Pricing page with a highlighted middle plan: +38% revenue
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA redesigned pricing page that highlighted the middle plan and showed yearly savings lifted revenue by 38% and average order value by 24%.
The agency CodaLift LLC ran this test for Planoly, a Texas-based software company, and it was published as a VWO case study.
Several changes shipped together, so the result belongs to the whole redesign, not to one element.
- Revenue: +38%. This is the number that matters most for a pricing page.
- Average order value: +24%, which suggests more people chose bigger or annual plans.
- Plan button clicks: +16% on Starter, +20% on Growth and +74% on Professional.
- Sample size, test length and confidence were not shared.
The change
Highlighted Growth plan, benefit heading and yearly savings vs equal columns
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Three plan columns (Starter, Growth and Professional) with discounted prices and savings shown in dollars per month. Every plan had the same button style.
Variant
Still three columns, but the Growth plan stood out with a contrasting colour and a different button style. A new heading focused on what the plans deliver, and annual-plan savings were shown in dollars per year.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Highlighting one plan gives visitors a default choice, which makes picking a plan quicker.
- Savings in dollars per year look bigger than the same savings per month, which can nudge people toward annual billing.
- A heading about benefits reminds visitors what they get before they compare prices.
- The biggest click gain was on the top plan. A highlighted middle plan can make the top plan feel like a smaller step up, though this test can't prove that.
Caveats: This was a bundled redesign: colour, button style, heading and savings format changed at once, so no single change can take the credit. No sample size, duration or significance was published.
Who ran it
CodaLift LLC ran this test and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on CodaLift LLC →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we highlight our recommended plan, lead with a benefit heading and show annual savings per year, then revenue per visitor will rise because choosing a plan becomes easier and annual billing looks more valuable.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per pricing page visitor
- Guardrails
- Plan mix (share of each tier)
- Refund or downgrade rate in the first 30 days
- Trial or sign-up start rate
- Who should test it
- SaaS companies with three or more tiers and an annual billing option. If you have one plan or no annual pricing, most of this doesn't apply. To learn which change worked, test the pieces one at a time.
Questions
Should a SaaS pricing page highlight one plan?
Often, yes. A highlighted plan gives undecided visitors a default.
In this test it came bundled with other changes, so test it on its own if you want a clean answer.
Is it better to show annual savings per month or per year?
A yearly figure is a bigger number and can make annual billing look more attractive.
Planoly's redesign used the yearly figure, alongside other changes.
What should I measure on a pricing page test?
Measure revenue or paid conversions, not just button clicks.
Clicks can rise while paid sign-ups stay flat.