route-commerce/docs/pricing-assessment.md

Route Commerce — Pricing Assessment

TL;DR: Yes, the pricing is way too low. Fully-loaded ARPU ceiling today is $493/mo — roughly one-third of what comparable B2B produce distribution platforms charge for the same module set. Recommended: 2.5–3× ARPU lift via a tier re-price + add-on re-price, with no expected loss of in-flight deals.

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What the product actually is

A multi-tenant B2B produce distribution platform, not a SaaS starter. Build depth is substantial:

Surface	Scope
Migrations	135 SQL files (production schema, RLS, SECURITY DEFINER RPCs, audit logs)
Source	544 files (362 .tsx + 179 .ts)
Admin pages	88 routes across orders, products, stops, wholesale, communications, time-tracking, water-log, route-trace, reports, advanced, command-center
API routes	60+ endpoints (Stripe + Square + FedEx + Resend + Twilio + 8 AI endpoints)
Public surfaces	2 brand storefronts (Tuxedo, Indian River Direct) with brand theming, hero, color customization
Integrations	Stripe (Connect + subscriptions), Square (POS sync), FedEx (rates + labels), Resend (email), Twilio (SMS), OpenAI (8 AI tools)
Distinct modules	Catalog · Stops/Routes · Orders · Pickup · Shipping (FedEx) · B2B Wholesale Portal (custom pricing, credit limits, net-30, deposits) · Harvest Reach (campaigns, segments, stop-blasts, templates, automation) · AI Pack (8 tools) · Square Sync · Water Log (irrigation/headgates) · Route Trace (FSMA compliance, lots, QR stickers) · Time Tracking (with overtime) · Tax · Multi-tenant brand isolation

This is closer in scope to Forager / Local Food Marketplace / Choco than to a small-farm tool.

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Current pricing (audit)

Source: src/lib/pricing.ts

Starter    $49/mo   (1 user, 25 products, 10 stops/mo)
Farm       $149/mo  (5 users, unlimited stops/products, wholesale + marketing)
Enterprise $399/mo  (unlimited users/brands, AI, SMS, Square, Water, SLA)

Add-ons
  wholesale_portal  $99/mo
  harvest_reach     $79/mo
  ai_tools          $59/mo   ← 8 AI endpoints for $59
  water_log         $39/mo
  square_sync       $39/mo
  sms_campaigns     $29/mo

Fully-loaded customer max today: $149 + $99 + $79 + $59 + $39 + $39 + $29 = $493/mo

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Market comparables (B2B produce / food distribution)

Comparable	Pricing
Local Line (CSA/farm e-com)	$50–$300/mo
Barn2Door (farmer e-com + marketing)	$299/mo entry
Local Food Marketplace (regional food hubs)	$200–$1,000+/mo
GrazeCart (farm e-com)	$60–$150/mo
Choco (B2B food ordering)	Enterprise $1,000+/mo
Forager (B2B produce marketplace)	Enterprise contracts, $25K+/yr
Cut+Dry (distributor sales rep)	$1,500+/mo per rep
Klaviyo (email/SMS) alone	$60–$1,000+/mo
Shopify Plus (checkout tier)	$2,300+/mo

A 5-user farm on the current Farm plan gets Wholesale Portal + Harvest Reach + Unlimited catalog for $149. Klaviyo alone costs more than the entire Farm plan, and Klaviyo is one module.

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Bugs to fix first

These exist in the current code and should be resolved before re-pricing launches:

1. Two conflicting pricing configs.

   • src/lib/stripe-billing.ts shows Farm annual as $1,522.80 (152280 cents) but src/lib/pricing.ts shows $1,341.
   • Enterprise annual in stripe-billing.ts is 0 (Custom) but pricing.ts shows $3,591.
   • Fix: pick one source of truth and delete the other. The marketing UI reads pricing.ts; the Stripe price-ID logic in billing.ts reads the env vars — they must agree.

