I'll be honest, this comes off as disingenuine and a way to artificially raise the price on the standalone offering to help steer people to the subscription. Arguing that too many people found it far too complicated and confusing that you would have a Mac version and a PC version of your software is silly. The majority of software which is available for Windows & Mac is sold separately.
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1Password Introduces $2.99/Month Plan for Individuals, With 6 Months Free at Sign-Up [Updated]
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I'll be honest, this comes off as disingenuine and a way to artificially raise the price on the standalone offering to help steer people to the subscription. Arguing that too many people found it far too complicated and confusing that you would have a Mac version and a PC version of your software is silly. The majority of software which is available for Windows & Mac is sold separately.
Yah. It leaves a sour taste to have been an unpaid evangelist for the company only to see them take this anti-consumer direction.
I'm willing to bet that at some point soon, Apple will include functionality similar to apps such as 1Password and LastPass. The integration of iPhones, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Sierra, along with the longtime Safari password suggestions and storage, and the new password protected Notes features, leads me to speculate that Apple is working on this.
Passwords as we know them, are doomed. TouchID and Siri, along with Micro$oft's Cortana, will soon incorporate features that will no longer require passwords.
Until then, I'll continue to happily use 1Password on my Mac, iPhone and Windows PC. I will not however, switch to a monthly plan.
Passwords as we know them, are doomed. TouchID and Siri, along with Micro$oft's Cortana, will soon incorporate features that will no longer require passwords.
Until then, I'll continue to happily use 1Password on my Mac, iPhone and Windows PC. I will not however, switch to a monthly plan.
Have you talked to our support team about this desire? If they can export to CSV we can probably import it.
We don't have a direct comparison available, but we do offer a free trial so you are welcome to sign up and see for yourself what benefits there are.
Some of the highlights I can think of off hand:
- Ability to store (and in some instances fill) additional types of data
- Web based access to view / edit your items from any computer
- Native app support on more platforms (iCloud keychain being exclusive to Apple's platforms)
- Integration with a number of 3rd party apps on iOS
- Document attachments -- attach related documents to your logins/credit cards/bank accounts/other items
Apple does already offer a password manager -- iCloud Keychain. It does not offer the level of functionality that 1Password does, however.
Thanks for the feedback!
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Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits
You got two free version upgrades yet are still complaining about the POTENTIAL for having to pay for the next one.
How many companies lay out their product road maps and pricing strategies before they introduce them....? (Not many)
I also bought 1Password in 2013...we've been paying about $1/month to use the app since then. If they would've charged you for each version upgrade (like they said they would), you would've been paying around $3/month. The fact that I got free upgrades over the last 3 years when I was told I would be charged for them helps "reduce the sting" for me. Not to mention the new $3/mo subscription still feels like a bargain for this app.
How many companies lay out their product road maps and pricing strategies before they introduce them....? (Not many)
I also bought 1Password in 2013...we've been paying about $1/month to use the app since then. If they would've charged you for each version upgrade (like they said they would), you would've been paying around $3/month. The fact that I got free upgrades over the last 3 years when I was told I would be charged for them helps "reduce the sting" for me. Not to mention the new $3/mo subscription still feels like a bargain for this app.
This is Ben at the end of his shift today.
LOL - love that movie. I feel bad for Ben. I've worked tech support / customer support for 7 years. You end up paying for the decisions of others. People yell at you like you're the one making all the choices or have the power to change the minds of the owners. Kinda sucks.
Kinda have to agree. Agile Bits was a company LOVED by many, myself included. Have used 1Password for years and have recommended (heck preached it!) to anyone who would listen. However this is worrying news...
Despite the astronomical price tag of the program (many people scoffed when I told them the price and continued to use the same password everywhere) at least you knew it was an investment for several years.
NOW, they expect us to pay US$3/mth (nearly AUD$5 here) which means that every year I'd have to pay $60 in Australia JUST to use this one app. Even if I was going to be happy with a subscription model, US$3/mth is CRAZY high..perhaps if you need to use their cloud infrastructure then ask for that but otherwise that is FARR too high for syncing wth Dropbox..
AgileBits has long been a very well respected company. Superb ethics and customer service but I think the bean counters are wrong on this. I know they say this method of payment is an "option" but history shows most companies sneak this upon you first before quietly taking the other options away (and judging by how hard it is to find the other options on Agile's website that may happen soon!). You want to offer subscriptions (even though most of us HATE them)? Sure....but price it accordingly...when the yearly cost is virtually the same as the full fee paying App that people intend to use for several years before paying again then your numbers are very very wrong...
AgileBits please listen to the feedback...you are potentially angering your most valuable asset...the happy users out there who try to convince their friends and relatives that this 'super expensive' app is worth it...
So they are both greedy and bankrupt? Or are you just flinging any insult you can think of?
What, in that they don't need money to keep operating or that they have found the secret formula for perpetual sales growth in a stagnating market?
sure. because now adobe is totally pushing out so many more features than before they introduced subscription based pricing to their creative cloud suite.
/sarcasm
This is Ben at the end of his shift today.
LOL! Thanks for the laugh. I DO look like that, but only because I took a break to mow the lawn.
Thanks!
We do appreciate the feedback. While we needed to go to a subscription model for our new 1Password.com services in order to have them be sustainable it is clear there is a market still for the standalone apps on a license purchase basis. We have no plans to discontinue that option for those that want it.
We are definitely pushing new customers toward the 1Password.com offerings as we truly believe that for the vast majority they offer a better experience.
--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits
Nope. Become accustomed to many small recurring micropayments. You wanted a la carte. Now you got it!
