# Hydra Pricing & PLG Strategy
**Version:** 1.0 | 2026-04-30
**Status:** DRAFT

---

## 1. PLG Motion Overview

Hydra is product-led. There is no sales team. The product acquires, converts, and expands revenue on its own.

The free tier is the primary acquisition channel. Every developer who installs Hydra on a repo is a potential paying customer. The conversion from free to paid happens inside the product, driven by hitting limits that feel natural rather than punitive.

The design principle: a free user experiences the full quality of the product before they ever see a paywall. They do not experience a degraded version of Hydra. They experience Hydra at full capability, for a limited number of executions. When they hit the limit, they already know the product works. The upgrade decision is easy.

---

## 2. Tier Definitions

| | Free | Team | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Price** | $0 | $20/dev/month | $40/dev/month | Custom |
| **Fixes/month** | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| **Doc runs/month** | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| **Linear cycles/month** | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| **Repos** | Unlimited | Up to 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| **Discovery + Audit** | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| **Custom agent rules** | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Priority fix queue** | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| **Audit logs** | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| **Usage reporting** | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| **Jira integration** | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| **SSO / SAML / RBAC** | No | No | No | Yes |
| **VPC deployment** | No | No | No | Yes |
| **Compliance reporting** | No | No | No | Yes |
| **SLA + dedicated support** | No | No | No | Yes |
| **Custom model config** | No | No | No | Yes |
| **Global contribution controls** | No | No | No | Yes |
| **Credit card required** | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Target** | Individual devs, OSS, early adopters | Engineering teams 5-50 devs | Growing orgs 50-500 devs | 500+ dev orgs |

---

## 3. Free Tier Design Rationale

**Full discovery and full audit on Free.** This is intentional. Discovery is the first thing Hydra does . It reads the entire codebase, generates the `.hydra/` directory, surfaces architecture, conventions, and an application profile. Gating this would mean the first experience is a paywall, not a product. A free user sees everything Hydra sees about their codebase.

**5 fixes/month.** Tight enough to hit within the first active sprint. Generous enough to deliver real, demonstrable value before the limit lands. Five autonomous fixes: with baseline tests, PR opened, Linear ticket closed. That is enough to make the product real. It is not enough to sustain a team.

**5 Linear cycles and 1 doc run.** Same logic. Enough to experience the capability. Not enough to build a dependency on it without upgrading.

**No repo limit on Free.** Removing the repo gate on Free reduces the friction to install across multiple projects. Discovery installs are the top-of-funnel. Gatekeeping by repo count on the free tier slows installs without meaningfully increasing conversion. The repo limit (5) sits on Team, not Free, so it triggers as teams expand rather than at first install.

**No credit card on Free.** A credit card gate on a developer tool kills PLG conversion. Install should be frictionless. Stripe billing activates at the point of upgrade, not at the point of install.

---

## 4. Upgrade Triggers

These are the specific in-product moments that prompt an upgrade. Each trigger should surface a clear, non-punitive upgrade prompt that explains what they get, not what they lose.

### Free to Team

| Trigger | Prompt Copy |
|---|---|
| 5th fix executed | "You've used all 5 fixes for this month. Upgrade to Team for unlimited fixes, unlimited doc runs, and up to 5 repos." |
| 5th Linear cycle executed | "You've used all 5 Linear cycles for this month. Upgrade to Team to keep the loop running." |
| 1st doc run used | "You've used your doc run for this month. Upgrade to Team for unlimited runs." |
| Attempts to add a 2nd repo after Team limit context | N/A at Free. Repo limit triggers at Team to Business. |
| Attempts to set custom agent rules | "Custom agent rules are available on Team. Upgrade to configure how Hydra prioritizes your codebase." |

### Team to Business

| Trigger | Prompt Copy |
|---|---|
| 5th repo added | "You're at 5 repos. Upgrade to Business for unlimited repos." |
| Attempts to add Jira integration | "Jira integration is available on Business." |
| Engineering manager requests audit logs | "Audit logs and usage reporting are available on Business." |
| Fix queue growing (priority queue upsell) | "Your fix queue has [N] items. Business includes a priority fix queue to move faster." |

