How to Run a Lifetime Deal for Your SaaS (Without AppSumo)

Short answer: Run your own lifetime deal (LTD) only when your cost to serve each user is low and predictable, and treat it as a capped, one-off funding round, not a pricing plan. Sell a fixed number of seats through a checkout that switches itself off, put hard monthly limits on anything that costs you per use, and publish exactly what "lifetime" means before the first sale.

Every price, limit and legal point below comes from the vendor's, regulator's or founder's own page, checked on 15 Nov 2026. The maths and advice are ours and are labelled that way.

TL;DR#

• Know your break-even. Net revenue per deal divided by monthly cost to serve one user gives the months of service you have pre-sold.
• Cap everything. Cap the number of deals (Stripe Payment Links can limit the number of payments) and cap cost-bearing units per month: AI credits, seats, storage, sends.
• Define lifetime. Lifetime of the product, a named plan, listed exclusions, and a sunset clause.
• Pick a checkout. Stripe for control, or a merchant of record such as Lemon Squeezy or Paddle (both 5% + 50¢) to have sales tax and VAT handled.
• Get the refund wording right. UK consumers lose the cancellation right on digital content only after express consent and acknowledgement (regulation 37).
• Sell to your own people first. Your list and users, then communities that allow it.

Disclosure: ZeroRaised publishes this guide and is a launch site for bootstrapped products. ZeroRaised has no commercial relationship with Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, Gumroad or AppSumo and earns nothing if you use them. This is not legal or tax advice.

What this guide covers#

This is about running a lifetime deal yourself: your checkout, your price, your buyers. For marketplace economics, read is AppSumo worth it. If your regular pricing is not settled, start with how to price a SaaS product, because an LTD price only makes sense relative to your monthly plan. If you are choosing a permanent one-time price as your actual model, see subscription vs one-time purchase.

When a lifetime deal makes sense, and when it is a trap#

Our read:

It can make sense when your marginal cost per user is small and does not grow with usage; you need cash and committed early users and would otherwise borrow or raise; your market is much bigger than the deals you plan to sell; and you can absorb a support spike.

It is a trap when:

• Each user costs you money every month: LLM calls, transcription, video, large storage, outbound email.
• You plan to sell the company or borrow against revenue. Lifetime cash is one-off and does not count as recurring revenue.
• Your product is not stable. Lifetime buyers have paid for the roadmap and will hold you to it.
• Deal hunters are your only audience. Alexander Isora, writing about his marketplace launch, reported "Out of 210 sales, 71 people asked for a refund. 33%!" and listed "low-quality clients" among his reasons not to repeat it (isora.me). Promote in deal groups and you attract the same buyer type.

The cost-to-serve maths (worked example)#

This example is ours, with illustrative numbers. Replace them with figures from your own hosting and API bills.

Assumptions: monthly plan $12, LTD price $99, sold through a merchant of record at 5% + 50¢ (the listed rate on Lemon Squeezy and Paddle).

Break-even: $93.55 / $2.10 = about 44 months. After roughly three and a half years, every lifetime user costs you money.

Cap AI usage so the worst case is $0.40 a month and cost to serve drops to $1.30, stretching break-even to about 72 months. Same price, very different deal: limits on cost-bearing units matter more than the headline price.

Two more checks we would run:

1. Payback against your monthly plan. $99 is about 8 months of the $12 plan. If your typical subscriber stays longer, every LTD buyer who would otherwise have subscribed is revenue given away.
2. Heavy users. Model your top tenth of users separately. If they push you into a higher database or API tier, the limits are too loose.

Define "lifetime" and write a sunset clause#

Put these on the deal page and in your terms, and require a checkbox at checkout:

• Whose lifetime. "Lifetime of the product", not of the buyer or the company.
• Which plan. Name it ("Lifetime Pro"), list its features, and say whether future features in that plan are included.
• Exclusions. New paid modules, add-ons, higher usage tiers, white-labelling, API access.
• Monthly limits. Seats, projects, AI credits, storage, sends, as numbers.
• Transfer and stacking. Customerly, which sold over 2,000 lifetime licences, wrote that unplanned code stacking let some buyers exceed its 10,000 contact limit (Customerly). Decide in advance.
• Fair use. A clause letting you stop abuse such as reselling access.
• Sunset clause. Notice period, a full data export, and what happens if the company is sold. Our view: at least 90 days' notice and an export in a standard format. Have a lawyer check the wording.

