# GitHub Marketplace plan retire with same-name replacement

> Replace a bad GitHub Marketplace price by retiring the old plan, creating a new one with the same name, and running an upgrade campaign instead of mutating the live plan in place.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-plan-retire-with-same-name-replacement/
- Source: [docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/apps/github-marketplace/listing-an-app-on-github-marketplace/setting-pricing-plans-for-your-listing)
- GrowthDex source hub: [GitHub Docs: Setting pricing plans for your listing](/sources/github-docs-setting-pricing-plans-for-your-listing-docs-github-com/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-29
- Rarity: epic
- Budget: medium
- Channels: Marketplaces, Pricing, Retention
- Stages: pricing migration, developer tools, billing, customer communication


## Why this can grow

A weak plan usually lingers because founders are afraid that changing it will break existing subscriptions. GitHub's rules make the boundary clearer than most billing systems do. Once a published plan exists, you cannot edit it. You remove it, create a replacement, and existing customers stay on the old plan until they choose to move. That creates a cleaner commercial story: new buyers get the corrected offer, current buyers keep continuity, and the team can run an explicit migration campaign rather than sneaking a pricing rewrite under everyone.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. I would run it small enough to learn quickly, then only scale the parts that real users repeat, save, reply to, or buy from. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where github marketplace plan retire with same-name replacement can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Marketplaces and Pricing channel.
3. Use the evidence from docs.github.com to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

GitHub's pricing-plan docs say published plans cannot be changed in place; you must remove the plan, create a new plan, and existing customers remain on the removed plan until they cancel or switch. GitHub also notes you can recreate a removed plan under the same name, such as a new "Pro" plan with updated pricing.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [GitHub Marketplace draft plan staging before paid launch](/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-draft-plan-staging-before-paid-launch/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Atlassian Marketplace pricing change aftercare window](/growth-ideas/atlassian-marketplace-pricing-change-aftercare-window/) - 2 shared channels, 2 shared stages
- [GitHub Marketplace free trial countdown in billing UI](/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-free-trial-countdown-in-billing-ui/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Atlassian Marketplace Timebomb license preflight](/growth-ideas/atlassian-marketplace-timebomb-license-preflight/) - 1 shared channel, 2 shared stages

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [The GitHub Marketplace page should survive the billing handoff](/blog/the-github-marketplace-page-should-survive-the-billing-handoff/) - marketplaces, brand trust, conversion

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.