What pricing model should Vidrio have?
Hey hackers. I've just had surprising success with my Vidrio post on Product Hunt. I released the app for free, and intend for it to stay free in some capacity, especially during this time of remote working.
However, I also need to make money at some point, so it's time to at least think about freemium pricing. Here, I'd like your thoughts and advice.
I don't want to do heavy feature-gating. Vidrio is a standalone Mac app with one core function - to overlay your webcam stream on top of your windows. I have some ideas for major new features, but right now, they're dreams.
Possible limitations of the free version:
- A 30-day free trial
- Time-limited sessions, e.g. the free version quits after 10 minutes of use
- Adding a Vidrio "watermark" to the overlay
What principles are there to decide between these? Or other suggestions for how to limit the free version?
Then there's the question of subscription pricing vs. one-time payment. For most SaaS, I'd say subscription every time. But a couple of things make me nervous:
- Vidrio is a standalone app, not a web service. It costs me $0 for users to run it. Will users balk at a subscription model for this kind of app?
- Vidrio's simplicity means users won't be constantly getting new features with their subscription.
Again, what principles are there to decide between these?
Finally, dollar values. My feeling is that a $10 one-time payment, or $3/month, feel about right. But I don't really know how to validate this.
I think regular users might not want to pay for it, but companies will definitely want to pay for this if they use it. For companies, I think having a higher price point would not be an issue. But then I think you'd have to include helpdesk / support in there.
I think a watermark is the best option, having limited time use might just scare users away, whilst having the watermark will make them use it either way.
Yeh, I think there's a lot of business usage potential - helpdesk, support, sales, promo vids. I just want to tap into that without killing the experience for budget users, and independent contributors within companies.
I like that the watermark also provides an advertising stream. I think an important distribution channel for Vidrio is people watching a new video/prezo made with Vidrio, and then wanting to make the same themselves. The watermark helps with that.
Any thoughts on subscription vs. one-time payment?
I think subscription is the way to go, definitely if you'd have support later on or features that might require you hosting something.
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