Why I Charge $49/Year Instead of $49/Month

Everyone in SaaS charges monthly. $9/month. $29/month. $49/month. It's the playbook.

I charge $49/year.

Here's why.

I didn't build this to get rich

I built ReceiptBot because I was tired of spending 1-2 hours every month digging through Gmail for receipts. After 12 years of running businesses, I finally snapped and built a tool to fix it.

The goal was never "build a SaaS empire." The goal was "stop wasting my evenings on receipt chaos."

If I can save my own time and help others do the same – that's enough.

The real cost: Google and Microsoft

Here's the unsexy truth about building an app that connects to Gmail or Outlook:

Google and Microsoft want you to "verify" your app. That means security audits, privacy reviews, paperwork, and – of course – money.

Until you do that, users see a scary warning: "This app isn't verified."

Most people see that and run. I don't blame them.

The verification process costs $500+ per year. Per platform. That's $1000+ just to make the warning go away.

Right now, I haven't done it yet. I'm keeping ReceiptBot free during beta because I don't want to charge people for an app that shows a scary popup.

So why $49/year?

Because that's roughly what it costs to keep this thing running:

• Hosting
• Google/Microsoft verification (eventually)
• Domain
• My Claude Max subscription (the entire engineering team)

I'm not trying to 10x my money. I'm trying to cover costs and keep the app alive.

$49/month would be a scam for what this does. $49/year feels fair.

Who knows, maybe this becomes my main quest

Right now, ReceiptBot is a side project. I run other businesses. I have a kid. I have limited time.

But if enough people find it useful? If the verification costs get covered? If this actually helps thousands of freelancers and small business owners stop wasting time on receipt bullshit?

Maybe this becomes more than a side project.

Maybe this becomes the thing.

I don't know yet. But I'm keeping the price low enough that we can find out together.

TL;DR

• I built this for myself, not to maximize revenue
• Google and Microsoft charge $1000+/year just to remove scary warnings
• $49/year covers costs, nothing more
• If this grows, maybe it becomes my main focus
• For now, it's free during beta

Try it free →

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Built by someone who'd rather spend time with his kid than optimize pricing models.