# Lifetime deals for SaaS: when to sell one and how to price it > When a lifetime deal makes sense for a small SaaS, how to price it, what limits to set, and the risks of selling your product once and supporting it forever. By Luis Miguel, founder of HAGGIN. Published 2026-10-31. Web version: https://hagg.in/blog/saas-lifetime-deal A lifetime deal makes sense for a SaaS when you need cash now, your cost per user is low, and the people buying it are early adopters who will give you feedback and tell other people about it. A common way to price it is somewhere between two and five years of your monthly price, sold in a limited batch, with clear limits on usage and on what "lifetime" covers. If your costs grow with usage or you depend on recurring revenue to survive, be very careful, because you'll be supporting those customers for years without new income from them. ## What is a SaaS lifetime deal? The customer pays once and gets access to the product for as long as it exists, instead of paying every month or year. Some founders sell them directly to their audience, others through deal marketplaces like AppSumo. It's popular with early-stage products because it brings in money before recurring revenue is big enough, and lifetime buyers tend to be enthusiastic users who report bugs and ask for features. ## When does a lifetime deal make sense? **You need cash now.** To survive a few months, to fund development, or to avoid raising money. **Each extra user costs you almost nothing.** No expensive API calls, no heavy storage, no support load that grows quickly. **You want early users.** People who paid for lifetime access care about the product and give you feedback. Some become your loudest fans. **You're launching.** A limited lifetime batch at launch rewards the first customers and gives people a reason to buy that week. ## When is a lifetime deal a bad idea? **Your costs grow with usage.** If every user calls an AI model, stores lots of data, or needs real support, a lifetime customer becomes more expensive every year while paying nothing. **You already have recurring revenue that works.** Lifetime deals can take customers who would have paid monthly for years. **You sell to the wrong crowd.** Some deal-hunting audiences buy lots of lifetime deals, use few of them, and expect a lot from the ones they use. Through marketplaces you also give up a large share of each sale. **You can't support them for years.** "Lifetime" means the lifetime of the product. If you shut it down in two years, some buyers will be angry, and they'll say so in public. ## How should you price a lifetime deal? There's no formula, but a common starting point is two to five years of your monthly price for the equivalent plan. Then check it against a few things: - **How long a normal customer stays.** If average monthly customers stay 18 months, a lifetime price below 18 months of subscription means you earn less from a lifetime buyer than from a normal customer. - **What it costs you per user per year.** Multiply by the number of years you expect to support them. - **Which plan it includes.** Many lifetime deals cover a lower or middle tier, with upgrades to higher tiers at extra cost. ## What limits should a lifetime deal have? Write these down clearly before you sell it. - **Usage limits.** Seats, projects, credits, storage. Unlimited usage is a common reason lifetime deals end up costing more than they brought in. - **What "lifetime" covers.** The current plan and its features, or every future feature too? Most founders limit it to the plan and future updates to that plan. - **A limited number of licenses.** Sell a fixed batch and close it. It creates urgency and stops lifetime customers from becoming most of your user base. - **Transferability and refunds.** Whether the license can be resold and how long they have to ask for a refund. ## Should you sell lifetime deals publicly? You don't have to. Some founders offer lifetime access only privately: to an early supporter, to someone who asks, or as part of a specific deal. This keeps your public pricing about subscriptions while still allowing a one-time deal when it makes sense. One way to do that is to let customers propose it. [HAGGIN](/use-cases/launches) lets you allow lifetime offers on a negotiation page: a customer proposes a one-time price, maybe with a testimonial, a post to their audience or something else on top, and you decide whether to accept, counter or pass. Lifetime access only goes to the people you say yes to, at prices you agreed, and your pricing page keeps showing subscriptions. ## What happens after you sell lifetime deals? Plan for it from day one. - Keep lifetime customers tagged in your billing and support tools. - Give them a way to upgrade to higher plans, so their spending isn't capped forever. - Don't promise features in the sales page that you might never build. - If you sold through a marketplace, expect a wave of support requests in the first weeks and plan your time for it. ## FAQ ### Are lifetime deals good for SaaS? They can be, for early products that need cash and have low costs per user. They're risky for products with high costs per user or with recurring revenue that already works. ### How much should I charge for a SaaS lifetime deal? A common starting point is between two and five years of the monthly price of the plan it includes. Check it against how long your normal customers stay and what each user costs you per year. ### Should I sell my SaaS on AppSumo? It can bring a lot of users and cash quickly, but you give up a large share of each sale and get many support requests from people who paid little. Whether it's worth it depends on your margins and on how much support you can handle. ### How do I limit a lifetime deal? Set usage limits (seats, projects, credits), say clearly which plan and features it includes, sell a fixed number of licenses, and write a refund policy. ## You might also like - [Black Friday for SaaS without the same discount for everyone](https://hagg.in/blog/saas-black-friday.md) - [How much to discount an annual plan](https://hagg.in/blog/annual-plan-discount.md) --- HAGGIN lets SaaS companies negotiate their prices with customers: a link where people who were about to leave make an offer, and the company accepts, counters or passes. The list price never moves. https://hagg.in