For the last month there have been experiments with how to make ChoreBuster pay for itself.
The first thing that has been tried was a ‘freemium’ model, where basic functionality is given for free but those who need more features can buy a subscription. This has been moderately successful but it has been very difficult to provide a working and useful app while at the same time maintaining the incentive to upgrade; as more and more features are put behind a paywall, the remaining free features become less and less until it is almost unusable.
It feels like a bait-and-switch – offer the promise of something good but then once people have invested time and effort into trying to make it work they find out what they have is crippled and they need to pay.
Starting from yesterday, a new experiment is beginning. This time it is a free trial period of all features, with a subscription needed to continue using the app after a few weeks. It’s simple, clear and honest. In addition there is a new ‘Pro’ subscription for those accounts that are used in a company, where there are more than 10 people involved.
After a couple of months, if that doesn’t work then something else will be tried!
Before September 2019 people could donate any amount to have full access to ChoreBuster, forever. Nothing is changing for those people – they will continue as per the original agreement.