ForumsQuestionsNew subscription prices - what do you think?
New subscription prices - what do you think?
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bakerbits |
So far this is reminding me of what happened when LastPass was bought by LogMeIn. At first the users were worried, but the parent company promised to keep it as good as it always was. Then the software got buggy. Then they doubled the price. That's when I quit and moved to an alternative.
I am very happy with Toodledo for what it is now and how much it costs now. I don't need or want any new feature set. I can afford the new price, but do I want to stay with a company that has no qualms tripling it with little notice? Rhetorical question, I'm sure you can figure out the answer. From a business standpoint, if you triple the price but 75% of your paying customers abandon ship, you've lost. I doubt new customers will be coming in when they have lots of cheaper and prettier alternatives. If anything I might consider dropping my subscription and going down to the Free level, but I doubt I'll give it that chance. Back when the acquisition was announced I starting looking for alternatives, keeping them in the back of my mind. This move has lit a fire under my feet to switch sooner rather than later. I'm always concerned with who has my data, and if I can't trust the company, I don't want them to have anything on me. This message was edited Oct 17, 2018. |
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user50 |
Posted by bakerbits:
I doubt new customers will be coming in when they have lots of cheaper and prettier alternatives. I agree with your points and this one especially. Today I shopped around for a task manager for the first time in ten years and the competition is definitely cheaper, prettier and more functional. The new owners are pushing away the easy revenue (people like me) and making themselves less attractive to new customers. I hope I'm wrong but I think Toodledo just put themselves into a death spiral. With that in mind I migrated away from Toodledo today and deleted all of my tasks because if they do go under I don't want my data lying around in an uncontrolled database somewhere. |
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Kat_2 |
I haven’t had the email yet, but I definitely won’t pay the prices people here are describing. I understand the need to pay developers but, as others have said, if you increase prices this much there won’t be any customers to develop FOR.
Have you done any customer research, Toodledo? I like Toodledo, but not that much. I spent a year using different apps actually and they were all okay, not as flexible/powerful, but okay. I will probably pay 2Do’s one-off lifetime £19.99 fee. At least that works with Apple Watch (which Toodledo doesn’t, despite its website promises) and it has a nicer interface. It syncs with Toodledo as well, so it’s a quick transfer. This message was edited Oct 17, 2018. |
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Ummagumma |
Posted by Kat_2:
I haven’t had the email yet, but I definitely won’t pay the prices people here are describing. I understand the need to pay developers but, as others have said, if you increase prices this much there won’t be any customers to develop FOR. Have you done any customer research, Toodledo? I like Toodledo, but not that much. I spent a year using different apps actually and they were all okay, not as flexible/powerful, but okay. I will probably pay 2Do’s one-off lifetime £19.99 fee. At least that works with Apple Watch (which Toodledo doesn’t, despite its website promises) and it has a nicer interface. It syncs with Toodledo as well, so it’s a quick transfer. Check out GoodTask, too. It works with Outlook (via Reminders) and syncs more fields than 2Do, which is a huge thing if you’re at an organization that runs on Exchange and Office. 2Do is an exceptional app but it is largely a thing in itself. This message was edited Oct 17, 2018. |
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lancemccarty |
Wow, price increases that high are offensive and unnecessary in a well run business.
