Market bracket: competitor per-seat pricing (research done — decision needed) #24

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opened 2026-09-05 23:24:16 +00:00 by Cordy · 1 comment

Cordy commented

2026-09-05 23:24:16 +00:00

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Research for the price-setting decision (Nikola, 2026-09-06). All figures checked 2026-09 from vendor pricing pages / current aggregators; excl. VAT.

Per-seat pricing, self-hosted competitors

Product / tier	Billed	Per seat / month	Yearly → monthly	Minimum
Nextcloud Enterprise Standard	yearly	—	€68.94/yr → €5.75	100 users
Nextcloud Enterprise Premium	yearly	—	€104.99/yr → €8.75	100 users
Nextcloud Enterprise Ultimate	yearly	—	€204.75/yr → €17.06	100 users
ownCloud Standard	monthly (annual contract)	€5.00	—	25 users
ownCloud Enterprise	monthly (annual contract)	€12.00	—	25 users
Seafile Pro (10–249 users)	yearly	—	€44 / $48/yr → €3.67	10 (free ≤3; $100 flat for 9)
Seafile Pro (250–499)	yearly	—	€40/yr → €3.33	—
Seafile Pro (750–999)	yearly	—	€30/yr → €2.50	—
(adjacent: Seafile Cloud Team)	monthly	$8.00	—	3
Cairn (proposed)	yearly	—	30 CHF/yr → 2.50 CHF (≈€2.67)	none; first 50 seats of every licence free

Caveats: Nextcloud tiers differ by support/SLA, not features; ownCloud figures are the on-prem subscription (ownCloud.online hosted is priced differently); Seafile gives education 50% and public institutions 25% off.

Reading

At 30 CHF/seat/year Cairn undercuts every direct competitor's entry tier — level with Seafile's largest-volume tier while Seafile's entry tier costs ~1.5× more, roughly half of ownCloud Standard, and less than half of Nextcloud Standard. Combined with no seat minimum (competitors: 10–100) and 50 free seats on every licence, the effective price for a 120-person shop is 70 × 30 = 2,100 CHF/yr vs Nextcloud's 120 × ~~€69 ≈ €8,270/yr. The bracket question is whether to sit this far below the market (volume/adoption play, consistent with fair-code positioning) or price nearer Seafile's entry (~~€44/yr) and let the 50-free tier carry the generosity story.

Sources: Nextcloud pricing, Seafile pricing, ownCloud pricing (Capterra), ownCloud.online.

Decision for Nikola: confirm 30 CHF/yr as the bracket, or adjust before #23 (CHF switch) executes.

Research for the price-setting decision (Nikola, 2026-09-06). All figures checked 2026-09 from vendor pricing pages / current aggregators; excl. VAT. ## Per-seat pricing, self-hosted competitors | Product / tier | Billed | Per seat / month | Yearly → monthly | Minimum | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Nextcloud Enterprise** Standard | yearly | — | €68.94/yr → **€5.75** | 100 users | | Nextcloud Enterprise Premium | yearly | — | €104.99/yr → **€8.75** | 100 users | | Nextcloud Enterprise Ultimate | yearly | — | €204.75/yr → **€17.06** | 100 users | | **ownCloud** Standard | monthly (annual contract) | **€5.00** | — | 25 users | | ownCloud Enterprise | monthly (annual contract) | **€12.00** | — | 25 users | | **Seafile Pro** (10–249 users) | yearly | — | €44 / $48/yr → **€3.67** | 10 (free ≤3; $100 flat for 9) | | Seafile Pro (250–499) | yearly | — | €40/yr → **€3.33** | — | | Seafile Pro (750–999) | yearly | — | €30/yr → **€2.50** | — | | *(adjacent: Seafile Cloud Team)* | monthly | $8.00 | — | 3 | | **Cairn (proposed)** | yearly | — | 30 CHF/yr → **2.50 CHF (≈€2.67)** | none; **first 50 seats of every licence free** | Caveats: Nextcloud tiers differ by support/SLA, not features; ownCloud figures are the on-prem subscription (ownCloud.online hosted is priced differently); Seafile gives education 50% and public institutions 25% off. ## Reading At 30 CHF/seat/year Cairn undercuts every direct competitor's entry tier — level with Seafile's *largest-volume* tier while Seafile's entry tier costs ~1.5× more, roughly half of ownCloud Standard, and less than half of Nextcloud Standard. Combined with no seat minimum (competitors: 10–100) and 50 free seats on every licence, the effective price for a 120-person shop is 70 × 30 = 2,100 CHF/yr vs Nextcloud's 120 × ~€69 ≈ €8,270/yr. The bracket question is whether to sit this far below the market (volume/adoption play, consistent with fair-code positioning) or price nearer Seafile's entry (~€44/yr) and let the 50-free tier carry the generosity story. Sources: [Nextcloud pricing](https://nextcloud.com/pricing/), [Seafile pricing](https://www.seafile.com/en/pricing/), [ownCloud pricing (Capterra)](https://www.capterra.com/p/176602/ownCloud/pricing/), [ownCloud.online](https://owncloud.online/pricing/). Decision for Nikola: confirm 30 CHF/yr as the bracket, or adjust before #23 (CHF switch) executes.

Cordy commented

2026-09-06 01:06:30 +00:00

Author

Owner

Decision (Nikola, 2026-09-06): the 30 CHF/seat/year bracket is confirmed. Monthly pricing stays as it is (3.00 per seat/month — becomes 3 CHF with the #23 currency switch).

Resulting structure: monthly 3 CHF × 12 = 36 CHF vs yearly 30 CHF — yearly buys ten months, a clean ~17% annual incentive. Position: below every direct competitor's entry tier (Seafile entry ≈ €44/yr, ownCloud Standard €60/yr, Nextcloud Standard ≈ €69/yr), no seat minimum, first 50 seats of every licence free. Deliberate volume/adoption play consistent with the fair-code positioning.

Implementation is #23 (CHF base in Paddle sandbox, PricePreview-driven localized display, site touchpoints). Closing — research served its purpose, decision recorded.

**Decision (Nikola, 2026-09-06): the 30 CHF/seat/year bracket is confirmed. Monthly pricing stays as it is** (3.00 per seat/month — becomes 3 CHF with the #23 currency switch). Resulting structure: monthly 3 CHF × 12 = 36 CHF vs yearly 30 CHF — yearly buys ten months, a clean ~17% annual incentive. Position: below every direct competitor's entry tier (Seafile entry ≈ €44/yr, ownCloud Standard €60/yr, Nextcloud Standard ≈ €69/yr), no seat minimum, first 50 seats of every licence free. Deliberate volume/adoption play consistent with the fair-code positioning. Implementation is #23 (CHF base in Paddle sandbox, PricePreview-driven localized display, site touchpoints). Closing — research served its purpose, decision recorded.