I really think onboarding is the final stage of marketing, because future revenue and word of mouth depend on it. But I don’t like how closely they connection sometimes. Like here. You’ll see.

Higgsfield is an AI video platform that generates 4 million videos a day turns out to also generate an extraordinary number of upsell offers per checkout. Let's walk through every stage.

Higgsfield is an AI video and image generation platform — one of the buzzy new creative tools that lets you access Kling, Sora, Seedance, and a dozen other models under one roof.

The product itself is genuinely impressive. The onboarding experience, however, is a masterclass in something else entirely: psychological pressure, cascading urgency, and the ancient art of never letting your customer leave a page without feeling like they're losing money. I signed up, screenshot in hand. Here's what happened.

01

First Contact — The Flattery Bomb

Before you've generated a single frame of video, Higgsfield needs you to know something important: you are in the top 5%. The top 5% of what, exactly? People who opened a browser tab? People with an email address? Unclear. But you're special, and your specialness has been rewarded with a "personal" 55% off promo code — already applied, of course, because friction is the enemy.

Notice the countdown timer: 9 minutes and 45 seconds. Nothing says "thoughtful purchase decision" like a ticking clock that started the moment you loaded the page.

The neon-green "Claim Discount" button is roughly the size of a parking space. And the promo code? robe_PERSONAL_PROMO. They pulled your username into the code name. Personal. Just for you. Definitely not auto-generated for every single user who visits this page.

DARK PATTERN COUNT: 1 (fake exclusivity) + 1 (artificial urgency timer) + 1 (personalized-but-not-really promo code) = 3, and we haven't even seen a pricing tier.

02

Pricing Page — Choose Your Fighter

You scroll down and are hit with the pricing architecture. The timer is still running (9:21 now — better hurry). Two plans are visible: Plus at $29/month and Ultra at $70/month, both billed annually. The Ultra plan is highlighted with "MOST POPULAR" in a hot-pink badge, because of course it is.

You can only feel your way to a decision. And what you're supposed to feel is: "The Ultra plan seems like a lot more for not that much more money."

It's the SaaS pricing equivalent of a Cheesecake Factory menu. Seventeen pages of options, and you end up ordering the thing with the little icon next to it.

03

Payment — The Brief Calm

And just like that, you've chosen Ultra. The Stripe checkout screen is almost refreshingly honest — a Scandinavian oasis after the visual assault of the pricing page. The real number is here: $840 per year. The promo code knocked off $708 from the list price of $1,548. That's a "55% discount" that begs the question of whether anyone has ever paid the full $1,548 in the history of this product.

This is the one and only screen in the entire funnel that doesn't have a countdown timer, a neon badge, or the word "UNLIMITED" in all caps. Savor it. It's the last time you'll feel at peace.

04

Pricing Page v2 — Now With 62% Off

Here's where it gets fun. If you decided no you're greeted with a different discount: 62% off. Wait. Wasn't the "personal" promo 55% off? The one you had to claim in under 10 minutes or presumably die?.

This is the pricing equivalent of a flea market where every vendor tells you the price is "special, just for you, my friend" and then you hear them say it to the next person.

05

Immediately After Checkout — The Ambush

You just paid $840. Your credit card is still warm. And before you can generate a single AI video, Higgsfield slides you into what might be the most audacious screen in the entire flow: the "SECRET" Ultra Plan Add-On with an "EXCLUSIVE 80% DISCOUNT."

The progress bar at the top now reads "Create an account ✓ → Set up your plan ✓ → Get maximum value." That third step isn't optional in their eyes — it's the next stage of your journey. You're not done buying. You've only just begun buying.

The add-on costs $119 ("original price was $650, save $531!") and includes 30-day unlimited Nano Banana 2, extra credits, and access to models you probably haven't heard of. There's a new countdown timer. There are words like "SECRET" and "EXCLUSIVE" in neon pink. You are being sold to inside the receipt.

BEHAVIORAL DESIGN NOTE: The add-on is presented as a "one-time offer" you'll "never see again." This is a textbook post-purchase upsell — you've already committed psychologically and financially, so you're far more likely to say yes to an incremental cost. The timer creates loss aversion for something you didn't know existed 3 seconds ago.

06

Exit-Intent — The Upsell Gets an Upsell

Oh, you tried to close the upsell? You moved your cursor toward that little X? Bold move. Because now there's a popup on top of the popup. The add-on that was $119 is now $109.

They've thrown in an "additional 8% discount" because — and I quote — "We really want you to succeed."

The chart has no axis labels, no data source, no units. What is it measuring? Success? Happiness? The number of add-on upsells they can stack before the user's browser catches fire? Nobody knows. But the tall bar is bigger, and bigger is better.

07

Inside the Product — Still Selling

You've finally made it into the actual product. There's a nav bar with tools — Image, Video, Audio, Canvas, Marketing Studio, Cinema Studio. Real features! Things you paid for! But Higgsfield isn't done with you yet.

The upgrade page is accessible (and probably hard to avoid), presenting you with yet another discount — this time 50% off — for a bigger plan. The Ultra plan here shows $125/month for 6,000 credits, and there's a Business plan at $134/seat/month. These are different prices than every previous screen.

And in the bottom-right corner, like a barnacle that survived every attempt to scrape it off the hull: a little toast notification for an "82% discount on Welcome Bundle" expiring in 2 hours and 56 minutes. This thing follows you. It will follow you into the product. It will follow you into your dreams.

08

In-Product — The Final Boss

You're using the product. Maybe you've generated an image. Maybe you've started exploring. And then a modal darkens the screen: "TAKE YOUR PLAN TO THE NEXT LEVEL." Upgrade with 50% off. Save up to $2,000 today. The robe_PERSONAL_PROMO code is back, because this is a relationship now, and it misses you.

This time the countdown is 11 hours, 56 minutes, and 9 seconds. Generous! Almost relaxed, by Higgsfield standards. And behind it, in the bottom-right corner, the 82% Welcome Bundle toast is still there. Still ticking. Still waiting.

You are simultaneously being offered a 50% upgrade discount and an 82% bundle discount. At the same time. On the same screen. For the product you have already paid for.

The Takeaway

Here's the thing: Higgsfield's underlying product is legitimately good. They aggregate cutting-edge AI models, they generate millions of videos daily, and their Cinema Studio feature is a real innovation. The team has serious pedigree — their CEO invented Snap Lenses.

Which makes this onboarding experience all the more baffling.

This is what happens when a growth team is given free rein over a product that could probably sell itself.

The countdown timers, the fake exclusivity, the cascading discounts that contradict each other, the post-purchase upsells that have their own exit-intent upsells — it all reads like someone fed a mobile gaming monetization playbook into an AI and asked it to generate a SaaS checkout flow.

Somewhere inside Higgsfield, there is a wonderful product trying to escape from its own sales funnel.