9 SaaS pricing traps in India that quietly inflate your bill

#saas #pricing #india #startup

If you purchase SaaS from India, the price that you think that you are paying often is not the price that you end up paying after renewals, add-ons, seat rules and “fair-use” limitations.

This is a very basic checklist which I use to go through for subscribing to any tool.

1) Monthly price is bait — renewals is where it hurts

Many tools are proactive in pushing monthly pricing but renewals (as well as plan changes) are silent.

Before paying, screenshot:

plan name
renewal price
billing cycle
cancellation terms

2) Seats: “per user” pricing it does not show minimums

Lots of plans say “$X per seat”, but enforce:

a minimum seat count
admin seats billed the same
guest/collaborator limits

Check – how many seats do you really need today + 3 months from now.

3) Features of AI tend to be more costly (even in “AI plans”)

“AI included” can still mean:

capped messages
extra cost per 1,000 requests
separate AI additive for each working space

Check: Artificial intelligence (AI) User or workspace based or user?

4) The limits of fair use — The silent murderer

Tools are silent throttling or upselling when you hit the:

executions
bandwidth
storage
API calls
automation runs

Rule: always check out “Limits” section – always before buying.

5) “Business plan” doesn’t always have the support of the business

Some plans still exclude:

priority support
onboarding
SLA
exports/backups

Check: response time of support + back up and export access

6) Pricing in USD – INR Reality (FX + Bank Charges)

Even if you should the price of the SaaS is fixed, you may pay more because of:

FX rate conversion
bank/processor fees
GST Handling on the basis of set up of invoice

Tip: compare the end charged INR, and not just USD.

7) Rules on refund & cancellation are more tough than you thought

Many tools are not providing the refund for half periods. There are some that have to be cancelled days before they are renewed.

Checklist:

can you cancel instantly?
any notice period?
refund policy link saved?

8) Annual plans — Do the math before purchasing in

Annual discounts look great if and only if:

you’re going to actually be using the tool for 12 months
your team size won’t change
limits won’t need to be upgraded in the middle of the year

Simple test – would you be happy to pay out the amount for the year – now even if you stopped using in 3 months?

9) Alternatives are going to be “good enough”

Before you purchase always check and see whether if you use a cheaper tool solves 80% of your need.

For many types of workflow “good enough + consistent” is better than “best + expensive”.