Feedback wanted: simplifying our pricing page

[Brackenhill_Mob]

I think one of the issues here is that InSync has 3 different user markets who have slightly different attitudes to pricing. From a quick scan read of this thread, I’m guessing that the majority of posters are Linux users who are likely to be more tech savvy that their Windows/Mac counterparts and are also, if I’m anything to go by, price sensitive because of the Linux/freeware mentality (apologies if this isn’t you!). Windows and Mac users are much more used to paying for updates/upgrades. One of the reasons why I moved my company over from Windows to Linux back in 2000 was because the annual upgrade costs for the OS and key bits of software we used was becoming a serious drain on resources.

So why am I saying all this? Because I think, if I’m right, that the Linux posters here might not be a true representation of InSync’s client base. If for example it is a 70/30 split between Windows/Mac and Linux users, then InSync can and probably should charge for upgrades because they will move onto a more sustainable footing even if they lose market share in the Linux world.

I bought InSync because it saved my time for a small outlay. If it would have been an ongoing update fee model, I’d have spent a couple of hours knocking up an rclone script run as a cronjob. I also bought Expandrive years ago for the same reason as I needed to access systems not supported by InSync, but as it’s performance isn’t as great as I would like, I’m now migrating that to rclone!

In conclusion, as a Linux user, I don’t think I’m the prime focus for InSync and I’m OK with that. If existing users are properly grandfathered, that’s a bonus to me. If we are not, I’ll move to an rclone solution but I won’t be blaming InSync nor will I bad mouth them as I understand their rationale.

[bayindirh]

Just wanted to do a polite and friendly counterpoint.

As a Linux and macOS user, I pay for a lot of software which works on Linux, and I pay them for to make their software work on Linux like they work on other operating systems.

Yes, I try to avoid buying software as much as I can because, I support FLOSS from a philosophical perspective (and I develop FLOSS code), however this doesn’t entitle me to any licensing model for any software running on Linux.

InSync was the only reliable Google Drive provider and is still one of the best cloud clients for extra features which are not provided by official clients. However, this lead is being eroded by both FLOSS solutions and competitor cloud providers to Big Three (Dropbox, Google, Microsoft). PCloud has a great cloud offering right now. It’s not trouble free, but it’s awesome in many regards.

I for one can pay a yearly fee for a feature-rich InSync which works reliably, so I can use it as a building block for my workflows.

If a software is worthy of its asking price on any platform, it deserves to be bought and used if the user has the need.

[Brackenhill_Mob]

@bayindirh I couldn’t agree with you more. I happily pay for my “mission critical” stuff. InSync isn’t mission critical for me - I probably move files between my PC and Google Drive 4 or 5 times a month at the most.

Don’t get me wrong. I think InSync should change it’s model if that’s what it needs to do to survive and thrive.

[terpua]

thank you all for your comments.

you guys are spot on…we need to fix the core experience. i know that it maybe hard to believe (based on your bad experiences) but we really do care about every insync customer.

along the journey, sometimes one gets lost and perhaps that’s what happened to us.

we still want to improve insync, especially the onboarding, simplifying the app experience and coming up with a sustainable business model.

the first step is changing our current business model, which you guys have shared, because any major change in the app needs to be accompanied with a sustainable business model (our current business model is not sustainable). otherwise, we are just throwing bad money, investing in a new major app release accompanied by a non-sustainable business model.

we are working towards that.

thanks for reading and your continued support.

t

[Dan_Mattrazzo]

I agree with many of the comments here. As I’ve shared with Mia, I would definitely pay for better support. As a few people have noted here, there are different user bases. Let’s agree all lifetime licenses stay and nothing changes (I assumed this anyway).

I think there’s opportunity to change the license pricing up front to an annual fee. Honestly, if I paid you $10/year, you’d already be making a bunch more money than the $10 I paid you over a decade ago. And I’d be fine with that.

But I think even if nothing changed on the up front pricing, you could easily add premium support for a fee. You could even outsource this if you needed to, which is much easier when you’ve got corresponding revenue coming in. Whether it’s a per-incident fee (which I would be ok with but it’s difficult to price), or an annual subscription.

Anyway, I’m piling on - I think changes are needed and I fully support whatever additional fees I’d need to pay. Insync IS mission-critical for me and I’m willing to pay to support that.

