5 ms·

This looks great. I noticed the "try it for free." Are there plans to turn this into a paid product at some point? How limited is the trial?

yesimahuman 14y ago
Yes, we will eventually charge for it once we work out some of the kinks in the beta. Our first thought was $10/mo for 100 screens (though I agree with the feedback below, so this will probably go up). Any feedback on that?
- ninetax 14y ago
  Sounds good to me!
- andreshb 14y ago
  take my money
- turtle4 14y ago
  Does everything have to be subscription based now? I know it is good for revenue, but it sure is a poor experience for the user. I would rather just pay $10 for 100 screens, if that is what you are charging, rather than tack on the /mo charge. When I run out, I buy more. Offer volume discounts for extreme purchasing over time, perhaps, but don't make me subscribe for light use. That's my initial feedback.
  - digitalengineer 14y ago
    Exacly! Please let us by 'x number screens for $'. Subscription is hardly required for something like this. (Ps please add youtube/vimeo video instead of flash video, I'm on iOS and would love to see it).
    - persona 14y ago
      Same problem. Found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuTo_6id3J8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuTo_6id3J8
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    I like the idea of charging x amount for x screens. It makes more sense for me as it isn't a tool I would use on an ongoing basis, it would depend on my workload and what I'm working on.
  - yesimahuman 14y ago
    We've thought about this, and we do have recurring costs which make sense to bake into a recurring subscription. I understand the model doesn't work for everyone and some would prefer an offline tool and a one-time purchase. I appreciate the feedback and we will definitely take note of it as we progress.
  - mechanical_fish 14y ago
    Subscription pricing is popular for the same reason Bootstrap is popular: Your customers, the ones who need the tool, don't care how strikingly original its design or business model is. They just want it to work. Subscriptions work, everyone understands them, there is infrastructure to support them. Just sell them. Do not get cute with your pricing model without a very good reason, backed by data.
- JPKab 14y ago
  You beautiful bastards! Thanks for this. Now I can spend more time on the back-end stuff.
- patio11 14y ago
  Ridiculously underpriced when you compare it against any alternative other than "I am a hobbyist with infinite time, of course web design should be free." An instructive question which was asked to me recently: "Who would be excluded from using this project if it cost [I'll fill in price points: $39 / $99 / $199 etc], is it in their best interests to use this, and do you seek their business?"
  - yesimahuman 14y ago
    I thought twice about putting $10 on here since I didn't want to promise anything, but I wanted feedback. Thank you for commenting Patrick (I half thought you would :)). I completely agree with you.
- dbul 14y ago
  Set up a stripe account today. Ask people to donate an amount that they would pay assuming a monthly rate. Analyze their usage data and payment data to assist you in coming up with payment plans.
  - yesimahuman 14y ago
    That's a crazy idea...it just might work! I'll look into adding something like this quickly.
    - tnorthcutt 14y ago
      I think that's a terrible idea, if you want to build a business. Ask yourself "What would patio11 do?"
      - yesimahuman 14y ago
        Yea, decided not to, but it's an interesting thought.
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  Sounds underpriced to me (and adding screen limits to price points complicates things). I'd rather something like $50 per month with no limits. Most people are making money from the websites they build so something that increases efficiency is worth more than $10/mo.
ccleve 14y ago
My usage would be very occasional, maybe once every two or three months, for an intense day or two. I'd have no problem forking over $50 to use it each time, but it would be very annoying to pay $10/month for months when I have no usage at all. See the paradox? I'd pay more, maybe $200/year, instead of $120, not to have to worry about getting billed forever for something I'm not using. If you could come up with some scheme that was usage-based rather than time-based, you might make more money in the long run. $5/screen? $50/project? I dunno. Maybe $100/year, upfront, non-recurring. That wouldn't be terrible. It wouldn't feel like time-based usage because the timeframe is so long. You might be able to learn something from the pricing experiences of the mockup tools like Balsamiq and Mockingbird.
- mechanical_fish 14y ago
  So you turn the billing on, then you turn it off. Three months from now you turn it on again. I've used lots of services on this model.

