Lifetime deal

Why founders sell them

A lifetime deal turns attention into cash and paying users quickly. Deal marketplaces have buyers who look for new tools, so a listing can bring many customers, reviews and feedback in a short time, which helps a product that has no audience yet.

The cost

Every lifetime customer is a customer who never pays again, while still using servers and support. Marketplaces also take a share of each sale. Founders who sell too many lifetime licenses, or sell their best plan, can end up with a large group of users who generate costs but no revenue.

Limit what deal buyers get: a specific plan with usage limits, a capped number of licenses, or a time-limited offer.

Before you list

Make sure onboarding and documentation can handle many new users at once, decide what support deal buyers get, and model the deal against your pricing. Reviews from deal buyers stay on your listing, so good onboarding pays off there.

Lifetime deals and pricing

A deal shapes how people see your price. If the lifetime deal costs less than a few months of the normal plan, some buyers will expect that price forever, and later customers may wait for the next deal. Keep the deal clearly limited in time and scope so your regular pricing stays credible.

Example

A scheduling tool sells a lifetime deal for its mid-tier plan with a cap of two team members, bringing in its first few hundred paying users and dozens of reviews.

Questions people ask

Are lifetime deals a good idea for SaaS?

They can be, for cash and users early on, if you cap what buyers get and model the long-term cost first. They are a poor fit when each user is expensive to serve.

Where are lifetime deals sold?

Mostly on deal marketplaces such as AppSumo, and sometimes directly by founders to an early audience.