[terpua]

hello folks!

we are in the process of simplifying our pricing and at the same time, looking to crowdfunding for continued Insync development with a Linux focus.

more details – https://gofund.me/eac7b6c2

thanks!

[Jamie_Browning]

@terpua

I think the problem you have is you are doing what every other company is doing. You are continually trying to innovate.
But you are doing this within 1 product, unfortunately there are some fundamental things you have done in your sync stack that have been wrong and it means that you have created a bigger and bigger problem, and you are trying to code your way out of it.
Seems like you need a focused engineering lead, that can guide product dev.

An example, you have included file conversion in your sync product, this is buggy created extra files due to incorrect naming, which then creates further problems.
File conversions should be a separate workflow/process/product from sync. They do not work well in the same process, yes they go together. But the customer must drive this.

You are trying to be a Swiss Army knife.
Instead just be a bunch of knives.

The product you have built is really good and that’s why we all comment as we want it to be better, and work reliably.

But every time you try to add a new function to the Swiss Army knife you will be breaking other functions and making it harder to support, and turning it into a beast, that is no longer controllable.

Great to go after funding. But the question is how are you going to use it. Are you going to fix support, fix those broken features, fix supportability.
No you are only talking about changing the business model. Sorry but that is not the lever you need to pull.
Great make it subscription based, but that is not going to fix the problem. Why would people keep paying if you do not fix the underlying issues. No they will stop paying and find a different product.
I don’t know how many customers you have but if you’re product really was great maybe you would be able to attract more customers.
Remember your product is not sticky, I can turn it off tomorrow and find a new one. Only sticky products can charge subscription.

There is no way you have a large percentage of the market, so much that you want to focus getting more money from existing customers, if you had products that were easier to use and did what they were supposed to.
so this suggests you don’t want more customers, and the reason why is because you then have to support them. Instead you want more from less, and I get it.
Instead why not do less work for more customers. This means improve your product.

So your only course of action is
Rebuild your product (version x) to be more user friendly, less broken etc, then as you acquire more customers, they can support each other, and are willing to. Then you can actually earn money. Going subscription based is not going to fix this problem, finding round it is going to dilute your holdings, and tie you up in knots (another feature to build). And give reason for your biggest supporters to leave.
Fix the other things first. Then your worst supporters will want to pay monthly.

[Jason_Lee]

I am grandfathered in at the original price, but I’d like to give my thoughts on your new subscription system. I personally would be happy to pay $20-30/year for the subscription if it was not per account-based. As much as I love this software, I’m not about to pay that subscription cost for multiple accounts (only using 2 atm, but it’s the principle that counts).

[Akeyla]

I’ve been using Insync for serveral years. When I first bought it, it was a pay-by-account model though for lifetime. Purchased sevearl account licensing. I thought then the cost was high, but the program worked great, specifically in Linux.

Then again ExpanDrive is $50 for a perpetual license and you can keep receiving updates after a year for $25/yr. Maybe you can try something like that?

Before coming over to InSync I used expandrive, for about one month. There were so many issues with it not syncing files, saving files and then not having them upload, and more. I have an email chain with ExpanDrive trying to sort things out. They couldn’t, and eventually just stopped responding to my support requests. I filed a chargeback for the software (through PayPal) and won the dispute. They didn’t even reply to the PayPal dispute in the 30 day time frame. ExpanDrive is trash. I purchased it first because I didn’t want to buy multiple licenses for Insync. Well, I ended up buying insync after.

One reason I got it, though pay by license, it was lifetime. ExpanDrive also if I recall was lifetime back then. Then things got upgraded to Developer Lifetime, and life was good, grand even!. It’s one of the first things I install when setting up a new OS install.

Wanted to get a license for a friend, so I went to the pricing page today, and it was back to the pay by account model. Thought it was a mistake. And yearly. I do not own nor use a single program that uses the subscription model, I refuse, consider it a personal choice. Won’t touch Office 365, prefer to pay the high price for Office 2021. If Insync had been that way originally, I never would have paid for it, would have found an alternative one way or another. So going to a subscription model now concerns me. Yes I’ve read that there’s a grandfather clause for us older license holders, but things tend to change, and that concerns me also.

Anyways, my point, it appears you’ve already gone to a subscription model, though you can still buy legacy accounts (why wouldn’t you buy legacy?). If you’re going full subscription model, sell a lifetime version for those like me who won’t do subs. Charge three years worth, or four, but make it an option.