2. Add-on catalog mismatches feature display.

   • src/lib/feature-flags.ts:59 lists wholesale_portal: "Contact us" and ai_tools: "OpenAI API required", but pricing.ts prices them at $99/$59.
   • Fix: pick one narrative — if the feature has a price, show the price; if it's bundled, say so explicitly.

3. Landing-page stats are aspirational, not real.

   • src/components/landing/FeaturesAndStats.tsx:165-170 shows "500+ produce brands, 50K+ orders, $2M+ weekly sales."
   • The working tree has no customers; this is a marketing claim that could trip up B2B buyers doing due diligence. Either back it with real numbers or remove it.

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Recommended new pricing

A 2.5–3× lift that still lands below the closest comparables (Local Food Marketplace, Choco) and well below enterprise produce platforms (Forager, Cut+Dry):

Plan tiers

Tier	Current	Recommended	Rationale
Starter	$49/mo	$99/mo	1 user, 25 products — still accessible for CSAs/market vendors; reflects catalog + pickup + 10 stops/mo as a real operational system, not a toy.
Farm	$149/mo	$349/mo	Includes wholesale portal + Harvest Reach. This is your target tier — undercut Local Food Marketplace ($200–$1K) and Barn2Door ($299) by enough to feel like a deal, but capture real B2B value.
Enterprise	$399/mo	$899–$1,499/mo	All add-ons included, unlimited users/brands, SLA, custom dev. An enterprise B2B produce platform with AI + traceability + multi-brand is worth $1,500+; $899 keeps it competitive vs Cut+Dry.

Add-ons (re-priced for value)

Add-on	Current	Recommended	Why
Wholesale Portal	$99	$199	30+ migrations of work, custom pricing + credit limits + net-30 + deposits. This is the second core revenue driver.
Harvest Reach	$79	$149	Email + SMS + segments + templates + automation + stop-blast + abandoned-cart. Klaviyo equivalent is $60–$1K+.
AI Intelligence Pack	$59	$199	8 distinct AI endpoints. AI tools as standalone SaaS bill $200–$500/mo. Pricing it at $59 is gifting margin.
Water Log	$39	$99	Specialty ag irrigation tracking is $100–$300/mo in the market.
Square Sync	$39	$59	Bidirectional POS sync — a real integration; $39 understates the engineering.
SMS Campaigns	$29	$59	Twilio metered + opt-in management + deliverability; $29 signals "we don't trust this to scale."
Route Trace	$49	$99	FSMA compliance, lot tracking, QR stickers — has direct regulatory value.

Fully-loaded max under new pricing: $349 + $199 + $149 + $199 + $99 + $59 + $59 = $1,113/mo per brand — still well below what comparable platforms charge for the same stack.

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Other pricing moves worth considering

• Usage-based component on Harvest Reach / SMS (per-message or per-recipient above a soft cap) — Twilio cost is real, and this lets you capture upside from high-volume brands.
• Per-extra-user on Farm instead of the 5-user cap. $349/mo for 5 users is generous; an overage of $39/user/mo captures growth.
• Annual "founder" pricing for the first 20–30 customers to land logos, with a hard cutoff date in copy.
• Replace "Enterprise" with true custom pricing for $1,500+ deals. The $399 Enterprise is anchored below what buyers will pay for "unlimited everything + custom dev + SLA." Mark it "Custom" and let sales run it.
• Pause/pause-feature toggles for seasonal farms. Many produce brands have off-seasons. A "pause subscription for 3 months, keep data" feature reduces churn that an annual contract would otherwise cause.

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Bottom line

Yes — pricing is way too low. The fully-loaded ARPU ceiling of $493/mo is roughly one-third of what comparable B2B produce platforms charge for the same module set, and the AI tier at $59/mo for 8 endpoints is essentially a free add-on relative to its cost-to-serve and market value.

The safe move: move Starter to $99, Farm to $349, Enterprise to "Custom (starts at $899)", and roughly 2× the add-ons. That single change can 2.5–3× ARPU without losing a single deal that was ever going to close at the old prices — anyone paying $149 today was getting under-billed.