Chart.io was too expensive and we bailed on it, but not before we tried to negotiate a discount to no avail. Chart.io pricing model would benefit from more flexibility and options.
As someone who sells a product in a similar price range, your point is understandable but quite difficult to cater to from a vendor's perspective. Both Chartio and our product involve spending some time with the customer up front in order to really make it work for them. A lower price point plus monthly contracts plus churn as a result of finicky customers is the mark of death for SaaS startups.
The problem is one size company fits all pricing. Small business who can benefit the most from SAAS (and have the least regulatory/bureaucratic resistance) can't justify enterprise or middle-market pricing. And the valuation/exit strategy for most SAAS offerings is quantity of users, not profitability - like it or not. I predict either Chart.io changes pricing or its market share is eroded by FOSS and cheaper alternatives like: http://idl.cs.washington.edu/projects/lyra/
> And the valuation/exit strategy for most SAAS offerings is quantity of users, not profitability - like it or not.
That's not true at all.
SaaS companies are valued on recurring revenue, lifetime value, retention and future cash flow. Number of users is almost irrelevant as long as those metrics are moving up and to the right to a healthy degree.
Chart.io has already changed their pricing once and I share your prediction that they will change it again: to charge even more. And grow further as a result.
SMBs are a tough market for SaaS companies with a product that has any complexity whatsoever, both in terms of usage and distribution.
