How to make recurring revenue selling websites: the $50 a month math
Most people selling websites on Pindrop ask $50 a month on top of the build fee. What that adds up to, what owners actually agree to, and how to keep them paying.
A build fee is paid once. The monthly charge is the business. The most common monthly price on Pindrop is $50, asked by close to half of everyone who has sent a site to an owner, and it is what turns selling websites from gig work into a book of clients.
- most common monthly charge asked
- $50/mo
- a year kept from one $50 client after Pindrop's 10%
- $540
- is about $900 a month
- 20 clients
- pay links sent to owners by 149 builders so far
- 313
The math
| Clients at $50/mo | You keep per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | $225 | $2,700 |
| 10 | $450 | $5,400 |
| 20 | $900 | $10,800 |
| 50 | $2,250 | $27,000 |
One $50 client more than covers a Pindrop Lite plan. The work per client after launch is small: hours changes, a new photo, a holiday notice. That is what the monthly pays for, and owners understand it the same way they understand a phone bill.
What owners actually agree to
Asking prices and closed deals are different. Among the deals that closed on Pindrop so far, owners leaned toward a smaller monthly (often $20) with little or nothing up front, and they paid within minutes of seeing the price. If your goal is recurring revenue, make the monthly the easy yes and treat the build fee as optional.
Keeping them paying
- Say what the monthly includes, in one sentence, before they pay: hosting, the domain, and changes when they ask.
- Make one small improvement a month without being asked. A new review added, a seasonal photo. It is the reason they never question the charge.
- Put billing on autopilot. On Pindrop the owner pays by card through their own link and you are paid out automatically, so you never send an invoice or chase a payment.
- Don't lock them in. Owners who know they can leave rarely do.
How we counted
- Monthly prices: every price sent through Pindrop's client billing in U.S. dollars, in the live pricing study.
- The table multiplies $50 a month by the number of clients, less Pindrop's 10%. It is arithmetic, not a forecast.
