Skip to main content

​
Overview

Products and plans are the building blocks of your pricing model in Frontier. Products represent individual capabilities or resources that you charge for, while plans are logical groupings of products offered at specific prices and intervals.

​
Products

A product is an item being sold by the platform and has a corresponding reference in the billing engine (Stripe). Products can contain multiple features and have various pricing options.

​
Product Structure

{
  "id": "prod_123",
  "provider_id": "prod_stripe_123",
  "name": "starter_access",
  "title": "Starter Access",
  "description": "Base access to the platform",
  "behavior": "basic",
  "config": {
    "credit_amount": 0,
    "seat_limit": 0,
    "min_quantity": 1,
    "max_quantity": 100
  },
  "prices": [...],
  "features": [...],
  "state": "active",
  "metadata": {}
}

​
Product Behaviors

Frontier offers three types of product behaviors that control how products are billed and consumed:

​
1. Basic Behavior

The default behavior for standard products with no special billing logic. 
products:
  - name: basic_access
    title: Basic base access
    description: Base access to the platform
    behavior: basic  # or omit, as basic is default
    prices:
      - name: monthly
        interval: month
        amount: 100
        currency: usd

​
2. Credits Behavior

For products that offer virtual credits. When purchased, credits are automatically added to the organization’s account. 
products:
  - name: support_credits
    title: Support Credits
    description: Support for enterprise help
    behavior: credits
    config:
      credit_amount: 100  # Credits awarded per purchase
    prices:
      - name: default
        amount: 20000  # Price in minor currency units (cents)
        currency: usd
When a product with credits behavior is purchased, the credit_amount specified in the config is automatically credited to the customer’s account.

​
3. Per Seat Behavior

For seat-based pricing where organizations are charged based on the number of users. Frontier automatically handles proration when users are added or removed. 
products:
  - name: starter_per_seat
    title: Starter per seat
    description: Per seat access cost to the platform
    behavior: per_seat
    config:
      seat_limit: 10  # Maximum number of seats allowed
    prices:
      - name: monthly
        interval: month
        amount: 20  # Price per seat per month
        currency: usd
      - name: yearly
        interval: year
        amount: 200  # Price per seat per year
        currency: usd
When a product has per_seat behavior and a seat_limit is configured, organizations cannot add users beyond this limit.

​
Behavior Configuration

The config object provides granular control over product behavior:
FieldUsed WithDescription
credit_amountcreditsAmount of virtual credits awarded when product is purchased
seat_limitper_seatMaximum number of users/seats allowed
min_quantityAllMinimum quantity that must be purchased
max_quantityAllMaximum quantity that can be purchased

​
Creating a Product

Products are typically created through YAML configuration or via the API: 
products:
  - name: starter_access
    title: Starter Access
    description: Complete platform access for growing teams
    behavior: basic
    prices:
      - name: monthly
        interval: month
        amount: 1000
        currency: usd
      - name: yearly
        interval: year
        amount: 10000
        currency: usd
    features:
      - name: api_access
      - name: advanced_analytics
      - name: priority_support

​
Features

Features are individual functionalities that a product offers. They are platform-specific concepts and don’t have corresponding Stripe entities. Features enable granular control over product capabilities.

​
Feature Structure

{
  "id": "feat_123",
  "name": "api_access",
  "title": "API Access",
  "product_ids": ["prod_123", "prod_456"],
  "metadata": {}
}

​
Defining Features

Features can be defined independently or as part of a product: 
features:
  - name: api_access
    title: API Access
  - name: advanced_analytics
    title: Advanced Analytics
  - name: priority_support
    title: Priority Support

products:
  - name: starter_access
    title: Starter Access
    features:
      - name: api_access
      - name: advanced_analytics
When a customer purchases a product, they automatically get access to all features associated with that product. Use entitlement checks to verify feature access.

​
Prices

Prices define how much a product costs and at what interval it’s billed. Each product can have multiple prices for different intervals and currencies.

