Pricing SaaS in Nepali rupees: inclusive VAT, seats, usage and the numbers that convert

Nepal's software sector is growing fast — industry bodies reported IT service exports passing USD 1 billion in 2025, and Tracxn counts more than 16,000 startups — but most of that revenue is earned abroad. Selling to the domestic market needs domestic pricing, and that is a different craft from copying a US price list and converting it.

Price in whole rupees, at local anchors

रू 999 reads as a consumer price; रू 5,650 reads as a business plan; रू 20,000 reads as a serious tool. Pick anchors your buyer already recognises from telecom, SaaS tools and office rent, not from a dollar conversion. Show the रू symbol and comma grouping the way banks do.

Decide once: inclusive or exclusive

Consumers expect the price they see to be the price they pay — show VAT-inclusive prices on the pricing page and the split on the invoice. Business buyers who reclaim VAT prefer exclusive prices with “+ 13% VAT” stated. Make it a per-plan setting, not a per-page hack.

Seats for predictability, usage for fairness

A base plan plus seats covers your fixed cost and gives the customer a number they can budget. A meter — minutes, requests, documents — captures the part that genuinely scales with their use. Give the first slice away (an allowance) so small customers aren't nickel-and-dimed, and use tiers so large ones get a declining unit price without a sales call.

Collect the way they pay

A beautiful price fails if the renewal can't be collected. Pair monthly plans with invoice links and wallet top-ups; reserve card auto-charge for customers who have cards. Your pricing page and your checkout must tell the same story.

Test it in test mode

Build two or three plans, run them through sandbox Khalti and eSewa, read the resulting invoices. If the invoice looks wrong, the pricing is wrong.