Pricing Strategies: #3 Services never Stop with just Plans

Pricing Strategies: #3 Services never Stop with just Plans

"Hey, while you're here, could you also take a look at the vegetable patch?"


Aaron hears that line almost every week.

He runs a small gardening service, the kind where customers subscribe to a simple monthly plan that includes basic maintenance, mowing, watering, trimming and fertilising the greenery around the house. It was a clean plan, easy to quote and deliver. But every visit came with just one more request, which Aaron can hardly deny.

"Can you add some new soil to the corner beds?"

"Do you have time to prune the roses today?"

"Can you install a drip line this month?"

"On, and do you think we could add two more bags of compost next time?"

Aaron would laugh and say, "Sure, but that's not a part of the routine."

Then he'd rather do the work for free, feeling it's a small thing to charge or charge manually, which customers sometimes hesitate to pay or write a note to invoice later, which he misses most of the time.

By the end of the month, his plan-based business no longer looked like a plan. It seems like a collection of unpredictable, scattered requests that his billing system wasn't built to handle.

One day, a customer said, "I wish I could just add these extra things like a topping on a pizza. My plan stays the same, but I choose the extras I want."

That made Aaron realise something: People don't want complicated plans, but they do want flexibility in purchase. They want a solid base plan and the freedom to add the extras that fit their needs.

This is precisely why Zoho Billing offers Add-ons, to keep plans clean while allowing customers to personalise their subscription effortlessly.

Add-ons in Zoho Billing 

Add-ons extend a subscription beyond the base offering. They allow customers to purchase additional value without changing their main plan, while letting businesses scale offerings cleanly. Zoho Billing offers a comprehensive, structured add-on framework that covers different types of add-ons to address real-world subscription challenges.


Standalone Add-ons 

Standalone addons are independent enhancements that customers can attach to their existing plan whenever they prefer. They are meant to offer extra service or features that are not included in the base plan but are commonly requested.


Suitable Businesses: Gardening services, home cleaning services, fitness studios, consulting firms, repair/maintenance services.
IdeaStrategic Advantage: Standalone addons let businesses say "yes" to customer requests immediately without redesigning plans. They boost revenue, reduce complexity, and make offerings more modular.  

Addon Groups 

Addon Groups categorise addons into structured sections. This ensures customers see relevant options, not a long list of unrelated extras. This allows businesses to organise add-ons into meaningful groups, such as garden enhancement, soil services, and irrigation upgrades.


Suitable Businesses: Software platforms with feature bundles, wellness centres offering different service categories, and agencies with add-on service families.
Idea
Strategic Advantage: 
 Grouped addons improve customer experience and help businesses present upsells cleanly, increase adoption without overwhelming the subscribers.  

Recurring Addons 

Recurring addons behave like mini-subscriptions attached to the main plan. They repeat every billing cycle unless removed. These are long-term additions, such as premium service layers, extra recurring hours, monthly replenishments, or ongoing feature unlocks.


Suitable Business: IT service providers, digital content platforms, property maintenance companies, and management services businesses.
IdeaStrategic Advantage: Recurring addons provide predictable recurring revenue and increase customer retention by integrating deeper value into each billing cycle.  

One-time Addons 

These are single-use enhancements that do not renew. They are mostly occasional or emergency requests such as festival cleanup, a one-time plan installation, a deep garden care session or a special consultation.


Suitable Business: Event-based service providers, emergency repair teams, creative agencies, and landscaping services offering seasonal cleanup. 
Idea
Strategic Advantage: One-time add-ons let you capture revenue for specific needs while keeping plans simple. Customers appreciate paying just for what they use.

Quantity-based Addon 

Quantity-based addons allow customers to buy multiple units of a service enhancement. It depends on scaling by volume, such as purchasing more working hours, extra visits, additional fertiliser bags or extra user seats.


Suitable Business: Co-working space selling extra desks, SaaS apps offering additional seats, consulting firms selling extra billable hours, and gardening service selling extra material units.

