and subscription logic to ensure single-tier pricing and upfront trial billing.

npx playbooks add skill phrazzld/claude-config --skill business-model-preferences

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

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SKILL.md

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---
name: business-model-preferences
description: |
  Pricing philosophy and business model constraints.
  Auto-invoke when: evaluating pricing, checkout flows, subscription logic, tier structures.
user-invocable: false
effort: low
---

# Business Model Preferences

These are organizational preferences. Apply them when designing or reviewing any billing integration.

## Philosophy

Keep it simple. Complexity in pricing confuses customers and creates engineering debt.

## Pricing Model

**Single tier or nothing.** Either:
- Free and open source (no billing)
- One price point with full access

No multiple tiers. No Basic/Pro/Enterprise. No feature gating. No usage-based pricing.

If annual pricing exists, it's simply "2 months free" — same features, discounted rate.

## Free Trial, Not Free Tier

Offer a trial (14 days standard). After trial: pay or lose access.

No freemium. No "free forever with limits." Trial is the only free path.

## Credit Card Upfront

**Require payment method at trial signup.** This is the standard SaaS pattern:

1. User enters credit card during signup
2. Trial starts immediately (no charge)
3. If user cancels before trial ends → no charge
4. If trial ends without cancellation → automatic charge, subscription begins

**Why upfront:**
- Higher conversion (commitment at signup)
- Qualified leads (real intent to pay)
- Smoother UX (no second checkout flow)
- Less support burden (no "how do I upgrade?" questions)

**Stripe implementation:**
```typescript
await stripe.checkout.sessions.create({
  mode: 'subscription',
  payment_method_collection: 'always',  // Require card
  subscription_data: {
    trial_period_days: 14,  // Or use trial_end for specific date
  },
});
```

**UX messaging:**
- "Start your 14-day free trial"
- "You won't be charged until [date]"
- "Cancel anytime during trial"

## Trial Completion on Upgrade

When a user upgrades mid-trial, honor the remaining trial days.

Pass `trial_end` to Stripe with the remaining time. User finishes their trial, THEN billing starts. Never charge immediately on mid-trial upgrade — that's confusing and feels like a bait-and-switch.

## Simplicity Tests

When reviewing pricing or checkout:
- Can you explain the pricing in one sentence?
- Is there only one "upgrade" button?
- Does the pricing page have comparison tables? (It shouldn't.)
- Would upgrading mid-trial surprise a user with an immediate charge? (It shouldn't.)

## Application

Reference these preferences when:
- Designing new Stripe integrations
- Reviewing checkout flows
- Auditing subscription logic
- Evaluating pricing page designs

Overview

This skill codifies a strict pricing philosophy and concrete constraints for billing integrations. It guides teams toward a single-tier subscription model with a short, paid-trial flow and clear Stripe implementation patterns. Use it to keep pricing simple, reduce customer confusion, and minimize engineering debt.

How this skill works

The skill inspects pricing and checkout designs against a set of rules: single price point, trial mechanics, payment method requirements, and upgrade behavior during trials. It flags multi-tier, usage-based, or freemium approaches and recommends concrete Stripe settings and UX copy. It also enforces the rule that mid-trial upgrades do not trigger immediate charges.

When to use it

Designing a new subscription product or pricing page
Implementing or reviewing Stripe checkout and subscription code
Auditing existing billing flows for compliance and simplicity
Evaluating upgrade/downgrade behavior during trial periods
Creating UX copy for trial and billing messaging

Best practices

Offer a single paid plan or remain fully free/open-source—no multiple tiers or feature gating
Provide a time-limited free trial (standard 14 days) and require a payment method at signup
When using annual billing, present it only as the same features with a 2-month discount
Honor remaining trial time on mid-trial upgrades; never charge immediately when upgrading
Use clear UX messages: trial length, exact charge date, and cancellation policy

Example use cases

Implement Stripe Checkout with payment_method_collection set to require card and a 14-day trial period
Review a pricing page and remove comparison tables or multiple upgrade CTAs
Audit subscription logic to ensure trial_end is preserved for upgrades
Decide between freemium and single-tier strategy for a new product launch
Validate onboarding copy: 'Start your 14-day free trial — you won't be charged until [date]'

FAQ

Why require a credit card at trial signup?

Requiring a card increases conversion, yields qualified leads, and avoids a second checkout flow while still allowing users to cancel without charge during the trial.

What if a customer needs different features or volume?

This model favors a single price point with full access; handle high-volume or bespoke needs via separate enterprise discussions outside the standard checkout.