ElasticFlow
AI SkillTrack PricingMarketingby Gooseworks

Competitive Pricing Intel — never miss a competitor pricing move

Runs on
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Track competitor pricing pages over time and detect changes

  • Scrapes current competitor pricing pages and Web Archive snapshots
  • Detects plan changes, tier restructuring, and feature gating shifts
  • Builds a normalized pricing comparison matrix
  • Calculates ICP scenario pricing for true competitive position
  • Flags pricing model changes as critical signals

Who this is for

Product Marketer

You own positioning, launches, and the buyer journey. These skills help you write copy that converts, price for growth, and launch products people actually want.

See skills for this role

What it does

Pre-pricing-change analysis

Before changing your own pricing, get a snapshot of the entire competitive landscape.

Monthly pricing watch

Run monthly to catch pricing moves before they show up in lost deals.

Sales enablement

Give reps an up-to-date comparison matrix so they can position price on every competitive call.

How it works

1

Take competitor names and pricing page URLs as input

2

Scrape current pricing structure for each competitor

3

Look up Web Archive snapshots for change detection

4

Build the comparison matrix and ICP scenario table

5

Output alerts on changes plus full landscape report

Metrics this improves

Conversion Rate
Higher win rate when reps can position price against current competitor packaging
Marketing

Works with

Semrush
manual

Optional source for additional traffic and keyword context

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View on GitHub

Competitive Pricing Intel

Track competitor pricing pages over time. Detect when they change plans, shift feature gating, adjust pricing models, or introduce new tiers. The output is a living pricing comparison matrix plus alerts when something changes.

Core principle: Pricing is the most under-monitored competitive signal. Most teams only check competitor pricing when they're about to change their own. This skill makes it continuous.

When to Use

  • "What are our competitors charging?"
  • "Has [competitor] changed their pricing recently?"
  • "Build a pricing comparison matrix"
  • "Monitor competitor pricing for changes"
  • "We're rethinking our pricing — show me the competitive landscape"

Phase 0: Intake

  1. Your product name + pricing page URL
  2. Competitors to track — Names + pricing page URLs (2-5 recommended)
  3. Your pricing model — How do you charge? (per seat, usage, flat, freemium, etc.)
  4. Key comparison dimensions — What matters to your buyer? (price per seat, included features, limits, support tiers)
  5. First run or recurring?
    • First run: Full baseline capture + historical analysis
    • Recurring: Compare against last snapshot

Phase 1: Current Pricing Capture

1A: Live Scrape

For each competitor's pricing page:

Fetch: [competitor pricing URL]

Extract:

  • Plan names and prices — Every tier with monthly and annual pricing
  • Feature matrix — What's included in each tier?
  • Limits — Usage caps, seat limits, storage, API calls
  • Add-ons — What costs extra beyond base plans?
  • Enterprise tier — "Contact us" or listed price? What's gated behind sales?
  • Free tier / trial — What's available without paying?
  • Pricing model — Per seat / per user / usage-based / flat / hybrid

1B: Web Archive Historical Check

Search for past versions of their pricing page:

Search: "web.archive.org" "[competitor pricing URL]"
Fetch: web.archive.org/web/*/[competitor pricing URL]

Look for the last 2-3 snapshots to detect:

  • Price increases/decreases
  • Plan restructuring (new tiers added, tiers removed)
  • Feature gating changes (features moved between tiers)
  • Model shifts (e.g., moved from per-seat to usage-based)
  • Free tier changes (expanded or restricted)

1C: Pricing Announcement Research

Search: "[competitor]" pricing change OR "new pricing" OR "updated plans"
Search: "[competitor]" blog pricing OR announcement plans
Search: "[competitor]" site:reddit.com pricing OR "price increase"

Capture any public announcements or community reactions to pricing changes.

Phase 2: Pricing Analysis

2A: Competitive Pricing Matrix

Build a normalized comparison across all competitors:

DimensionYour ProductCompetitor ACompetitor BCompetitor C
Starter price$X/mo$X/mo$X/mo$X/mo
Mid-tier price$X/mo$X/mo$X/mo$X/mo
Enterprise$X/mo or Custom.........
Pricing model[Model][Model][Model][Model]
Free tier[Yes/No + limits].........
Annual discount[X%].........
Key limit (starter)[e.g., 5 seats].........
Key limit (mid)[e.g., 20 seats].........
Overage cost[$/unit or blocked].........
Support included[Email/chat/phone].........

2B: Price-to-Value Ratio

For the ICP's typical use case, calculate effective cost:

Scenario: [Typical ICP — e.g., "10-person growth team, 5,000 contacts, 1,000 emails/month"]

Your Product: $[X]/mo for this scenario
Competitor A: $[X]/mo for this scenario
Competitor B: $[X]/mo for this scenario

This reveals true competitive pricing position, not just list price.