IdeaStrategic Advantage: This model supports incremental growth, reduces customer friction and increases recurring revenue without modifying the customer's main subscription.  

Usage Addons 

Usage-based addons charge based on the quantity consumed, with tracking after the fact. This addon is measured purely on usage, such as irrigation water consumption, number of tasks completed, hours logged or API calls made.


Suitable Business: Utilities, IoT device monitoring service, API driven SaaS platform, retail services, telecom and metered resource providers.

IdeaStrategic Advantage: Usage based addon build trust and attract customers who prefer flexible at the same time fair way of billing. They also unlock revenue that grows organically with usage.  

 What Addon Do for the Business 

Add-ons transform how a business delivers value. Instead of forcing every customer into a rigid plan structure, they allow flexible, optional and scalable extensions that match real-world needs. This means your plan remains clean and predictable, while your revenue model becomes dynamic and adaptive.

Addons in Zoho Billing not only offer different types, but also provide flexible rules for when and how addons should be attached to a subscription. You can configure,


Association Type: 

Association type controls whether the addon is optional, recommended or mandatory.

  1. Optional: The addon can be added or removed at any time when creating or editing a subscription.

  2. Recommended: The addons appear as a suggested enhancement on the hosted page.

  3. Mandatory: Addon is automatically included with the plan and cannot be removed.


Applicable Event: 

The applicable event defines the time range during which the addon should be considered.

  1. Subscription activation: Triggered when a subscription goes live.

  2. Plan Change: Triggered whenever a subscription is created or updated with a selected plan.

  3. Trial Activation: Triggered when the trial starts. 


Event Frequency 

Event frequency determines whether the addon applies once or every time the event occurs.

  1. Whenever Event Occurs: The addon is applied every time the selected event happens.

  2. First-Time Event Occurs: The addon applies only to the first occurrence of the chosen event.


With all these addons, make your subscription model future-ready, flexible, profitable and responsive to how customers actually use your service.

Customers subscribe to your plan for the essentials. But they stay and spend more when they can tailor the service to their evolving needs.

Plans create the foundation, and addons create the experience.

Together, they build a perfect subscription model that scales merrily. 


Notes
Up Next: Counting on Discounts

    • Sticky Posts

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020

      Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here's

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly you

    • Community Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate most

    • Introducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020

      Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! ​ Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Zoho Creator customer portal users

        Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3

      • GPS tracking only or Check out facility

        Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides Checkin

      • Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

        Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles

      • Kaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2

        Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST Webhook

      • Standard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation

        Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get the

      • Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)

        Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages of

      • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

        Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

      • Accessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users ​

        Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center users

      • Zoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente

        La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurant

      • Item/service subtotal

        Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

      • Send email template "permission denied to access the api"

        Hello, Per the title, I'm trying to send a Zoho CRM Email template based on the advice given here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/specify-an-email-template-when-sending-emails-in-custom-functions (I'd prefer to send right from Deluge

      • how to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS

        Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I try

      • Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

        when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 

      • Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

        "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine

      • Publish to LinkedIn via API

        Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian

      • FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

        Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to

      • Do Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?

        Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.

      • Problem in Zoho POS frontend ERP.

        We are facing some difficulties in our billing and inventory processes and require your support to resolve them at the earliest. Customer Advance Payments We receive advance payments from customers for upcoming sales. Please guide us on how to record

      • Categorize Items with Item Headers

        Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title.  Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates.  To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, Invoices

      • Discount on the transaction level in POS

        "Is it possible to apply a discount on the total bill before tax in Zoho POS?" I want to apply a discount on the total transaction amount in Zoho POS, but the discount should be calculated before the taxes are applied. Is there an option to do this in

      • Send Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates

        Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now use

      • Jobs at multiple locations

        Hi A lot of times we have same job open at multiple locations. So I would like an option where we can create a job and choose multiple locations. Currently we have to create individual jobs for each location. If we can create one job and mention multiple

      • Tag Adding Option in Kanban Card Customization Bigin CRM Mobile App

        I would like to request an option to add and display tags on Kanban cards in the Bigin CRM mobile app. This feature would make it easier to categorize deals and quickly identify priorities while working on the go.

      • Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM

        Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individuals

      • Associating a Candidate to a Job Listing

        Hello, I am trying to use Zoho Forms embedded on my website for candidates to apply for a job opening. I want the form then to tie directly with zoho recruit and have the candidate be automatically inputed into Recruit as well as associated with the specific

      • WhatsApp Voice Message Sending Option in Bigin CRM

        I would like to request a feature that allows users to send WhatsApp voice messages directly from Bigin CRM. This would help improve communication efficiency and make it easier for teams to respond quickly to customer inquiries.

      • CRM: hosting a single html file in Zoho and displaying it as a widget

        I have seen that CRM offers the option of uploading a web project to Zoho itself and displaying it as a widget in CRM. The instructions then talk about setting a development environment with Node and developing an application to upload to Zoho. But I

      • How to change position button transtition of Blueprint?

        Hi Everyone, Look at my screenshoot, it is possible move the reject button to the right? I couldn't find that setting in the blueprint. Thank you.

      • Multi file upload

        Hi, I just wonder if one could upload multiple files in one shot, say between one and three files, without adding multiple File Upload fields? Thanks, Alalbany

      • Sorting Descending in a lookup

        I have a case number lookup on multiple forms. I need the most recent added to appear at the top of the lookup or as the list of cases grom it's too much to scroll. Is there a way to have a look up sort descending?

      • Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive

        Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—to

      • Asap Widget 2.0

        Where's the documentation for the new ASAP widget? https://www.zoho.com/desk/developers/asap/#introduction this one is outdated How can we dynamically navigate between different views? How can we prefill ticket forms using ASAP 2.0?

      • Can the Trigger be changed?

        I'm afraid I already know the answer, but here goes... After activating a workflow (under Campaigns > Automations), Then later choosing to Edit the workflow, Can the Workflow's Trigger be changed? Currently the entire Trigger section + options are gone

      • Marketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – Part I

        Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! In this week's post, we'll discuss the ever-important concept of open rates. This will be a multi-part series, as we have a range of topics to cover. Open rates—which measure the percentage

      • Can't send nor receive emails on my external email accounts since this morning

        Greetings, I have two external accounts integrated into Zoho mail through POP3 + SMTP. These accounts have always worked normally since the day I've set them up. Starting 10:30 AM this morning (Western European Time) both suddenly stopped sending and

      • Creating Custom PDF Template from Form

        I am trying to create a custom PDF from form submissions. I have the standard subscription and it indicates that PDF forms are included. I cannot find anywhere to create PDF forms. I try to follow the instructions from here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/forms/form-settings/pdf-settings/pdf-editor/articles/creating-your-own-pdf-template#Creating_your_template_from_the_scratch

      • Important Update: Facebook Metrics Deprecation & Impact on Zoho Analytics

        Dear Zoho Analytics users, Facebook has deprecated a set of metrics from the Facebook Pages Insights API, effective November 15, 2025. As a result, these changes will affect any reports and dashboards in Zoho Analytics that rely on Facebook Pages data.

      • Introducing Zoho MCP for Bigin

        Hello Biginners! We're excited to introduce Zoho MCP for Bigin, a completely new way of interacting with Bigin data using AI. With Zoho MCP, you can securely connect your Bigin account with popular AI agents like Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code,

      • MCP > Creator connection failing with Claude

        I'm trying to get claude to access any of my Zoho Creator apps and it keeps failing. I have enabled all tools for creator and ensured in claude settings that everything is authorised. Here is what claude says : Unfortunately, the error messages I'm receiving

      • Is it possible to sync data every 5–10 minutes in Zoho Analytics (CRM or Excel imports)?

        Hello Team, I want to know if Zoho Analytics supports near real-time syncing of data from different sources. My requirements: I am importing data from Zoho CRM → Zoho Analytics I also have some datasets maintained in Excel/CSV I want both data sources

      • Next Page