Caps and tiers#

A structure we would suggest for a small SaaS (illustrative):

• Total cap first. Decide how many lifetime users you can support at your current size, then split it across tiers.
• Price the top tier at its limits. It has the heaviest users; it must break even at full usage, not average.
• Make credits monthly, not one-off, and sell top-ups at normal prices.
• Close it for real. Reopening a month later teaches your audience to wait and annoys those who believed the cap.

Setting it up#

Stripe: one-off price plus a capped Payment Link#

Stripe Payment Links support one-off products at a flat rate as well as recurring ones (Stripe docs). Stripe's docs say: "When the payment link reaches the limit, it automatically deactivates and customers can't use it to make a purchase" (Stripe docs). In the Dashboard, select Limit the number of payments; in the API, pass restrictions[completed_sessions][limit]. You can set a custom message for the deactivated link and require a terms of service checkbox, which is where your lifetime definition belongs.

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/payment_links \
  -u "sk_live_...:" \
  -d "line_items[0][price]=price_LIFETIME_SOLO" \
  -d "line_items[0][quantity]=1" \
  -d "restrictions[completed_sessions][limit]=150" \
  -d "consent_collection[terms_of_service]=required" \
  --data-urlencode "inactive_message=The lifetime deal is sold out."

Grant the plan in your app from the checkout.session.completed webhook. Stripe's UK pricing page lists 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards, 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards and 3.15% + 20p for other international cards, plus 2% if currency conversion is required (Stripe pricing). With plain Stripe, sales tax and VAT are yours to handle; Stripe also describes a merchant-of-record option, Managed Payments, for digital products.

Lemon Squeezy: one-off product with licence keys#

Lemon Squeezy lists "5% + 50¢" per transaction and says "Lemon Squeezy is your merchant of record" (pricing). Its docs say that when creating a product or variant "you will have the option to generate license keys", with an Activation limit and, for non-subscription products, a License length setting (docs). Make each tier a variant, enable keys, and use the activation limit to stop one licence being shared across an agency. We did not find a built-in total sales cap, so watch the count and unpublish at the cap.

Paddle: a price with no billing cycle#

Paddle lists "5% + 50¢" per checkout transaction and sells as your merchant of record, handling sales tax and VAT (pricing). Its docs say "Prices don't have to have a billing cycle"; a one-time price has billing_cycle set to null (Paddle developer docs).

Gumroad: quickest, priciest#

Gumroad lists "10% + $0.50" on direct sales and 30% on Discover marketplace sales, and says it is merchant of record for sales tax where it has obligations (Gumroad pricing).

Our pick: if you already bill subscriptions through a merchant of record, keep the LTD there so tax and invoices stay in one place. If you are on Stripe and registered for the taxes that apply to you, its built-in payment cap is the cleanest way to enforce scarcity. For more on checkouts, see how to sell software online.

Refunds and consumer law#

In the UK, a trader may start supplying non-tangible digital content within the cancellation period only if "the consumer has given express consent" and "the consumer has acknowledged that the right to cancel the contract under regulation 29(1) will be lost" (regulation 37). In the EU, Your Europe says the 14-day withdrawal right does not apply to online digital content you started downloading or streaming "after you expressly agreed to lose your right of withdrawal by starting the performance" (Your Europe).

A SaaS may be treated as a service rather than digital content, and business buyers are treated differently, so get advice for your case. In practice: add a clear consent checkbox if you rely on immediate supply, publish a voluntary refund window before launch (we would pick 14 or 30 days), and revoke access and keys on refund. Our SaaS refund policy guide has wording you can adapt.

Tax: through a merchant of record, the platform is the seller and handles sales tax and VAT (Lemon Squeezy says it will "pay taxes on your behalf"). Through plain Stripe, you are the seller and must collect where you are registered. How to recognise lifetime revenue in your accounts is a question for your accountant.

Where to promote it#

In order of likely buyer quality (our read):

1. Your list and existing users. Give them 48 hours of first access.
2. Your free users. An LTD is a strong upgrade nudge.
3. Communities that allow self-promotion. Read each one's rules first. Our free marketing channels list covers where founders post.
4. Launch sites. Pair the deal with a launch; see the bootstrapped app launch guide.
5. LTD groups and deal marketplaces. Big reach, deal-seeking buyers.

On marketplaces, read the terms on their own pages. AppSumo's help centre says it has "no listing fees" and that revenue share is tailored rather than fixed (AppSumo help). Its payments policy says partners are paid "on a Net 60 end-of-month basis", "even if your Product has a shorter refund period", and that "Unless stated otherwise, the refund window for all Products is 60 days" (AppSumo payment policy). We could not load seller terms for Dealify or PitchGround today, so we have not quoted them.

