/competitive-pricing-intel

name: competitive-pricing-intel
description: >
  Monitor competitor pricing pages via live web scrape and Web Archive snapshots.
  Track plan changes, tier restructuring, new pricing models, and feature gating shifts.
  Produces a pricing comparison matrix and flags when a competitor changes packaging.
  Use when a product marketing team needs to stay current on competitive pricing or when
  preparing for a pricing change of their own.
tags: [competitive-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

# 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 t