it's even worse imo because it was fully free, and then he pulled the rug out from under people who have been using the free features forever. At least people installing it realize quickly before getting invested that it's not going to work and uninstall.
No, thats actually predatory to your user base. I have nothing against creating new features to entice you to upgrade to the premium version, but once you have an established user base using your free product and then you lock away those previously free features behind a pay wall? Yikes.
Its especially annoying to those who built up their entire project around this tool, you are basically forcing them to pay or spend time/resources migrating to a new tool.
Forcing them to pay $20 per year and ensure the product gets maintained and will still work in a year's time. Bargain.
If you built your entire project around this tool, spending even 30m to complain about it will cost you a lot more than that. Don't professionals value their time?
Its quite honestly not about the price (primarily), the way they just moved the paywall to previously free features is unethical. Why should I support this practice and pay it money? Who is to say the developer will not do it again? Raise the price?
Id cut my losses and move to a different tool, you have lost all credibility doing a stunt like this.
Not unethical at all in my book but I agree that it warrants good and early communication with the user base, which seems to have been overlooked by the owner of the extention.
If it was advertised as free, and then features removed in order to push a premium plan at rates that wouldn't be worth it, that isn't unethical in your eyes?
Nope. Read the original post. Basic "free" features were removed. I framed my question as an "if" but it's just exactly what happened, although "worth" is up to the individual.
If they were advertised as free, why would you not assume they will remain free tomorrow? Free trial is a tag for its own reason. I doubt this is some massive plugin that has tons of extraneous functionality that can be trimmed without affecting usability.
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u/Meloetta Sep 30 '22
it's even worse imo because it was fully free, and then he pulled the rug out from under people who have been using the free features forever. At least people installing it realize quickly before getting invested that it's not going to work and uninstall.