Why we ditched our free plan
blog.trak.io
Why we ditched our free plan
1–10 of 57 posts
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#2As the saying goes, if a product is free then you are the product. In other words, if you can't sell your users, you have to charge them.
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#3Google analytics was originally Urchin, and If I remember correctly it was 49.95 a month. I heard about it from a friend and started paying for it. A few months later Google bought them and it was suddenly free. It felt like picking a good stock and the feeling of going from paid to free was elating. I say this not as a well actually (ironically it is), but to support that if you have a good product people will pay and will recommend it to friends. Free is only good if the number of users on your platform is of benefit to you. In your case, I think it's not and you are probably making the right choice by focusing on both product development, with a little revenue on the side from the start (or at least early). Good luck.
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#4I would suggest that you don't call your free users "freeloaders". That's a pejorative term that suggests you're being taken advantage of. You offered your product for free, they took you up on the offer. It's fine that you've decided it's better for your business to cease offering the free tier, but it's unprofessional to use a pejorative to describe customers who accepted your offer of a free product.
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#5They're splash video has the same chords as Wrecking Ball.
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#6I would suggest that you don't call your free users "freeloaders". That's a pejorative term that suggests you're being taken advantage of. You offered your product for free, they took you up on the offer. It's fine that you've decided it's better for your business to cease offering the free tier, but it's unprofessional to use a pejorative to describe customers who accepted your offer of a free product.
Hey Gabemart, original author here.
I understand your objection.
The term 'freeloader' was used because they're taking stuff for free with no expectation to pay anything in the future.
Also, an article that attracts discussion is a good thing, right? :)
[edited]
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#7I would suggest that you don't call your free users "freeloaders". That's a pejorative term that suggests you're being taken advantage of. You offered your product for free, they took you up on the offer. It's fine that you've decided it's better for your business to cease offering the free tier, but it's unprofessional to use a pejorative to describe customers who accepted your offer of a free product.
Hey Gabemart, original author here. I understand your objection. The term 'freeloader' was used because they're taking stuff for free with no expectation to pay anything in the future. Also, an article that attracts discussion is a good thing, right? :) [edited]
It's probably not a good idea to reply to people giving you useful feedback by telling them they are "dramatizing".
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#8Google analytics was originally Urchin, and If I remember correctly it was 49.95 a month. I heard about it from a friend and started paying for it. A few months later Google bought them and it was suddenly free. It felt like picking a good stock and the feeling of going from paid to free was elating. I say this not as a well actually (ironically it is), but to support that if you have a good product people will pay a…
Hey Seth, original author here.
Thanks for the deeper explanation into the history or Urchin, and also, that when it was a paid product you were still happy to recommend it. Thats exactly what we're hoping to get at Trak.io - yeah it's a paid product, but it brings a damn load more value to your business than the couple of bucks we're asking for a month.
Thanks for the good wishes too, I love how supportive HN can be!
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#9I would suggest that you don't call your free users "freeloaders". That's a pejorative term that suggests you're being taken advantage of. You offered your product for free, they took you up on the offer. It's fine that you've decided it's better for your business to cease offering the free tier, but it's unprofessional to use a pejorative to describe customers who accepted your offer of a free product.
Hey Gabemart, original author here. I understand your objection. The term 'freeloader' was used because they're taking stuff for free with no expectation to pay anything in the future. Also, an article that attracts discussion is a good thing, right? :) [edited]
Just wanted to note that I also disliked that term.
And believe me, I couldn't agree with the article more, I was nodding my head vigorously throughout my reading, I bookmarked the article to Evernote as a reference for anyone I talk to about this in the future (and I talk about this with a lot of people, making exactly your arguments).
So I couldn't be more "pro", but I also immediately thought "freeloader is not a nice term". It could just be my "the internets will hate this" spidey-sense, but in this case I think the internets are right - it really is an offensive term in more places.
Re: Why we ditched our free plan
#10They're splash video has the same chords as Wrecking Ball.
hehe you won the internet for spotting that! :D
I originally found the free audio on a royalty free site. The video is very outdated now compared to the product, but at the time all we had were photoshop mockups of the UI and a vision! :D
Anyone who has used a mac before will spot that it's made from a ton of panning around images in iMove. Guilty as charged... :-P