I know but they could launch a new version with no new features (and no improvements) and charge for it. They did it once.
Reeder developer did the same. He removed Reeder v1 from the App Store and launched V2, charging for it.
This is an important point (Disclaimer: AgileBits employee here too, although I'm off the clock and writing from my own perspective after coming across the post in my RSS feed).
I need to pay rent and buy groceries, and being a MacRumors member I'm sure it goes without saying that I'd like to buy a new iPhone and Mac every now and then. If AgileBits doesn't charge for updates every so often we'd go out of business and I wouldn't be able to pay for the necessities of life without finding a new job at a company that does charge for updates. Plus, of course, there'd be no more updates to 1Password (or customer support for existing customers).
This is why I'm happy to keep paying for updates for apps that I find important, or keep subscribing to online services that I use frequently, because I know they're made and supported by people like me who just want to keep working on a service or product they love. If 1Password isn't that app for everyone, that's fine, but I hope it is for enough people so I can continue supporting a product I believe very strongly in myself (and paid for updates for myself for many years before joining the AgileBits team).
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If they do that, I won't give them money to buy the upgrade. Simple as that. That's a choice I am able to make with my money as a result of my not participating in the monthly subscription model. It's not like the previous version is suddenly going to stop functioning when a new version is released. If I want to make sure I have a backup of the version of the app I have in case it is pulled from the App Store, I'll just do a local iTunes backup of my iOS devices.
I'm not aware of any such instance, and really... we wouldn't gain anything from it. Anyone who has purchased a license for a particular version of 1Password is welcome to continue using that version for as long as it suits their needs. If we released an upgrade with nothing of value in it and charged for it folks could opt to not upgrade. All we'd have done is wasted our time and yours. We try to make sure every upgrade will provide some value to everyone...
Hi Drew!
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Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits
This is no reasonable argument. When there was no subscription model, were you able to afford groceries and pay rent? I think so. If AgileBits would go bankrupt only because they wouldn't have had the change to a subscription based service there would be a huge issue with the management of the company. It worked the last few years without subscription and it would work in the future.
I was referring solely to the argument that we shouldn't even charge for an update for the standalone licensed version after giving existing Mac customers free upgrades for the last three years. As Ben has pointed out, we're not removing that option for anyone or forcing anyone to switch to a subscription.
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Hi Drew!
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Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits
Hi Ben!
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Why is it that software companies managed to survive for decades, and sometimes thrive, on selling their software and releasing paid updates every so often? And why is it that suddenly these same companies have to abandon selling and turn to renting in order to be sustainable? Because I'm sure that you cannot both sell and rent out the same software and run a successful software business.
Either iTunes will succeed and Apple Music will fail, or vice versa. Both cannot be successes.
If one can afford to buy, that is always the better option. Renting is always more expensive, and generally a lot more expensive, which is why, I suppose, these companies are so eager to force their customers onto subscriptions. As well as the extortionate cost of subscribing, I think a lot of the disadvantage is about control. With buying plus updates, one has control over when to spend money. With renting, one has no control; you either pay immediately or lose access. A lot of people clearly resent that, which is why there is so much negativity on any article here about subscriptions.
Either iTunes will succeed and Apple Music will fail, or vice versa. Both cannot be successes.
If one can afford to buy, that is always the better option. Renting is always more expensive, and generally a lot more expensive, which is why, I suppose, these companies are so eager to force their customers onto subscriptions. As well as the extortionate cost of subscribing, I think a lot of the disadvantage is about control. With buying plus updates, one has control over when to spend money. With renting, one has no control; you either pay immediately or lose access. A lot of people clearly resent that, which is why there is so much negativity on any article here about subscriptions.
I see nothing wrong with Agilebits offering the subscription option.
Many here are complaining about it, and expecting to continue to use a product for free for as long as they like, without any further renumeration to said company. In my opinion, said position is built on nothing more than emotional greed.
Those of you who have jobs, buy food, clothing, (and other essentials and nonessentials) have all been involved, directly or otherwise, in companies that have had to raise prices over time, due to the cost of living, research and development, taxes, insurance, litigation etc.
And in addition to the aforementioned reasons, many of you with jobs would, and do appreciate it when the company you work for acknowledges your hard work and dedication (verbally and monetarily). I am sure many would be disappointed in a company that did not seek to grow and thus, reward valued employees, by never offering promotions, pay increases, and new job opportunities. How many of you would be excited to work for free month after month, even though you had bills that needed paying? And yet, several here are of the mindset, that a company like 1Password is being greedy if not foolish, for offering another option to the consumer.
In my opinion, some of you need to come down off your greedy, self-centered software horse, and join the rest of us in the real world of business.
Many here are complaining about it, and expecting to continue to use a product for free for as long as they like, without any further renumeration to said company. In my opinion, said position is built on nothing more than emotional greed.
Those of you who have jobs, buy food, clothing, (and other essentials and nonessentials) have all been involved, directly or otherwise, in companies that have had to raise prices over time, due to the cost of living, research and development, taxes, insurance, litigation etc.
And in addition to the aforementioned reasons, many of you with jobs would, and do appreciate it when the company you work for acknowledges your hard work and dedication (verbally and monetarily). I am sure many would be disappointed in a company that did not seek to grow and thus, reward valued employees, by never offering promotions, pay increases, and new job opportunities. How many of you would be excited to work for free month after month, even though you had bills that needed paying? And yet, several here are of the mindset, that a company like 1Password is being greedy if not foolish, for offering another option to the consumer.
In my opinion, some of you need to come down off your greedy, self-centered software horse, and join the rest of us in the real world of business.