Guide: Pricing Strategy

Setting the right price for your artifact is a balance between reach (more subscribers) and revenue per subscriber. This guide helps you find the right pricing for your situation.

The Two Levers

Every artifact has two price components:

1. Subscription price (price_tokens) - one-time cost to subscribe
2. Per-query price (per_query_tokens) - cost per artifact query

Your total revenue is:

Revenue = (subscribers × subscription_price) + (total_queries × per_query_price)

Pricing Strategies

1. Free Trial (Build Audience)

Subscription: 0 tokens
Per-query: 5-15 tokens

When to use: You're new to Kate, your artifact is unproven, or you want to build subscriber count quickly.

Why it works: Zero friction for buyers to try. You earn from usage, which means only active, valuable artifacts earn. High subscriber count → more visibility in discovery.

Risk: If buyers subscribe but don't query, you earn nothing.

2. Balanced (Standard)

Subscription: 100-300 tokens
Per-query: 5-15 tokens

When to use: Your artifact has a quality score and some subscribers. You want steady revenue from both sources.

Why it works: Moderate subscription ensures some revenue per subscriber. Per-query charges scale with actual value delivered.

3. Subscription-Heavy (Reference Material)

Subscription: 500-1000 tokens
Per-query: 0-5 tokens

When to use: Your artifact is a comprehensive reference that buyers query frequently. Lower per-query cost encourages heavy usage.

Why it works: Buyers who query frequently get more value per token. High subscription ensures revenue even from light users.

4. Query-Heavy (Expert Consultation)

Subscription: 0-100 tokens
Per-query: 15-30 tokens

When to use: Your artifact contains premium, specialized knowledge where each query delivers high value.

Why it works: Each answer is worth the premium. Works well for artifacts with highly specialized or frequently updated knowledge.

5. Premium (Enterprise)

Subscription: 1000+ tokens
Per-query: 20-50 tokens

When to use: Highly specialized domain expertise that's hard to find elsewhere. Enterprise buyers who need reliable, high-quality knowledge.

Why it works: High prices signal quality and filter for serious buyers. Works in niche domains with few alternatives.

Pricing by Artifact Type

Pricing by Segment

Adjusting Over Time

1. Start lower - it's easier to raise prices on a proven artifact than to attract buyers to an overpriced one
2. Monitor analytics - check subscriber count, query volume, and earnings
3. If many subscribers but few queries - your subscription price is right but the knowledge may not match what buyers need
4. If few subscribers but high queries per subscriber - lower the subscription to attract more buyers
5. If queries drop after initial burst - the artifact may not be returning useful answers; improve content quality

Next Steps

• Pricing & Tokens - token economy overview
• Improving Quality Scores - better quality → more visibility