What is Seat-Based Pricing?
Definition
A pricing model where subscription cost is determined by the number of individual users (seats) who access the service.
Understanding Seat-Based Pricing
Seat-based pricing is the dominant model for B2B SaaS. Each user account (seat) costs a fixed amount per month or year. For example, Slack charges per active user, and Figma charges per editor seat.
This model aligns cost with value — larger teams pay more because they get more value. However, it can discourage adoption if adding users feels expensive. Some companies use active seat pricing (only billing for users who actually log in) to reduce friction.
For budget planning, multiply your per-seat cost by expected team size.
Related Terms
Tiered Pricing
A pricing strategy where a service offers multiple plan levels with different feature sets and price points to serve different customer segments.
Usage-Based Pricing
A pricing model where customers pay based on how much they use a service rather than a fixed subscription fee.
ARPU
Average Revenue Per User — the average monthly or annual revenue generated per subscriber, calculated by dividing total revenue by total subscribers.
Subscription
A recurring payment arrangement where a customer pays at regular intervals to access a product or service.