Lessons from 10 price change emails

Tide, Notion, Loom, Apple & more

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Pricing is the biggest growth lever I’ve seen for revenue. Small price changes have an outsized impact vs other product tests.

I’ve run price changes from the inside, and analysed a couple from the outside too - some handled well, others not so much 🫠 (see 2023 and 2024 examples from Strava & Zwift).

What’s clear: pricing is one of the most powerful levers, but also one of the scariest 👻

On the customer side, price changes are one of the most emotionally-charged changes you can make.

And it’s not just price rises. The same tension shows up in emails about billing changes, plan updates, or nudges to upgrade. Anything that touches someone’s purse 👛 🗡️

To show the range of approaches, I’ve pulled 10 examples - 5 B2B, 5 consumer - and looked at what works, what’s missing, and what can be learned.

When you’re planning (or considering) a price change, examples help. In your inbox, try type:

What comes up?

For me: a flood of emails about billing, plans, upgrades, and price - from banks, finance, SaaS tools, and consumer apps.

Let’s have a look one-by-one.

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B2B Examples

1) Loom

First example: Loom’s free plan updates from last year. What strikes me initially, is that the subject doesn’t give much away:

👀

In the email itself, I’m told that editing features are being removed and I’ll need to upgrade to continue using them.

What works:

• Easy to scan: short paragraphs, bullet points.
• Straight to the point: no fluff, you immediately know what’s changing.
• You know when it’s changing (I’m given a month’s notice)

What’s missing:

• Tone. It feels transactional, not human
• Acknowledgement that users might be frustrated.
• Reassurance about why the change is happening, or how it benefits the product long-term.
• No real draw (discount or call to action) other than the feature itself

Overall, it works mechanically (the info is there), but emotionally it risks coming across as cold.

Compared to Loom’s flat tone, Otter takes almost the opposite approach - adding in detail, feature lists & urgency.

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2) Otter.ai

This is an oldie from 2023. First impressions: it is long.

So long that I screenshotted in two parts:

What works:

• Clear value: They lead with “we’ve been adding new features” to show the hidden work behind the scenes, leaning into the reciprocity effect 🧠
• Detail: They show the before-and-after prices, down to the cent, with effective dates.
• Lock-in offer: There’s a strong call-to-action to ‘lock in’ the lower price before a price change, adding urgency 🧠

What doesn’t:

• Overload of detail: Between feature lists, lock-in pricing, and mobile vs web pricing, it’s a lot to process 😳

Because of the overload, on the first read I don’t instantly ‘get’ it. After a re-read, I’m clear on the changes. Who knows, maybe that’s a strategy. 🤷‍♀️

But overall, Otter.ai comes across like they care, and like they’re working hard.

If Otter risks overwhelming with too much, Notion lands closer to the other extreme: clean, clear, but missing the bigger story behind the change.

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3) Notion

Now, this isn’t a price change email, but a ‘we’re removing features from your plan’ email. It’s a fresh one from May this year.

Aaand here’s the rest:

What’s great:

• Early notice: They give users a long lead time from May to August, which reduces shock.
• SO easy to read. The spacing, headers and heirarchy make this extra scann-able
• Customer appreciation: frame the discount as a “thank you” to early adopters
• Transition: The email tells you exactly what you’ll lose vs. keep if you don’t upgrade.

What’s missing:

• The bigger picture. They don’t really explain why these features are moving up to higher tiers, beyond “new plans exist.” There’s no hype for a wider strategy or moment.
• Customer language - most of the feature list passes over my head.

Overall, a great example (if a little long).

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4) Mobbin

Mobbin shows what happens when you lean into transparency and a founder’s voice. It’s more personal, but still not perfect.

Now this is a real price change email: a 25% increase.

And the sign off:

What’s great:

• It’s signed off from the CEO, and it’s super personal, I can tell someone wrote it with heart.
• Value-led: They lead with a list of everything added since launch (library growth, new features, plugin).
• Transparent numbers: They state both the old and new prices, side by side, and clarify annual vs quarterly.
• Forward-looking: I’m given the vision ‘help you design exceptional digital experiences’

Room for improvement:

• It’s dense. The opening list is long - for a reader scanning quickly, it risks feeling like a wall of text.

Aside from that, I like it.

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5) Apple

And then there’s Apple, which sits in its own category. Not exactly a price rise - but an interesting case of how legal and compliance-led comms can miss the chance to build trust.

The merits:

• Transparent AF: being as large a corporate as Apple is, it cannot skimp on the details. It’s precise, down to the statutory exchange rate and exact dates. No ambiguity.
• Three months advance notice: plenty of time for developers to prepare.

The holes:

• Tone: Very dry (unsurprisingly). Reads as a legal notice than a communication to partners.
• Scannability: Huge blocks of text make it hard to skim. Headings or bulleting out “what you need to do” would have helped.

