Freemium Bait and Switch
I’ve been stung twice in the past few weeks by web services introducing paid plans to their formerly beta (free) apps. Obviously, I understand that the developers need to make money to build and support these apps — and I am more than willing to pay. I drop almost $100 per month on a handful that save me time and keep me organized.
However, I think it’s a bit underhanded to start off with an unlimited plan and no mention of paid plans (and their associated cost), only to introduce paid plans afterward. I was not afforded the opportunity to do a cost/benefit analysis on the service before putting my eggs in the basket.
The target of today’s rant is Hoptoad. Here’s an excerpt from their freemium announcement:
Today we’re excited to introduce paid plans for hoptoad – but first we want to make it clear how much we’ve appreciated the feedback from our current users – as long as you stay at your current project and user usage, you will never be charged.
I’m sure writing that paragraph made them feel very generous. A veritable frog in a Santa hat. However, one of the main selling points is combining all of your notifications into one place, and I’m planning on launching 5 projects in the next few months. The net/net for me is I have to start paying $15/month or move back to my completely adequate exception_notification plugin. I never would have signed up for this “free”, “time-saving” service if I had known the consequences.
The Takeaway
If you’re building an app, you owe it to your customers to set expectations up front. Do your due diligence. Help your customers make an informed decision about your shiny new toy. It’s like handing a sweet new Yo Gabba Gabba! toy to my 3-year-old in Target only to tell her 15 minutes later we can’t afford it.