Most would absorb a reasonable increase due to inflation + investment, but insane at +100%,+200% levels over the old price structure. Since one of the features that I need (ability to modify completed date) has not shown any progress in several years, this change was exactly what I needed to prompt me to go find another solution. |
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AA |
Posted by aleding:
The new cost is a > 200% increase (i.e. 3x) for the same existing feature set and quantity\storage allotments... Even that isn't certain! I hope the rumors that Habits will be gone are only rumors. If they cancel Habits, I'm outta here even before my Gold plan runs out next summer. Granted, the current implementation of Habits in Toodledo is extremely basic and buggy, but this relatively new feature got me hooked a couple of years ago, and it's now as essential for me as tasks management. After spending some time online yesterday looking for an alternative to Toodledo Habits, I couldn't really find any. Yes, the current implementation of Habits in Toodledo is anything but perfect, but none of the alternative habits-tracking apps I looked at offered quite the combination available here. That is, that you can make a habit a yes/no habit, a number habit, or a star rating habit. That is very useful to me, and I track 89 habits that way every single day, and it helps me get through each day. If anyone knows of an alternative habits-tracking app that makes it possible to track all 3 types of habits, please let me know. All the apps I looked at offered only the option to track yes/no habits, or yes/no and number habits, but no app seems to offer all 3 habit types the way Toodledo Habits do it. Then again, in Toodledo Habits, you get next to zero motivation to keep your habits, next to zero insight into your past performance – it's all very clunky, the interface is horrible (checking off a habit on one device doesn't reliably check it off on all devices), etc. Sigh. I wish the new Toodledo owners would first improve the software and iron out its bugs before slapping their loyal customers in the face with an outrageous threefold price hike. As others have said before, I very much fear this is the death of Toodledo. Must be very sad for Jake to see what's about to happen to his product he lovingly developed for many years. But if a hardcore Toodledo fan like myself is ready to jump ship now, I can't see how Toodledo can retain their current customer base, let alone find new customers. Really, folks: you honestly believe people will pay for a task manager the annual rate they pay for, say, an annual Dropbox plan of 1 terabyte of storage? It's an insane business proposition, in my opinion, if you forgive my saying so. And sorry if this isn't "constructive" enough for your taste. If you reward your loyal customers with a 300% price hike, you can expect to get lots of frustration and anger in response, not "constructive" criticism. The most telling and saddest aspect of all this is what Purveyor mentioned above: Sam, the owner who said “I'll be super active in this forum, answering as many questions as possible” has disappeared. This is what he said when he announced the proposed changes to pricing: Posted by Sam More likely than not, this won’t be so much of a pricing change, but combining the Gold and Platinum package. https://www.toodledo.com/forums/1/25975/0/toodledo-update-1.htmlPlease note that there is no plan to increase the price of current paying users. I guess as soon as Jake sold Toodledo, we could reasonably expect it would eventually come down to this, that Toodledo would crash to the ground sooner or later, and I guess it was naively optimistic to expect anything else. And here it is... :-( This message was edited Oct 17, 2018. |
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roaz |
So far the feedback has been strongly against this extreme change in pricing for the existing customer base. A reasonable transition would be to keep the existing customers at the same price for a minimum of one year OR increase the price no more than 25%. Especially since one of the new owners made a public promise suggesting only a moderate change to pricing.
Also, playing games with feature movement to increase revenue is just plain bad for business. Just think how many users are upset and will not bother to comment. They will just leave. This approach is risky and I don't think it will work. This message was edited Oct 18, 2018. |
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J.O.D. |
I had thought of this some more: The problem is two fold. Firstly, as the features go, then I am O.K. with Individual plan. Secondly, the price of Individual plan is simply too high, and probably that's because of the Platinum plan. Platinum's successor Bussiness plan has the same price. And the price of Individual plan has been set based on this, instead of the Gold plan, to which the Individual plan is successor, IMO.
I would suggest to make Individual plan, which should be the best plan for majority of users, at 30 $, at least until some newly developed features change the users stance towards price increase. And this is anoter reason, why I refuse to pay for yearly subscription - I will keep my monthly one, so that I can leave if and when neccessary (and Aaron confirmed to me in an e-mail, that there will be monthly subscription for both paid plans). This message was edited Oct 18, 2018. |
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AA |
Posted by J.O.D.:
the Gold plan, to which the Individual plan is successor, IMO. Not without "full history". That's a deal-breaker for me. I have been a Gold subscriber for years now, not merely a Silver subscriber, precisely because I need to retain my full history in Toodledo. And now they triple the price for me, and turn me into a "Business" user, just because I wish to continue using the same "Gold" features as in years past? No way. |
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J.O.D. |
Posted by AA:
Posted by J.O.D.: the Gold plan, to which the Individual plan is successor, IMO. Not without "full history". That's a deal-breaker for me. I have been a Gold subscriber for years now, not merely a Silver subscriber, precisely because I need to retain my full history in Toodledo. And now they triple the price for me, and turn me into a "Business" user, just because I wish to continue using the same "Gold" features as in years past? No way. I perfectly understand that. I just don't need full history. And should the need occur in the future, I will be prepared by exporting my data yearly and archive it locally. YMMV. |
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Kat_2 |
Posted by Ummagumma:
Check out GoodTask, too. It works with Outlook (via Reminders) and syncs more fields than 2Do, which is a huge thing if you’re at an organization that runs on Exchange and Office. 2Do is an exceptional app but it is largely a thing in itself. Does GoodTask sync or import tasks from Toodledo? To be honest at this point I just want the quickest solution! I don’t use Outlook. This message was edited Oct 18, 2018. |
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Ummagumma |
Posted by Kat_2:
Posted by Ummagumma: Check out GoodTask, too. It works with Outlook (via Reminders) and syncs more fields than 2Do, which is a huge thing if you’re at an organization that runs on Exchange and Office. 2Do is an exceptional app but it is largely a thing in itself. Does GoodTask sync or import tasks from Toodledo? To be honest at this point I just want the quickest solution! I don’t use Outlook. No, GoodTask doesn’t sync with Toodledo. I think I am done with the service, sadly. There was a guy on this forum who marketed his own task app which did sync with Toodledo, I think it was called TaskAngel. It would probably be your best bet if you want to preserve all fields. If you’re not using Context or Goal or Status fields, look into 2Do, it’s amazing. |
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Charlie5 |
What a bunch of babies. Seriously $90 a year? You're complaining about that? What did you spend on starbucks, sodas, beer, wine last year? How about other BS you don't really need? Go look at your bank or CC statement. I'm pretty sure you can come up with a few more bucks to pay for this service.