Overall, it works as a legal communication, but misses the chance to build it’s brand as a development partner and platform.

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B2C/Consumer Price change emails

6) WeTransfer

What’s funny, is I didn’t realise I had a WeTransfer account before I saw this email mid last year 👀

Another long one…

What’s good:

• Visual hierarchy: Good spacing, easy to scan quickly
• Length: Not overly long
• Changes: Pre and post is clear
• Plain language framing: “What does this mean for you?

What’s lacking:

I feel like there’s a so many ways this could have been delivered that are more exciting than the current execution. It focuses on the transition and day that it happens versus the fact that I can:

• Get 30% more GB in file sending, no more ‘this file is too big’
• Get 20GB of storage
• Customisable expiration of transfer links

Those benefits are buried in the table instead of being highlighted up front. Missed opportunity here.

Tide, by contrast, keeps it ultra-simple.

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7) Tide

First up, the subject line is clear and transparent:

This isn’t a price change or feature change email, it’s just a process-change email.

Pros:

• Nicely structured with clear sections
• Short, plain language. No jargon or over-explaining.
• Transparent framing: they present the change as about clarity and tracking, not just fees.

What’s lacking:

I think this example is pretty spot on. If I had to say one thing, it’s that it doesn’t really click what the change is without a visual.

A nice GIF could have helped communicate the change here.

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8) Medium

Another edge case, not about charging customers, but about changing how they pay writers. Interesting to see how they frame remuneration shifts.

This one is interesting, as it’s a payment and renumeration change email.

But…without the celebration that you’d expect goes with it

Hits:

• Explains the rationale: The “Why we’re making this change” section grounds it in Medium’s broader mission and history.
• Transparency and self-awareness: They explicitly acknowledge that the program hasn’t worked equally well for everyone.

Misses:

• Block-text: this is a very dense email
• Tangible changes: As a writer, it’s not clear to me whether this will increase or decrease my payouts. The 5% payout shift is mentioned, but without worked-through examples of what that means in practice (£X more if you drive Y external reads).

It’s one of the more transparent and explanatory emails compared to Loom/Otter/Notion. But the sheer length and mission-heavy framing could frustrate writers who mainly want clarity on money in, money out.

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9) Urban

Now, this is a niche example many of you won’t have heard about, but it’s one of my favourites.

It’s been in my folder for so long I can’t find the subject or the date, however it’s the content I really like.

What’s good:

• Gets to the point ASAP. I know the what, who, how much, when in the first three lines.
• Explains where the money goes: 62% to practitioners, the rest reinvested in service, support, features, and marketing.
• Fairness framing: Positioning the increase as a way to support therapists directly is smart, as it turns a negative (higher price) into a positive (your pro earns more).
• The sections help me scan the email, nicely designed (simple but on-brand)

What could be better:​
I actually don’t have much to say here, I like it as-is. They don’t refer to me by name, but that’s about it.

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10) WholeSupp

Now here’s my favourite email of them all. It’s from WholeSupp is a meal shake brand, as an eco-friendly competitor to Huel.

WholeSupp takes the opposite approach to Urban: minimal design, founder-written plain text. It’s rough around the edges, but feels waaay more human as a result.

What I love:

• It’s from the founders. You can tell a human wrote it (there’s a spacing error in the sign off)
• Straightforward email: It’s plain text, no frills. Ends with Thanks,
• Customer-first: They emphasise protecting existing subscribers and only increasing prices for one-off purchases. Acknowledges rising costs, thanks customers for loyalty, and promises extra gifts/discounts.

Improvements:

• Subject line: “Update: upcoming price changes” makes me think my price will change, but it actually won’t. Could be more accurate.

So, after almost 2000 words, what are the themes?

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7 takeaways to bring to your next price change

The best approach, of course, depends on your brand, your audience, and the type of change you're making. But across these 10 examples, some patterns repeat the things that build trust:

1. Be clear and get to the point. State what’s changing in plain language. Avoid jargon or burying the numbers.
2. Frame the changes around value. Don’t just talk about “higher costs.” Spell out the improvements users get in return.
3. Show the hidden work behind the scenes. What are you building, what’s cost to you? How have you shielded people thus far?
4. Give a good amount of notice. Advance warning (weeks or months, not days) helps users adjust.
5. Keep it scannable. Use bullets, tables, or bold text so people can see the key points at a glance.
6. Offer a transition path. Grace periods, lock-in the last pricing, or discounts can soften the impact and drive early upgrades.
7. Re-iterate the bigger picture. What’s the missing, what are you building towards?

Curious to hear — how have your price changes gone?

Thank you SO much for reading (all the way to the bottom, wow look at you go).

See you next week,

Rosie 🕺

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