### Business to Enterprise

| Trigger | Prompt Copy |
|---|---|
| IT requires SSO / SAML | "SSO and SAML are available on Enterprise. Talk to us." |
| Security team requires VPC deployment | "VPC deployment is available on Enterprise." |
| 500+ developer org | Enterprise ACV justifies outbound; Hydra surfaces contact prompt. |
| Compliance reporting required | "Compliance reporting is available on Enterprise." |

---

## 5. Conversion Path

```
Install (GitHub App)
    |
    v
Free: Full discovery + audit. Codebase mapped. First fixes execute.
    |
    v [hits fix/cycle/doc limit, typically within first sprint]
    |
Team: Unlimited execution. Up to 5 repos. Custom rules.
    |
    v [team grows, repo count grows, Jira needed, audit required]
    |
Business: Unlimited repos. Full ops visibility. Jira.
    |
    v [500+ devs, SSO required, VPC, SLA, compliance]
    |
Enterprise: Custom contract.
```

**Key conversion benchmarks to target:**
- Free to paid within 90 days: 8-15% (PLG industry benchmark per OpenView Partners)
- Time to first fix on Free: under 10 minutes from install
- Time to first upgrade prompt: within first active sprint (typically 2 weeks)

---

## 6. Pricing Page Messaging

### Page Headline
Start free. The codebase gets better either way.

### Page Subheadline
Full discovery. Full audit. Five autonomous fixes to see it work. No credit card.

### Tier Descriptions

**Free**
Full access to everything Hydra sees. Five fixes a month to prove it works. Start with zero risk.

**Team: $20/dev/month**
The fix limit disappears. Unlimited execution across up to 5 repos. Custom agent rules so Hydra prioritizes what your team cares about.

**Business: $40/dev/month**
Unlimited repos. Jira alongside Linear. Audit logs and usage reporting for engineering leadership visibility. Priority fix queue.

**Enterprise: Custom**
SSO. SAML. RBAC. VPC deployment. Compliance reporting. SLAs. For organizations where Hydra is infrastructure, not a tool.

### Pricing Page FAQ

**Is the free tier actually free forever?**
Yes. No credit card. No trial period. Five fixes per month, one doc run, five Linear cycles. When you hit the limits, you upgrade. You never lose access to discovery or audit.

**How is a developer seat counted?**
A seat is any developer with active access to a connected repo. [Billing mechanics to be confirmed with engineering.]

**What happens when I hit my free limit mid-month?**
Fixes pause until the month resets or you upgrade. Discovery and audit remain fully available. You do not lose visibility into your codebase.

**Can I upgrade mid-month?**
Yes. Stripe handles proration automatically.

**Is there an annual discount?**
[TBD, standard PLG practice is 20% for annual commitment]]

**What if I'm an open source project?**
[TBD, OSS program to be defined.]

---

## 7. Billing Mechanics

**Billing provider:** Stripe
**Model:** Per-seat subscription, monthly or annual
**Seat definition:** [To be confirmed with engineering. Developer with active access to a connected repo, or Hydra account holder]
**Free tier:** No Stripe record created until upgrade
**Upgrade flow:** In-product prompt → Stripe Checkout → seat count confirmation → billing active
**Downgrade:** Available. Usage resets to free tier limits at next billing cycle.
**Cancellation:** Cancel anytime. Access continues to end of billing period. Reverts to free tier limits.
**Proration:** Stripe handles mid-cycle seat adds and upgrades automatically.
**Annual billing:** [TBD, recommended: 20% discount, invoiced upfront]

---

## 8. Open Items

| Item | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Seat definition (who counts as a developer seat) | Engineering | Needs to be unambiguous for billing |
| Annual discount percentage | Tristan | Standard PLG practice is 15-20% |
| OSS / nonprofit pricing | Tristan | Common PLG goodwill play, drives community installs |
| Free tier reset date | Engineering | Calendar month or rolling 30 days? |
| Stripe account setup for Hydra | Engineering | Separate from Iru Stripe account |
| Trial period for paid tiers | Tristan | Some PLG tools offer 14-day paid trial before billing starts |
| Usage-based expansion within tiers | Engineering | Does fix count above tier limit trigger overage or hard stop? |