Should I charge a one-time price or a subscription?

One-time licenses fit templates and code that buyers run themselves. Subscriptions fit hosted apps, APIs and agents where you carry ongoing costs or ship regular updates.

How much does GreenGo take from a $49 sale?

On the Starter plan, 8%, or $3.92, leaving $45.08 before Stripe's processing fee. On Pro, which costs $29 a month, the fee is 4%, or $1.96.

When should I raise my price?

After you add something buyers value, such as reviews, better docs, new features or a changelog. Announce the change ahead of time and let existing buyers keep what they bought.

Do buyers pay extra fees on GreenGo?

No. Buyers pay the listed price, and paid purchases include 14-day Buyer Protection.

From prototype to paid: pricing a vibe-coded app

Short answer: Price a vibe-coded app or template on the time and risk it saves the buyer, not on how fast you built it with AI. Public listings for templates and starter kits we checked range from about $45 to $799 per license, usually as one-time payments with separate personal and commercial tiers. Start with a launch price, then raise it as you add reviews, documentation and updates.

Why "it only took me a weekend" is the wrong anchor

AI tools like Lovable, Cursor, Bolt and Claude Code cut build time, but buyers don't pay for your hours. They pay for:

the hours they skip,
the mistakes they avoid (auth, payments, database rules),
and the confidence that someone has tested and documented it.

A template that saves a developer 20 hours is worth a lot more to them than the evening it took you, if it actually works and comes with clear setup notes.

Pricing models

Model	How it works	Fits	Watch out for
One-time license	Pay once, use the code	Templates, boilerplates, UI kits	Update costs fall on you with no new revenue
Tiered licenses	Personal vs. commercial, or 1 dev vs. team	Code people might resell or use for clients	Write the terms clearly
Subscription	Monthly or yearly access	Hosted apps, APIs, agents, ongoing updates	Buyers expect uptime and support
Pay-per-use	Charge per call, task or credit	Agents and AI features with variable costs	Your model costs must stay below the price

How tiered licenses work in practice

Envato's marketplaces (ThemeForest and CodeCanyon) show the common split. Under the Regular License, the end product is distributed for free. Under the Extended License, the end product may be sold. In Envato's words: "If the end users need to pay to see the end product, you need an Extended License."

That split tends to come with a big price jump. One SaaS starter kit on CodeCanyon lists a Regular License at $45 and an Extended License at $315.

Public price examples

These are prices listed on public pages when we checked. They show how other sellers structure tiers, not what your app will earn.

Product	Where it's sold	Tiers and listed prices	Billing
SaaSWeb (Laravel and Vue SaaS starter kit)	CodeCanyon	Regular $45, Extended $315	One-time per license
AdminKit PRO (admin dashboard template)	adminkit.io	Hobby $59 (1 developer, 1 product), Company $399 (5 developers), Enterprise $799	One-time
MakerKit (SaaS starter kits)	makerkit.dev	Pro $299 (1 user), Teams $599 (up to 5), with $349 and $649 shown as regular prices	One-time, lifetime updates

Patterns worth copying:

A low entry tier for hobby or single-project use.
A team or commercial tier at several times the entry price.
Clear limits: number of developers, number of products, and whether paying end users are allowed.

Anchor your price on time saved

Here's a simple way to find your ceiling:

Estimate how many hours your app or template saves a competent developer. Be honest, and count setup time they'll still need.
Multiply by a rate. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $135,980 for software developers (May 2025), which is roughly $65 an hour.
That gives you the value of the time saved. A template that saves 20 hours represents about $1,300 of developer time.
Price at a fraction of that value, so buying is an easy decision. The gap between your price and their saved time is the buyer's reason to say yes.

Then look at comparable listings in the templates catalog and adjust for what yours includes: auth, payments, tests, docs and support.

If you're thinking of selling the whole app rather than copies, the math is different. See How much is my side project worth?

Launch pricing, then raise it

A lower launch price helps you get first buyers and reviews. Plan the increase from the start:

Announce it. Say on the listing that the launch price is for a limited time or a set number of buyers.
Raise in steps as you add things that justify it: reviews, video setup guides, new features, a changelog.
Respect existing buyers. One-time license holders keep what they bought. For subscriptions, many sellers use grandfathering, which Chargebee defines as "retaining your old pricing plan for existing customers, while new plans are applied to all new customers."
Don't fake scarcity or discount heavily right before a sale or a price change. Buyers notice.

Fees: what you actually receive on GreenGo

Listing on GreenGo is free, and buyers pay no extra fees on top of your price. Here's the math on a $49 sale:

Plan	Platform fee	Fee on a $49 sale	You receive before Stripe fees
Starter	8% per sale	$3.92	$45.08
Pro ($29/month)	4% per sale	$1.96	$47.04

Stripe's payment processing fee also applies, so your payout will be a little lower than the last column. Stripe lists its standard U.S. rate for domestic cards as 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction, with extra charges for international cards and currency conversion.

When Pro makes sense: Pro saves 4 percentage points per sale and costs $29 a month. That evens out at $725 in monthly sales ($29 ÷ 0.04). Below that, Starter costs less. The first 100 sellers on GreenGo, the "Founding 100," pay a 4% fee for 6 months.

Timing: payouts go through Stripe Connect after a 14-day hold, with a $25 minimum payout. That hold lines up with the 14-day Buyer Protection on paid purchases.

Full plan details are on Pricing.

A pricing checklist before you publish

Price based on hours saved, not hours spent
At least two tiers if commercial or client use is likely
License terms written in plain English
Launch price and planned increase stated on the listing
Your model or hosting costs per buyer are covered, if you sell a subscription or pay-per-use product
Setup docs, .env.example and a changelog included

Ready to list? Start on Sell. For the full listing process, read How to sell an app built with AI.

Sources

Updated October 20, 2026.