A founder result, from the founder#

Luca Micheli, CEO of Customerly, wrote that the company sold "more than 2000 licenses" and had "$65.000 to invest", offering three modules at $69 each ($207 for all three) with a 10,000 contact limit (Customerly). It started with a Facebook LTD group partner of about 7,000 people, dropped it after warnings from other CEOs, and ran the deal through PitchGround. The post says support was not ready for "more than 100 tickets per day". The lessons carry over to a self-run deal: set limits precisely, block stacking, staff support before launch.

A 14-day plan#

• Day 1: Pull hosting, database, API and support costs. Work out cost to serve per user per month, average and heaviest users.
• Day 2: Set tiers, limits and the total cap. Check break-even at the limits.
• Day 3: Write the lifetime definition, exclusions and sunset clause into your terms.
• Day 4: Build the lifetime plan in your app: flags, monthly credit and seat limits, stacking rules.
• Day 5: Create products and prices, the capped link or one-time product, terms checkbox and consent wording.
• Day 6: Test purchase, refund and access revocation end to end in test mode.
• Day 7: Write the deal page: inclusions, limits, cap, closing date, refund policy, FAQ.
• Day 8: Prepare support: canned replies, onboarding emails, a public roadmap for feature requests.
• Day 9: Email your list with the date and the cap.
• Days 10-11: Open to existing users and the list.
• Day 12: Open publicly; post in communities that allow it and launch the same day.
• Day 13: Post honest progress ("62 of 150 left") and answer questions in public.
• Day 14: Close at the cap or the date. Point the deactivated-link message at your monthly plans.

Planning to pair it with a seasonal sale? Read how to run a Black Friday sale for SaaS first: a discount and a lifetime deal in the same week confuse buyers.

Checklist#

• Cost to serve per user per month, average and heaviest users
• Break-even months at the tier limits
• Total and per-tier caps
• Monthly limits on every cost-bearing unit
• Lifetime definition, exclusions, transfer and stacking rules
• Sunset clause with notice and data export
• Terms checkbox and consumer consent wording at checkout
• Refund window published
• Tax handled (merchant of record or your own registration)
• Access granted by webhook or licence key, revoked on refund
• Cap enforced, deactivation message set
• Support ready for a spike
• Closing date announced and kept

Frequently asked questions#

Is a lifetime deal a good idea for a SaaS?#

It can be, as a one-off, capped funding round for an early product with low and predictable running costs. It is a trap if each user costs you money every month (AI-heavy tools, large storage, high support load), if you need recurring revenue to show buyers or lenders, or if you sell so many deals that your future paying market is used up.

How do I limit the number of lifetime deals I sell?#

With Stripe, create a one-off price, put it on a Payment Link and select Limit the number of payments. Stripe deactivates the link when the limit is reached and shows a deactivation message you can customise. With other checkouts, track sales against your cap and switch the product off when you hit it.

What should lifetime mean in a lifetime deal?#

Write it down. Our recommendation is: access for the lifetime of the product, not the buyer, with a named plan, stated monthly limits, a list of what is excluded (future add-ons, new paid modules), and a sunset clause that says what notice and data export buyers get if you shut the product down or sell it.

Do I have to give refunds on a lifetime deal?#

UK and EU consumers normally get a 14-day cancellation right for online purchases. For digital content they can lose it if they expressly consent to supply starting straight away and acknowledge they lose the right. Business buyers are treated differently. Many founders still offer a voluntary refund window to reduce disputes; set it before launch.

How is this different from launching on AppSumo?#

On your own deal you set the price, the cap and the refund window, choose who buys, and get paid when the payment clears. On AppSumo you get its audience, but revenue share is negotiated, the default refund window is 60 days and partners are paid on a Net 60 end-of-month basis, per its own partner terms.

Launch the deal where bootstrappers look#

ZeroRaised is a launch directory for products built without institutional VC. A lifetime deal is a good reason to launch: submit your product for free and link the deal page. First, run through the product launch checklist for bootstrapped makers. For more guides on pricing and funding without investors, join the ZeroRaised newsletter.

Sources#

• Stripe: Create a payment link, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Stripe: Customize checkout for Payment Links, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Stripe pricing (UK), last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Lemon Squeezy pricing, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Lemon Squeezy: Generating license keys, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Paddle pricing, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Paddle: Create products and prices, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Gumroad pricing, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 37, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Your Europe: Returning goods and cancelling purchases, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• AppSumo help: seller revenue share, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• AppSumo Partner Payments Policy, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Customerly: How we launched our SaaS without investors by raising 65K in less than a month, last checked 15 Nov 2026
• Alexander Isora: So, I earned $15,354 on AppSumo, last checked 15 Nov 2026