​
Price Intervals

  • day - Daily billing
  • week - Weekly billing
  • month - Monthly billing
  • year - Yearly billing

​
Price Structure

{
  "id": "price_123",
  "product_id": "prod_123",
  "provider_id": "price_stripe_123",
  "name": "monthly",
  "billing_scheme": "flat",
  "currency": "usd",
  "amount": 1000,
  "usage_type": "licensed",
  "interval": "month"
}

​
Billing Schemes

​
Flat Pricing

Standard per-unit pricing: 
prices:
  - name: monthly
    billing_scheme: flat
    amount: 1000
    currency: usd
    interval: month

​
Tiered Pricing

Pricing that changes based on quantity: 
prices:
  - name: volume
    billing_scheme: tiered
    tier_mode: graduated  # or 'volume'
    currency: usd
    interval: month
    tiers:
      - flat_amount: 1000
        up_to: 10
      - flat_amount: 800
        up_to: 50
      - flat_amount: 600
        up_to: null  # unlimited
Tier Modes:
  • graduated: Price changes incrementally as quantity increases through tiers
  • volume: Price determined by the total quantity, applies to all units

​
Usage Types

  • licensed: Standard licensed products (default)
  • metered: Usage-based products where charges are calculated based on reported usage

​
Plans

Plans are logical collections of products offered together. They don’t have corresponding Stripe entities but help organize your pricing structure.

​
Plan Structure

{
  "id": "plan_123",
  "name": "starter_monthly",
  "title": "Starter Plan",
  "description": "Perfect for small teams getting started",
  "interval": "month",
  "on_start_credits": 50,
  "trial_days": 14,
  "products": [...],
  "state": "active"
}

​
Creating Plans

Plans bundle multiple products together: 
plans:
  - name: starter_monthly
    title: Starter Monthly Plan
    description: Complete starter package with monthly billing
    interval: month
    trial_days: 14
    on_start_credits: 50  # Free credits awarded when subscription starts
    products:
      - name: starter_access
      - name: starter_per_seat
on_start_credits automatically awards virtual credits when a customer subscribes to the plan. These credits can be used for pay-as-you-go features.

​
Complete Example

Here’s a comprehensive example showing products, features, and plans working together: 
features:
  - name: starter_feature_1
    title: Advanced Reporting
  - name: starter_feature_2
    title: Custom Integrations

products:
  # Credit purchase product
  - name: support_credits
    title: Support Credits
    description: Purchase support hours as credits
    behavior: credits
    config:
      credit_amount: 100
    prices:
      - name: default
        amount: 20000  # $200.00
        currency: usd

  # Base access product
  - name: starter_access
    title: Starter Access
    description: Base platform access
    behavior: basic
    prices:
      - name: monthly
        interval: month
        amount: 1000  # $10.00
        currency: usd
      - name: yearly
        interval: year
        amount: 10000  # $100.00
        currency: usd
    features:
      - name: starter_feature_1
      - name: starter_feature_2

  # Per-seat product
  - name: starter_per_seat
    title: Starter Per Seat
    description: Per user pricing
    behavior: per_seat
    config:
      seat_limit: 10
    prices:
      - name: monthly
        interval: month
        amount: 20  # $0.20 per seat
        currency: usd

plans:
  # Monthly plan
  - name: starter_monthly
    title: Starter Monthly Plan
    description: Monthly billing with trial
    interval: month
    trial_days: 14
    on_start_credits: 50
    products:
      - name: starter_access
      - name: starter_per_seat

  # Yearly plan
  - name: starter_yearly
    title: Starter Yearly Plan
    description: Annual billing with discount
    interval: year
    trial_days: 14
    on_start_credits: 100
    products:
      - name: starter_access

​
Best Practices

1

Plan Your Product Hierarchy

Start by defining your features, then group them into products, and finally bundle products into plans.
2

Choose Appropriate Behaviors

Use basic for standard products, credits for pay-as-you-go models, and per_seat for user-based pricing.
3

Set Reasonable Limits

Configure seat_limit, min_quantity, and max_quantity to prevent abuse and guide customer choices.
4

Offer Multiple Intervals

Provide both monthly and yearly pricing options to give customers flexibility.
5

Use Metadata

Store additional custom information in the metadata field for filtering and reporting.

​
Next Steps

Subscriptions

Learn how customers subscribe to plans

Entitlements

Check feature access for customers

Credits

Implement virtual credits system

Customers

Manage billing accounts

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us