Having been a dedicated IQTELL user for many years, I could tell you if this place were shutting down, you would be begging to pay more money to keep it open. If you wanna leave, do so. For reference here is a list of features on all the alternatives. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JCAzQ5f9ETGDhGZSUtecnq5at7AJw3BxSzP5E3h4lgo/edit#gid=0 I made this some time ago when IQTELL was shutting down the first time. 100's of people help me put this list together. Toodledo is one of the, if not BEST task managers out there. So yeah, you're gonna have to start paying for it. |
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J.O.D. |
Well, after much, much brain-aching...ehm... I have deleted my tasks and canceled my subscription. I wil not delete my account, however, and will monitor this service, but will be using completely different tool (and I mean different, not list based). Not as much for the price, but for being afraid to be alone here...
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pawelkaleta |
I fully agree with DrFrankBuck here. Let's focus on constructive arguments and not insult anybody for expressing own opinions.
I would add that we are not talking about the new level of the price only. It's about the approach the new owners take and how it may impact overall Toodledo service and its users. |
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roaz |
Posted by Chardar Fuxus:
What a bunch of babies. Seriously $90 a year? You're complaining about that? What did you spend on starbucks, sodas, beer, wine last year? How about other BS you don't really need? Go look at your bank or CC statement. I'm pretty sure you can come up with a few more bucks to pay for this service. Having been a dedicated IQTELL user for many years, I could tell you if this place were shutting down, you would be begging to pay more money to keep it open. If you wanna leave, do so. For reference here is a list of features on all the alternatives. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JCAzQ5f9ETGDhGZSUtecnq5at7AJw3BxSzP5E3h4lgo/edit#gid=0 I made this some time ago when IQTELL was shutting down the first time. 100's of people help me put this list together. Toodledo is one of the, if not BEST task managers out there. So yeah, you're gonna have to start paying for it. Yeah if you say so....Part of the problem here is HOW this was done AND for the Silver users it is a 3X price increase. It takes a lot of nerve to do this with the long time users. The new owners have some damage control on their hands and we are all watching the next move. I thought it was an early April Fools joke at first. LOL This message was edited Oct 18, 2018. |
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Purveyor |
Posted by DrFrankBuck:
The comparison of what we pay for other things is always an argument to pull out of the bag. But Toodledo is likely not the only subscription people are paying for. They start to add up. According to your Toodledo profile, you don't have a paid subscription. Is that right?
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AA |
Posted by Chardar Fuxus:
What a bunch of babies. Seriously $90 a year? You're complaining about that? How conveniently Amero-centric of you. (Although your spreadsheet is very useful – thank you!) Might it interest you that I live in an EU country where most people only earn hundreds (not thousands) of dollars per month? That's a couple of hundred bucks per week. Although it might not be my issue, a price hike of dozens of dollars per year would deal a severe blow to most of my compatriots, as it would explode their budgets. It's sometimes useful to remember that there are other countries on this planet apart from the wealthy USA. ;-) Besides, it's a matter of principle. Although I could afford the new price, I won't be paying it and will be leaving Toodledo after my Gold plan expires next summer, if I can find a half-decent alternative in the meantime, because treating your customers like this is an outrage. (And yes, I provide software services to my customers, too. I'd never in a thousand years dare to raise prices for my customers by 200% or 300% all of a sudden, and least of all those customers who've been with me for years.) This message was edited Oct 18, 2018. |
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