<!-- Source: Kon Master Brief — §5 Pricing Model -->

## 5. Pricing Model

### Free tier
Basic voice capture + local transcription + simple task list. Limited functionality (e.g. 5 active tasks or 10 stored transcriptions). Top-of-funnel — proves the core value loop.

### Kon Pro — lifetime licence
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
| Desktop (Windows/macOS/Linux) | £49 |
| Mobile (Android/iOS) | £29 |
| All platforms bundle | £59 |

Full feature set, all running locally. Unlimited transcription, templates, profiles, micro-stepping, if-then automation, history. One payment, forever. No subscription.

**Positioning:** "They took away lifetime. We never will."

### Kon Cloud — optional subscription (£4.99/month or £39.99/year)
Access to frontier AI model (Claude, GPT-4o, or similar) for:
- Higher-accuracy transcription of specialist vocabulary
- Smarter task decomposition
- More natural language understanding in assistant features

This is the only recurring revenue stream and is genuinely tied to per-request API costs — not extractive.

### Pricing rationale
- Tiimo charges £45–£95/year with no lifetime option. Their users actively want one.
- iA Writer's real-world data shows one-time purchases generate 2–3x more revenue than subscriptions, with significantly better retention.
- Affinity (Serif) built a company acquired for ~£410M entirely on perpetual licences at ~£40/app.
- Local-first architecture means near-zero ongoing infrastructure costs for the base product.
- Cloud tier justified because it incurs real per-request costs.
- Lifetime model works because Tauri/Rust is low-maintenance and Jake can rebuild in a day if needed.
- Desktop price of £49 matches iA Writer exactly. Bundle at £59 creates a strong upgrade path.
- Consider launch pricing: £49 (discounted from £59) for first 500 buyers to build social proof.

### Pricing sensitivity notes
- Adults with ADHD earn 17% less than neurotypical peers at equivalent educational levels.
- 60% of UK adults with ADHD estimate impulse spending and forgetfulness costs them £1,600/year.
- Forgotten subscriptions are a specific, acute financial hazard for people with executive dysfunction.
- Lifetime pricing directly addresses the "ADHD tax" problem. Frame it explicitly: "Pay once. No subscriptions to forget. No guilt for taking a break."
- Consider accessibility pricing (student/disability discount) or pay-what-you-want tiers for launch.
- UK Access to Work grants (up to ~£66,000/year) can fund software tools — a potential B2B unlock.

### Pre-launch pricing validation (Van Westendorp)
Before committing to £49, send the waitlist a four-question survey via Tally (free):
1. At what price would Kon be so expensive you'd never buy it?
2. At what price would it seem so cheap you'd doubt its quality?
3. At what price is it getting expensive but you'd still consider it?
4. At what price is it a bargain?

Plot the four curves — their intersections reveal the acceptable price range and optimal price point. Takes 10 minutes to set up and can prevent months of pricing regret.