2C: Packaging Strategy Analysis

For each competitor, identify their packaging strategy:

StrategyDescriptionWho Uses It
Good-Better-Best3 tiers, clear upgrade pathMost SaaS
Usage-basedPay for what you useAPI/infrastructure
Per-seatPrice scales with teamCollaboration tools
FreemiumFree forever, premium featuresPLG products
Reverse trialFull features free, then downgradeConversion-optimized
Platform + add-onsBase platform + modular featuresEnterprise

2D: Change Detection (Recurring Runs)

Compare current snapshot against previous:

Change TypeSeverityExample
Price increaseHighStarter: $29 → $39/mo
Price decreaseHighAggressive competitive move
New tier addedMedium"Growth" plan between Starter and Pro
Tier removedMediumSimplified from 4 to 3 plans
Feature ungatedMediumFeature moved from Pro to Starter
Feature gatedMediumFeature moved from Starter to Pro
Model changeCriticalShifted from per-seat to usage-based
Free tier changeHighFree plan limits reduced/expanded

Phase 3: Output Format

# Competitive Pricing Intel — [DATE]
Products tracked: [your product], [competitors]
Previous snapshot: [date or "first run"]

---

## Pricing Change Alerts

### [Competitor Name]
- **Change detected:** [Description of what changed]
- **Previous:** [Old pricing/plan structure]
- **Current:** [New pricing/plan structure]
- **Implication for us:** [What this means for your positioning/pricing]

*(Repeat for each competitor with changes. If no changes: "No pricing changes detected since [last run date].")*

---

## Competitive Pricing Matrix

| | [You] | [Comp A] | [Comp B] | [Comp C] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Starter** | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo |
| **Mid-tier** | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo | $[X]/mo |
| **Enterprise** | [Price] | [Price] | [Price] | [Price] |
| **Model** | [Type] | [Type] | [Type] | [Type] |
| **Free tier** | [Details] | [Details] | [Details] | [Details] |
| **Annual discount** | [X%] | [X%] | [X%] | [X%] |

---

## ICP Scenario Pricing

For: [Typical buyer scenario]

| Product | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | Notes |
|---------|-------------|-------------|-------|
| [You] | $[X] | $[X] | [Context] |
| [Comp A] | $[X] | $[X] | [Context — e.g., "requires add-on for [feature]"] |
| [Comp B] | $[X] | $[X] | [Context] |

**Your position:** [Cheapest / Mid-range / Premium] for this scenario

---

## Feature Gating Comparison

Features that matter most to ICP — where are they gated?

| Feature | [You] | [Comp A] | [Comp B] |
|---------|-------|----------|----------|
| [Feature 1] | [Tier] | [Tier] | [Tier] |
| [Feature 2] | [Tier] | [Tier] | [Tier] |
| [Feature 3] | [Tier] | [Tier] | [Tier] |

---

## Packaging Strategy Summary

| Competitor | Strategy | Target Motion | Notes |
|-----------|----------|--------------|-------|
| [Comp A] | [Strategy type] | [PLG/Sales-led/Hybrid] | [Key observation] |
| [Comp B] | [Strategy type] | [Motion] | [Observation] |

---

## Pricing Recommendations

Based on competitive analysis:

### If holding current pricing:
- **Strength:** [Where your pricing wins]
- **Vulnerability:** [Where a competitor undercuts you]
- **Messaging guidance:** [How to position price on sales calls]

### If considering a change:
- **Opportunity:** [Gap in market you could fill — e.g., "no one offers usage-based in this category"]
- **Risk:** [What to watch out for — e.g., "Competitor B is already cheaper at scale"]

Save to clients/<client-name>/product-marketing/pricing-intel/pricing-comparison-[YYYY-MM-DD].md.

Scheduling

Run monthly (pricing changes are infrequent but impactful):

0 8 1 * * python3 run_skill.py competitive-pricing-intel --client <client-name>

Cost

ComponentCost
Web scraping (pricing pages)Free
Web Archive lookupsFree
Web search (announcements)Free
Analysis and comparisonFree (LLM reasoning)
TotalFree

Tools Required

  • web_search — for pricing announcements and community reactions
  • fetch_webpage — for scraping current pricing pages
  • No API keys required

Trigger Phrases

  • "What are competitors charging?"
  • "Has [competitor] changed their pricing?"
  • "Build a pricing comparison matrix"
  • "Run competitive pricing intel for [client]"
  • "Monitor competitor pricing pages"