61% of SaaS pricing pages that show prices present their plans side by side with no plan marked as most popular, recommended or best value. Of the 39% that do highlight a plan, most use the exact words "Most popular."
Analysis of 59 SaaS pricing pages with public prices · pricing pages of SaaS companies that rank in Google, September 2026
Key Findings
- 1.61% of SaaS pricing pages with public prices do not highlight any plan as most popular, recommended or best value.
- 2.27.1% of SaaS pricing pages with public prices use the exact label "Most popular," against 6.8% for "Best value" and 3.4% for "Recommended."
- 3.53% of SaaS pricing pages with an Enterprise tier highlight a plan, more than twice the 22% of pricing pages without one.
- 4.47% of SaaS pricing pages with a free plan highlight a plan, against 36% of pricing pages with no free option.
- 5.25.4% of SaaS pricing pages with public prices offer a free plan or a $0 tier.
Summary
A buyer lands on a SaaS pricing page with three plans in three columns. On one site, the middle column is raised, outlined in the brand color and topped with a "Most popular" badge. On another, the three columns look identical, and the buyer has to read every feature list to work out which plan is meant for them.
A highlighted plan is one of the simplest nudges on a pricing page. It tells the buyer which plan most people like them choose, shortens the decision and steers them toward the tier the company most wants to sell.
61% of SaaS pricing pages with public prices highlight no plan at all. The 39% that do mostly use the words "Most popular," and pricing pages that also sell an Enterprise tier are more than twice as likely to highlight a plan as those that do not.
What we measured
On September 23, 2026 we loaded the pricing pages of SaaS companies that rank in Google search for SaaS and IT keywords, and kept the 59 that show at least one public price. On each we looked for plan labels, and noted whether the page offers a free plan and whether it lists an Enterprise tier.
A page highlights a plan when it labels one tier "Most popular," "Popular," "Recommended," "Best value" or "Best deal." A free plan is a tier described as free, free forever or priced at $0. An Enterprise tier is a plan named Enterprise, usually sold through a conversation with sales rather than at a listed price.
Six in ten SaaS pricing pages point to no plan
The "Most popular" badge is common advice, but most SaaS companies do not use it or anything like it. Their pricing pages list the plans side by side and leave the buyer to compare features line by line. For a buyer choosing between three or four similar-looking tiers, that is more work at the point where they are deciding whether to pay.
The 39% that do highlight a plan are pointing the buyer to a default choice. Whichever tier carries the badge becomes the plan many buyers start from, which makes the label a pricing lever as well as a design choice.
"Most popular" is the label of choice
That wording is far ahead of the alternatives. Sixteen pricing pages use "Most popular," among them Zapier, Wrike, GitHub, TradingView and Connecteam. A few more use "Popular" on its own, such as Xero. "Best value" or "Best deal" appears on 4 pages and "Recommended" on 2, including Notion.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 59 SaaS pricing pages with public prices · pricing pages of SaaS companies that rank in Google, September 2026
A page can carry more than one label, and "Popular" on its own has no separate row, so the rows do not add up to 39%. "Most popular" works because it is social proof: it tells the buyer that other customers made this choice, which is more persuasive than the company saying it recommends a plan.
Enterprise tiers and highlights go together
32 of the 59 pricing pages, 54.2%, list an Enterprise tier. Of those, 53% highlight a plan. Of the 27 pages without an Enterprise tier, 22% do. Pages that run a ladder of self-serve plans topped by an Enterprise tier have more tiers to choose from, and so more reason to point the buyer at one.
Source: Suff Digital analysis of 59 SaaS pricing pages with public prices · pricing pages of SaaS companies that rank in Google, September 2026
| Pricing page type | Pages | Highlight a plan |
|---|---|---|
| Lists an Enterprise tier | 32 | 53% |
| No Enterprise tier | 27 | 22% |
| Offers a free or $0 plan | 15 | 47% |
| No free plan | 44 | 36% |
Free plans show a smaller gap. 25.4% of pricing pages with public prices offer a free or $0 tier, and 47% of them highlight a plan, against 36% of pages with no free option. A company with a free tier needs to move users up to a paid plan, and a "Most popular" badge on the first paid tier is one of the ways to do it.
What this means for SaaS companies
If you run three or more tiers, and especially if one is Enterprise, a highlighted plan is standard among your peers. Put the label on the plan most customers should buy, usually the middle self-serve tier, and use the plain wording most sites use: "Most popular." Make the highlight visual as well as verbal: a raised column, a border or a different button color.
Then test it rather than assume it. A highlight on the wrong plan can push buyers up or down in ways that change revenue, so measure plan mix and revenue per sign-up, not only the number of sign-ups. A saas web design agency can design and test pricing page layouts that guide buyers to the right plan.
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/saas-most-popular-plan-label">61% of SaaS Pricing Pages Highlight No Plan as Most Popular or Best Value - Suff Digital</a></p>
Cite this study
Suff Digital. (2026). 61% of SaaS Pricing Pages Highlight No Plan as Most Popular or Best Value. https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/saas-most-popular-plan-label
61% of SaaS Pricing Pages Highlight No Plan as Most Popular or Best Value - Suff Digital - https://www.suffdigital.com/resources/data-studies/saas-most-popular-plan-label