| name | commercial-models |
| description | Covers pricing frameworks and commercial patterns including usage-based, subscription, and hybrid models. Use when designing pricing tiers, migration strategies, or assessing commercial viability of features. |
| user-invocable | false |
Commercial Models
This skill covers pricing frameworks and commercial patterns for Datum Cloud services.
Pricing Models
Usage-Based
Charge based on consumption:
| Model | Unit | Example |
|---|
| Per-request | API call | $0.001 per request |
| Per-resource-hour | Time × count | $0.05 per VM-hour |
| Per-unit | GB, CPU, etc. | $0.10 per GB |
Best for: Variable consumption, pay-as-you-go
Subscription
Fixed recurring charge:
| Tier | Price | Includes |
|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited features, quota |
| Pro | $99/mo | Full features, higher quota |
| Enterprise | Custom | Everything + support |
Best for: Predictable revenue, committed customers
Hybrid
Subscription + usage overage:
Base: $99/month (includes 1000 requests)
Overage: $0.01 per request over 1000
Best for: Baseline predictability with growth flexibility
Tier Design
Free Tier
Purpose: Evaluation and adoption
Design principles:
- Enough to build a meaningful demo
- Time-limited or feature-limited (not both)
- Clear upgrade path
- No credit card required
Pro Tier
Purpose: Production workloads
Design principles:
- Price anchored to value delivered
- Generous quota (upgrade trigger = growth)
- Standard support included
- Monthly or annual plans
Enterprise Tier
Purpose: Large organizations
Design principles:
- Custom pricing via sales
- Committed spend discounts
- Dedicated support
- Custom SLAs
- Volume discounts
Pricing Psychology
Anchoring
Show the most expensive option first to anchor perception.
Value Framing
Frame price in terms of value, not cost:
- "Saves 10 hours/week" not "$50/month"
Round Numbers
Use round numbers for simplicity:
- $99 not $97.43
- $0.10 not $0.0973
Predictability
Consumers value bill predictability:
- Offer spend caps
- Provide usage dashboards
- Send alerts before overages
Migration Strategies
Grandfathering
Keep existing customers on old pricing:
- Simple to implement
- Creates legacy complexity
- Use for major changes
Gradual Transition
Move customers over time:
- 30-60-90 day notice
- Discount during transition
- Clear communication
Hard Cutover
Switch everyone at once:
- Clean, simple
- Risk of churn
- Use for minor changes
Related Skills
capability-quota — Quota implementation