Indie SaaS Monetization — Hard Paywall vs Freemium vs Usage-Based Pricing

The core challenge in indie SaaS is determining the optimal placement of the "paywall" to balance user acquisition and revenue generation. The article outlines three primary monetization patterns with code snippets and examples. The first pattern is the "Hard Paywall," limiting users to a specific number of actions before requiring payment. The second, "Freemium," offers core features for free, with advanced features accessible through a paid plan. The third option is "Usage-Based," charging users based on their consumption of resources, like AI credits. The article includes database function code examples for implementing these models. It also presents Flutter code snippets demonstrating how to integrate these strategies into a user interface. The article further compares payment providers, including Stripe, RevenueCat, Lemon Squeezy, and Paddle, based on their suitability for indie developers. A hybrid approach combining freemium and usage-based models is discussed, and the author shares their own conversion rate. The article concludes by encouraging readers to share their monetization experiences and conversion rates.