Structured plan variants are different versions of a subscription plan designed to meet the distinct needs of different customer segments. For a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, the two most common segments are individual consumers (B2C) and businesses (B2B). Creating separate plan structures allows you to tailor features, pricing, and administrative controls to the unique expectations of each group.

For example, a B2C plan might focus on individual user experience and affordability, while a B2B plan will prioritize team collaboration, security, and administrative oversight. By separating these offerings into logical groups—often called plan groups—you can create clearer value propositions and more effective go-to-market strategies.

The core difference between B2B and B2C plan structures lies in who the customer is and what they value. B2C customers are typically single users making a purchase for personal use, whereas B2B customers are organizations buying on behalf of a team. This fundamental distinction drives differences across features, billing, and governance.

Here’s a breakdown of the key areas where these plans diverge:

• User Management: B2C plans are simple, usually tied to a single user account. B2B plans require multi-user management, role-based access control (RBAC), and centralized administration for adding or removing team members.
• Billing and Invoicing: B2C billing is straightforward, often a recurring credit card charge. B2B billing is more complex, requiring invoicing, purchase orders, multiple payment methods, and the ability to manage subscriptions centrally for the entire organization.
• Feature Entitlements: B2C features are geared toward individual productivity or entertainment. B2B features focus on collaboration, security, and integration, such as audit logs, single sign-on (SSO), and API access.
• Scalability and Pricing: B2C pricing is often a simple flat fee. B2B pricing models are more varied, including per-seat pricing, usage-based tiers, and custom enterprise contracts that can scale with the organization’s growth.

Segmenting plans for B2B and B2C customers allows a product to serve multiple markets effectively without compromising the user experience for either. It’s a common strategy for products that have broad appeal but require different capabilities depending on the context of use.

A design software company, for example, might offer:

• A B2C “Creator” Plan: Aimed at freelancers and hobbyists, this plan could offer core design tools, limited cloud storage, and community support for a low monthly fee.
• A B2B “Business” Plan: Targeted at creative agencies and corporate marketing departments, this plan would include everything in the Creator plan plus team libraries, collaborative workflows, advanced security controls, a dedicated account manager, and invoicing.

This separation prevents individual users from being overwhelmed with complex team features they don’t need, while ensuring businesses have the administrative and security tools they require to operate safely and efficiently.

While offering distinct plan structures is powerful, it introduces complexity. Product and engineering teams need to build and maintain a system that can handle the divergent logic for entitlements, billing, and user management.

Common challenges include:

• Entitlement Complexity: The system must accurately track and enforce different feature sets for each plan type. For example, a B2B organization might have access to an admin dashboard that is completely hidden from B2C users.
• Billing System Flexibility: The billing infrastructure needs to support both simple credit card transactions for B2C and complex invoicing and subscription management for B2B. This often requires integrating with a payment provider that can handle both scenarios gracefully.
• User Identity and Authentication: A user might start as a B2C customer and later be invited to a B2B organization. The identity system must be able to handle these transitions smoothly without forcing the user to create a new account.
• Clear User Experience: The application interface must be intuitive, showing users only the features and settings relevant to their subscription. A B2B admin should see user management tools, while a B2C user should only see their personal account settings.

Crafting a successful B2B vs. B2C plan structure requires careful planning and a clear understanding of your customer segments. Follow these best practices to create a system that is scalable, manageable, and clear for your users.

• Use Organizations for B2B: The most effective way to separate B2B from B2C is by treating a business as a distinct entity, often called an “organization” or “team.” All B2B users belong to an organization, which acts as the container for the subscription, users, and administrative settings.
• Create Distinct Plan Groups: Group your plans logically. Have one plan group for individuals (e.g., Free, Pro) and another for organizations (e.g., Team, Business, Enterprise). This simplifies internal management and makes it easier to build targeted pricing pages.
• Centralize Subscription Management for B2B: In a B2B context, the subscription should be tied to the organization, not an individual user. This allows any authorized administrator to manage billing, add seats, or upgrade the plan, ensuring continuity even if the original purchaser leaves the company.
• Design a Unified Authentication Flow: Allow users to sign in through a single portal. The system can then determine their context—whether they are acting as an individual or as part of an organization—and present the appropriate interface and entitlements.

Kinde is designed to handle the complexities of managing both B2B and B2C customers within a single platform. It provides the foundational infrastructure for creating distinct plan variants and managing the entire subscriber lifecycle.

With Kinde, you can use Organizations to represent your business customers. This model allows you to create plans and subscriptions specifically for B2B use cases, keeping them separate from your B2C offerings. Users can seamlessly belong to their own personal space and also be members of one or more organizations.

Here’s how Kinde supports the best practices for structuring B2B and B2C plans:

• Distinct Plan Creation: You can create different plans with unique features, pricing, and entitlements. By assigning plans to either users or organizations, you can build separate B2C and B2B offerings.
• Centralized B2B Management: Kinde’s Organizations feature acts as the hub for B2B subscriptions. Billing, user roles, and access are managed at the organization level, providing the centralized governance that businesses need.
• Flexible Pricing Tables: You can generate pricing tables from your plan groups, allowing you to create different, targeted pricing pages for your individual and business customers.
• Unified Authentication: Kinde’s authentication layer handles mixed B2B and B2C scenarios, routing users to the correct context after they sign in. This ensures a smooth experience for all users, regardless of their subscription type.

By leveraging these features, you can build a sophisticated billing and user management system that scales with your business as you serve both individual and enterprise clients.

• Create plans
• About organizations
• Add and manage organizations
• Build a pricing table
• Mixed auth set up for B2B and B2C