Why Bundles Are Being Reconsidered in SaaS
For years, bundling was a standard pricing strategy across tech and SaaS. Companies packaged together a variety of services and sold them as one simplified offer. It was convenient and often provided savings to customers who needed most of the features.
But user expectations have evolved. Today’s customers want to know exactly what they are paying for and prefer the flexibility to pay only for what they use. This demand for customization is leading to a widespread rethinking of the traditional bundle.
Spotify’s decision in 2025 to unbundle audiobooks from its main subscription is a case in point. Rather than forcing all users to subsidize features they may not use, Spotify now gives users the choice to opt in. This improves pricing transparency and aligns value with usage.
Table of Contents
What’s Behind the Unbundling Trend
Customers are driving the change. They expect personalized services and prefer modular solutions that reflect their actual needs. This aligns with broader consumer trends favoring flexibility, transparency, and control.
From a business standpoint, unbundling also improves agility. It allows companies to test new features, price them independently, and scale offerings based on usage patterns. Emerging Strategy reports that this trend is reshaping how large software platforms structure their pricing models.
How to Execute an Unbundling Strategy
Unbundling can unlock value, but only if approached carefully. Companies need to assess the perceived value of each component to ensure customers still feel they are getting a fair deal.
Â
Strong core offerings must be designed to attract entry-level users. Each add-on or module should be priced to reflect both its standalone utility and its value as part of a broader solution. Data analytics are critical in this process, allowing companies to understand usage patterns and recommend the right mix of services to each user.
Key Considerations for Pricing Professionals in Agriculture
In response to these shifts, pricing professionals must navigate rising input costs, with fertilizer, water, and insurance becoming more expensive due to increasing resource scarcity. To mitigate risks, pricing models and contracts need flexible terms that reflect yield fluctuations and input variability. As regional viability evolves, developing geographically tailored pricing and margin strategies will be essential to remain competitive and resilient.
Real-World Examples of Unbundling in Action
Spotify leads the consumer tech space in redefining how media access is sold. Adobe has long offered bundles like Creative Cloud, but it now heavily promotes single-app pricing to users with narrower needs. In the enterprise space, platforms like Salesforce and HubSpot have adopted modular pricing models, letting customers add or remove features as their business evolves.
These shifts reflect the same trend: give customers what they want, when they want it, and let them decide what value looks like.
Looking Ahead
Unbundling is not a temporary trend. It is a structural response to market demands and will remain part of how tech companies design pricing models going forward. However, bundling still has a role to play. For customers who want simplicity and cost savings, customized bundles will always be attractive.
The future lies in hybrid models that offer core flexibility while still enabling value-based bundling for specific segments.
Final Thought
As pricing strategies evolve, unbundling offers a way to put customers first while unlocking new revenue streams. Companies that understand their users and price with precision will find success in this new environment. The bundle is not disappearing. It is becoming smarter.
