How much should a prompt cost: how to set your price

The most common reflex is to answer the question "how much did it cost me in time?" or "how much are others charging?" Both numbers have their uses, but neither matters to the buyer. They're asking whether this prompt is worth more than it costs, and they decide based on the excerpt and the result you show them.

There's no universal "right price," and we have no sales statistics to give you. What follows is a way of reasoning, with numbers, to arrive at a price you can defend.

Start from what the prompt saves

The soundest method starts from the value on the buyer's side. Three questions are enough.

1. How much time does the prompt save on each use, compared with a simple request to the AI?
2. How many times will the buyer use it?
3. What is an hour of their time worth?

Take a made-up example: a prompt that helps a plumber turn his job-site notes into a clear quote. Say it saves him 15 minutes per quote, and he does 8 quotes a month. That's 2 hours a month. Even valuing his hour at €30, the saving reaches €60 in the first month.

This calculation doesn't give you your price; it gives you a logical ceiling. Nobody pays the full amount of the hoped-for gain, because that gain is uncertain and there are alternatives: writing their own prompt, or going without. The buyer wants the purchase to be a no-brainer. So you aim for a small fraction of that value, low enough that the doubt costs less than the purchase.

Redo the calculation while staying pessimistic: if your prompt only gets used once, the gain is a few minutes, and it justifies no more than a small price.

An AI can help you challenge these assumptions, provided you give it the real figures.

I want to set the price of a prompt aimed at [BUYER'S JOB]. It's used for [TASK] and delivers [RESULT].

My assumptions:
- time saved per use, compared with a simple request: [MINUTES];
- likely frequency of use: [FREQUENCY];
- what the buyer would do without this prompt: [ALTERNATIVE].

Analyze these assumptions like a skeptical buyer:
1. Which ones seem optimistic to you, and why?
2. Redo the estimate of the gain in three scenarios: cautious, average, favorable, with the calculations visible.
3. What objections will the buyer have before paying?
4. What proof, in the result shown, would overcome the strongest objection?

Don't invent any market price or statistic. If you're missing a piece of information, say so.

What the buyer actually pays

On YouPrompt, you choose a price between €1.99 and €99.99 and you receive all of it. A 20% service fee is added on the buyer's side, with a minimum of €0.99. The displayed price includes everything. So when you set your price, always look at the last column of this table: it's the one the buyer sees.

The €0.99 minimum applies below €4.95. On very low prices, the fee therefore weighs proportionally more: at €1.99, the buyer pays almost 50% more than your price.

This can also help you aim for a precise amount. For a displayed price of €12.00, your price is €10.00. For €6.00, it's €5.00.

Payout, an often-forgotten parameter

Authors are paid on the 1st of the month, once they reach €20 in earnings. That threshold influences your thinking: it tells you how many sales you need before receiving a first payout.

These figures are arithmetic and don't presume how many sales you'll make. The catalog is still young, and it's possible your first prompts will sell little. Don't base your choice on a revenue projection.

The signals your price sends

The price is part of your listing. It says something before the buyer even reads the description.

A very low price can work against a serious prompt. A commercial lease analysis prompt at €1.99 raises a question: does the author believe in it? Conversely, a high price on a two-line prompt invites suspicion. Consistency between the price and what the result shows matters more than the amount.

The sale is final. The buyer sees the excerpt and the result before buying, and there is no refund, apart from legal guarantees. They can't change their mind afterward: the higher the amount, the more proof they'll need. An ambitious price calls for a result that is shown to be solid and a precise description of the limits. That's the subject of our article on the listing that inspires trust.

A professional audience relates to price differently. A freelancer who recoups the purchase on a single quote doesn't think like a curious person who wants to have fun with images. A playful prompt can settle for a modest price; a professional prompt used every week can carry a higher one.

Three benchmarks to decide

Without market data, keep these benchmarks as a starting point, not an official scale.

To choose where to land, compare your prompt with what it replaces: would a buyer acting in good faith find this price reasonable for this specific result? If you're hesitating, try this little exercise.

Here is the listing for my prompt:
"""
[TITLE, DESCRIPTION, EXCERPT, RESULT]
"""

Price under consideration, all-inclusive for the buyer: [DISPLAYED PRICE].

Imagine three people discovering this listing:
- [PROFILE 1, E.G. A FREELANCER IN A HURRY]
- [PROFILE 2, E.G. A CURIOUS EMPLOYEE]
- [PROFILE 3, E.G. AN EXPERT IN THE FIELD]

For each one, say whether the price seems too low, fair, or too high given the listing, and what would make them hesitate. Then indicate what should be shown or clarified to make this price more credible, without changing the prompt itself.

These reactions are hypotheses: present them as such, without inventing figures.

This role play isn't worth the opinion of a real customer. If you know two people in the target trade, show them the listing and ask how much they'd pay.

Set your price in twenty minutes

Take the prompt you want to publish and answer the three opening questions in writing, cautious version. Choose a price that represents a small fraction of the estimated gain over a month of use, calculate what the buyer will pay, then check that the result you show justifies that amount. If it doesn't, improve the prompt before lowering the price. Our guide to selling your prompts and our method for testing a prompt will help you strengthen it.