yesimahuman 14y ago

Yes, we will eventually charge for it once we work out some of the kinks in the beta. Our first thought was $10/mo for 100 screens (though I agree with the feedback below, so this will probably go up). Any feedback on that?

ninetax 14y ago
Sounds good to me!
andreshb 14y ago
take my money
turtle4 14y ago
Does everything have to be subscription based now? I know it is good for revenue, but it sure is a poor experience for the user. I would rather just pay $10 for 100 screens, if that is what you are charging, rather than tack on the /mo charge. When I run out, I buy more. Offer volume discounts for extreme purchasing over time, perhaps, but don't make me subscribe for light use. That's my initial feedback.
- digitalengineer 14y ago
  Exacly! Please let us by 'x number screens for $'. Subscription is hardly required for something like this. (Ps please add youtube/vimeo video instead of flash video, I'm on iOS and would love to see it).
  - persona 14y ago
    Same problem. Found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuTo_6id3J8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuTo_6id3J8
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  I like the idea of charging x amount for x screens. It makes more sense for me as it isn't a tool I would use on an ongoing basis, it would depend on my workload and what I'm working on.
- yesimahuman 14y ago
  We've thought about this, and we do have recurring costs which make sense to bake into a recurring subscription. I understand the model doesn't work for everyone and some would prefer an offline tool and a one-time purchase. I appreciate the feedback and we will definitely take note of it as we progress.
- mechanical_fish 14y ago
  Subscription pricing is popular for the same reason Bootstrap is popular: Your customers, the ones who need the tool, don't care how strikingly original its design or business model is. They just want it to work. Subscriptions work, everyone understands them, there is infrastructure to support them. Just sell them. Do not get cute with your pricing model without a very good reason, backed by data.
JPKab 14y ago
You beautiful bastards! Thanks for this. Now I can spend more time on the back-end stuff.
patio11 14y ago
Ridiculously underpriced when you compare it against any alternative other than "I am a hobbyist with infinite time, of course web design should be free." An instructive question which was asked to me recently: "Who would be excluded from using this project if it cost [I'll fill in price points: $39 / $99 / $199 etc], is it in their best interests to use this, and do you seek their business?"
- yesimahuman 14y ago
  I thought twice about putting $10 on here since I didn't want to promise anything, but I wanted feedback. Thank you for commenting Patrick (I half thought you would :)). I completely agree with you.
dbul 14y ago
Set up a stripe account today. Ask people to donate an amount that they would pay assuming a monthly rate. Analyze their usage data and payment data to assist you in coming up with payment plans.
- yesimahuman 14y ago
  That's a crazy idea...it just might work! I'll look into adding something like this quickly.
  - tnorthcutt 14y ago
    I think that's a terrible idea, if you want to build a business. Ask yourself "What would patio11 do?"
    - yesimahuman 14y ago
      Yea, decided not to, but it's an interesting thought.
k-mcgrady 14y ago
Sounds underpriced to me (and adding screen limits to price points complicates things). I'd rather something like $50 per month with no limits. Most people are making money from the websites they build so something that increases efficiency is worth more than $10/mo.

ccleve 14y ago

My usage would be very occasional, maybe once every two or three months, for an intense day or two. I'd have no problem forking over $50 to use it each time, but it would be very annoying to pay $10/month for months when I have no usage at all. See the paradox? I'd pay more, maybe $200/year, instead of $120, not to have to worry about getting billed forever for something I'm not using. If you could come up with some scheme that was usage-based rather than time-based, you might make more money in the long run. $5/screen? $50/project? I dunno. Maybe $100/year, upfront, non-recurring. That wouldn't be terrible. It wouldn't feel like time-based usage because the timeframe is so long. You might be able to learn something from the pricing experiences of the mockup tools like Balsamiq and Mockingbird.

mechanical_fish 14y ago
So you turn the billing on, then you turn it off. Three months from now you turn it on again. I've used lots of services on this model.