Reference table
Seven ways to test pricing as a startup
A comparison of seven ways to test a price: founder conversations, pricing surveys, AI interview price tests, fake doors, commitment tests, live A/B price tests and pricing consultants. For each it shows what you learn, how long an answer takes, the relative cost and the main risk. Founders can use it to pick a route for their stage, starting cheap and confirming with behaviour. Koji runs the interview price test with the reasons behind each answer.
Where this appears
What's in this reference table
| Route | What you learn | Time | Relative cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder pricing conversations | Rough reactions and objections | Days | Low | Politeness and anchoring on your first number |
| Survey with Van Westendorp or Gabor-Granger | A price range or a demand curve | 1 to 2 weeks | Low to medium | No reasons unless you add open questions |
| AI interview price test | A demand curve plus the reason behind each answer | Days | Low | Still stated intent, so it overstates |
| Fake door on the pricing page | Who clicks buy at a given price | 1 to 4 weeks | Low | Needs traffic, and annoys people if handled badly |
| Prepayment, letter of intent or paid pilot | Who commits money or a signature | 2 to 8 weeks | Medium | Small numbers, and only from warm leads |
| Live A/B price test | Real conversion and revenue at each price | Weeks to months | Medium to high | Needs volume, and customers compare notes |
| Pricing consultant or agency | A full study with large samples | Weeks | High | Cost, and a report you may not be able to rerun |
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Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/startup-price-testing-routes-compared"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/startup-price-testing-routes-compared/startup-price-testing-routes-compared.png" alt="Table comparing seven ways a startup can test pricing, from founder conversations to live A/B price tests, by what you learn, time, cost and risk." width="1200" height="1078" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/startup-price-testing-routes-compared">Seven ways to test pricing as a startup</a>, Koji</p>
