Product Catalog System

The product catalog is the single source of truth for everything related to pricing. It keeps sales, finance, and product aligned so that changing a price never requires a code deploy again.

Quick start example

Here's how a typical SaaS company structures their catalog:

1. Create a product: "API Platform"
2. Add list prices: Free ($0), Starter ($50/mo), Enterprise ($500/mo)
3. Negotiate a variant: Enterprise with 20% discount for Acme Corp
4. Sign an agreement: Bundle API Platform + Support, apply a Q1 promo

The billing engine automatically resolves: List → Variant → Agreement → Final invoice.

Why the catalog matters

• No more pricing chaos: every price lives in one catalog instead of being hardcoded in custom deals.
• Faster updates: launch a new plan or tweak a price directly from the catalog—no code deploys required.
• Multi-currency support: configure prices in different currencies for global customers.
• Quote generation: use list prices as templates for customer quotes and proposals.

4-layer pricing architecture

Business outcomes

• Sales enablement: “List price $500, your discount 20%” becomes a standard conversation.
• Revenue control: finance monitors margins and discount thresholds in real time.
• Product strategy: PMs launch plans without engineering handoffs.
• Customer transparency: agreements show every component and its price origin.

How to use the catalog

View products and prices

1. Navigate to Products in the platform
2. Browse your product catalog to see all products or create a new one
3. Click on any product to view its list prices and price variants
4. Review pricing by currency, segment, or customer

Create a list price

1. Select a product from your catalog
2. Click Create List Price
3. Configure the pricing details:
   • Display name (e.g., "Enterprise Annual Plan")
   • Billing frequency (monthly, annual, one-time)
   • Pricing model (fixed, usage-based, tiered)
   • Currency and amount
4. Save the list price—it becomes available for quotes and billing schedules

Use products in agreements

For billing agreements:

1. Reference list prices or price variants in agreements
2. Apply adjustments:
   • Discounts or markups
   • Modified unit amounts
   • Custom included units
   • Different currency
   • Add minimum commitments
3. Automatically Commet creates a price variant for this customer.
4. The billing engine automatically calculates based on the pricing cascade.
5. Invoices show clear line items with pricing origin

Example journeys

SaaS with a freemium ladder

1. Publish a progression of plans (Free → Starter → Pro → Enterprise).
2. Attach add-ons like "Advanced Analytics" or "Priority Support".
3. When an enterprise customer negotiates, create a price variant with a volume discount.
4. Bundle everything inside the agreement so billing picks it up automatically.

Payments company with percentage-based pricing

1. Keep standard, volume, and enterprise rates in list prices.
2. Capture international fees and chargeback protection as separate products.
3. Use price variants to record negotiated percentages and minimum volume commitments.

AI/ML platform combining seats and usage

1. Products for compute hours, data scientist seats, and model hosting.
2. Reserved capacity and on-demand usage live side-by-side in the catalog.
3. Variants store custom seat pricing for high-volume commitments while agreements handle temporary promotions.

Built-in pricing models

The catalog supports nine pricing models out of the box:

• Fixed or subscription (monthly, annual, one-time).
• Per-unit usage with included units.
• Percentage-based fees with min/max caps.
• Volume tiers (pay the tier you land in).
• Graduated tiers (pay every tier along the way).
• Packaged or stair-step bundles.
• Seat-based billing powered by the Seats module.
• Minimum fees that apply across several variants.
• Credit burndown with rollover logic.

Need implementation details? See the Product Catalog Business Logic page or jump straight to the developer docs.

Decision guardrails

• Create a new product when the value proposition, tax category, or service type changes.
• Publish a new list price when targeting a new segment, commitment period, or pricing model.
• Use a price variant when a customer needs permanent custom terms.
• Apply an agreement discount for temporary promotions or ramp periods.

Success metrics to monitor

• Zero pricing errors in invoices.
• Complete coverage of every business pricing model.
• Pricing calculations resolve in under two seconds.
• No manual adjustments caused by catalog limitations.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Hardcoding prices outside the catalog: always route pricing through list prices or variants to maintain analytics integrity.
• Using agreement discounts for long-term terms: prefer price variants for permanent customer-specific pricing.
• Skipping tax category assignment: every product needs a tax category for compliant invoicing.
• Creating too many products: consolidate similar offerings under one product with multiple list prices instead.