What are service variants and how do I use them?

Service variants let you offer different versions of the same service, each with its own price and duration. This helps clients understand your pricing structure at a glance and choose the option that best fits their needs.

Why use service variants?

Flexible pricing – Offer different time and cost combinations for the same service, such as 30-minute vs 60-minute sessions.
Indicate subsidies and discounts – Highlight reduced-fee options, sliding scale pricing, or subsidy-eligible services so clients know what's available.
Add context to your pricing – Distinguish between intake sessions, follow-ups, sessions for children or teens, and other variations that affect cost or duration.
Keep your service menu organized – Instead of creating separate services for every variation, group them under one service for a cleaner, more navigable listing.

Service variants are ideal for practitioners who want to be transparent about their pricing while accommodating different client needs and circumstances.

How service variants work

Each service on your listing can have multiple variants. A variant is simply an alternative time and cost option that appears alongside your base service. For example, if you offer therapy sessions, you might have:

Initial consultation – 90 minutes at $180
Standard session – 60 minutes at $150
Follow-up – 30 minutes at $80
Reduced fee – 60 minutes at $100 (for clients who qualify)

When a potential client views your listing, they'll see all available options clearly laid out, helping them make an informed decision.

Create a service variant

Go to your listing editor and navigate to the Services section.
Click on an existing service to edit it, or create a new service first.
In the service editor panel, scroll down to find the Add variant button and click it.
In the variant dialog, enter the following details:
- Variant name – Give the variant a descriptive name to help clients understand the difference. For example: "Initial consultation", "Follow-up session", "Students", etc.
  
  Heads up:If you don't provide a name or choose from our prepared suggestions, the variant takes the name of the service.
- Duration – Set the time needed for this variant (in minutes).
- Cost – Set the price for this variant.
Click Add to save the variant.
Repeat to add more variants as needed.
Click Save to update your service with all variants.

Using variants for subsidies and discounts

One powerful use of variants is to surface subsidized programs and reduced-fee options. When you create a variant, you can select from suggested options that automatically tag the variant appropriately:

Reduced fee variants – If you offer sliding scale or reduced-fee sessions for clients with financial constraints, create a variant with the adjusted price. This makes it visible to clients who might otherwise assume your services are out of reach.
Subsidy-eligible variants – If your services qualify for insurance coverage, employee assistance programs, or other subsidies, create variants that reflect the client's out-of-pocket cost.

These tagged variants help clients quickly identify affordable options and understand what support might be available to them.

Using variants for session context

Variants are also useful for communicating different session types:

Intake sessions – First appointments often take longer and may have different pricing. Create an intake variant so new clients know what to expect.
Follow-up sessions – Shorter check-ins or follow-up appointments can be listed as variants with reduced time and cost.
Sessions for specific populations – If you offer different rates for children, teens, couples, or families, variants make this clear without cluttering your service menu.

FAQ

How many variants can I add to a service?

You can add as many variants as you need.

Are variants searchable through the Promptd search page?

Yes!

Can I reorder my variants?

Variants appear in the order you create them. To change the order, you can remove and re-add variants in your preferred sequence.

What's the difference between creating a variant and creating a separate service?

Use variants when the offerings are fundamentally the same service with different pricing or duration. Use separate services when the offerings are distinct enough to warrant their own description, images, or category.

For example: "60-minute therapy" and "30-minute therapy" are good candidates for variants. But "Individual therapy" and "Couples therapy" might be better as separate services since they serve different needs.

Should I use variants for every pricing option?

Not necessarily. Variants work best when you want to show multiple options upfront. If you prefer to discuss pricing during consultation, you can keep your service simple and add details in the description instead.