# ZeroLagHub Pricing and Packaging Planning Session Prompt

Use this prompt for the dedicated pricing/planning session.

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We need a structured ZeroLagHub pricing and packaging planning session.

## Goal
Help define production-ready offerings and pricing for ZeroLagHub now that billing plumbing is working. Basic and Pro are currently test scaffolding only. We need to decide what we should actually sell at launch.

## Context
- Billing endpoints and Stripe webhook flow are working.
- Current Basic/Pro plans are placeholders used to test checkout, webhooks, billing page state, and Stripe portal integration.
- ZeroLagHub is not just generic hosting; it is intended to be a differentiated game/dev hosting platform.
- We need a launch-ready pricing model that fits the real product, target customer, and operational reality.
- We want something simple enough to launch, but structured enough to expand later.

## Deliverable
Produce a planning document, not code.

The document should answer:

### 1. Core Offer
- What is ZeroLagHub actually selling?
- What customer problem are we solving better than generic Minecraft hosts?
- What are the primary product differentiators?

### 2. Target Customer
Define:
- primary launch customer
- secondary customer
- who should NOT be optimized for at launch

Potential examples to evaluate:
- solo Minecraft server owner
- modded community admin
- creator/community server operator
- indie mod or plugin developer
- small dev team needing dev + game environments

### 3. Packaging Model
Evaluate these options and recommend one:
- simple tiered plans
- resource-based pricing
- hybrid pricing (base plan + add-ons)

Explain pros/cons for ZeroLagHub specifically.

### 4. Launch Plan Ladder
Recommend a launch pricing ladder with no more than 3 core plans.
For each plan define:
- plan name
- intended customer
- monthly price target
- annual price target if appropriate
- included resources/features
- upgrade reason
- why the price is justified

Do not assume Basic/Pro are the final names.

### 5. Included Features vs Add-Ons
Separate what should be:
- included in every plan
- reserved for higher tiers
- sold as add-ons

Evaluate items like:
- RAM / CPU priority
- storage
- backups
- modded support
- priority support
- dev container access
- extra server slots
- premium routing/performance
- advanced admin tooling

### 6. Margin / Viability Check
Estimate what we need to consider operationally:
- hosting cost sensitivity
- support burden
- where pricing can become unprofitable
- what resource/features are too expensive to include by default

No need for exact accounting, but identify likely risk points.

### 7. Positioning
Recommend how ZeroLagHub should be positioned at launch:
- budget host
- premium low-latency host
- modded-first host
- creator/community host
- dev-to-server platform
- hybrid of the above

Pick one primary positioning and explain why.

### 8. Launch Recommendation
Give a concrete recommendation for:
- final launch pricing structure
- final plan ladder
- what to defer until later
- what can remain manually supported at launch
- what should be intentionally left out of launch pricing

### 9. Future Expansion
Outline how pricing could evolve later for:
- annual billing
- teams
- premium/dev workflows
- enterprise/community plans
- usage-based add-ons

## Constraints
- Keep launch simple.
- Avoid overengineering the offering.
- Prefer clarity over too many plan variants.
- Production pricing should be credible and sustainable.
- Do not optimize for every possible customer at once.
- The result should be something that could realistically be put on the pricing page soon.

## Preferred Output Format
- Executive summary
- Recommended target customer
- Recommended pricing model
- Recommended launch plans
- Included features vs add-ons table
- Risks / open questions
- Final recommendation

## Important
Be opinionated. Do not just list possibilities. Recommend a specific launch direction for ZeroLagHub.
