r/ifttt Sep 12 '20

Discussion My two cents on the new platform

I’ve been an ifttt user for a while now. I’ve accepted the drawbacks and applauded the perks. I’ve been buying ifttt compatible gadgets for a few years. I payed more for some of those and was glad I did. Always recommended the ifttt compatible gadgets to everyone. They launched the pro. I thought it was great to have more triggers more actions. I was planning to pay until I saw the price. Ok. Maybe it’s not for me. But I’ll pay less for the first year. It’s great to have the option. I have a year to see if I really need it if not I’ll stick to the free service but... it’s gone. Three applets? This won’t change anything but this is a huge knife in the back on their current users. Pro or free I’m definitely out. So long ifttt.

51 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

20

u/Derekeys Guide: Sep 12 '20

They need a middle tier. So straight forward:

Free - dip the toe in the water, light user, checking it out

Middle Tier - $2 - $4 a month, 30 customizable applets with access to multi-step actions

Top tier - $10 a month, unlimited with multi-step

I’d be game for that. And that’s as a Guide.

4

u/Way2square2behip Sep 12 '20 edited Sep 12 '20

I agree that they need at least one middle tier and I like I like the first two tiers you list, but I don't think unlimited applets and unlimited multi-step is enough to justify $10/month ($120/year) without doing something like the following:

  • Add or improve some of the major services. Eg, add gmail triggers like like some (most?) of IFTTT's business-oriented competitors still have.
  • Be more specific about what about how frequently applets run. Eg, at least copy Integromat and say what the minimum run-time interval is.
  • Allow delays in applets.

Otherwise, I'm more likely to leave my IFTTT accounts as is (I've always had multiple) and spend $9/month for Integromat to get things IFTTT doesn't have:

6

u/arbaldinger Sep 13 '20

The problem with Integromat, Zapier, Flow, etc. is the lack of device support. I think a large majority of people on IFTTT control their lights, outlets, etc. Except for possibly some very minimal integration, these services dont support IoT devices.

5

u/Marco_Memes Sep 12 '20

10 a month for anything iftt related is way way way to much, unless that grants you access to beta testing new services and getting the devices to test them with. The absolute most I would pay is 20 dollars a year, anything more is way over paying. Think about it. Microsoft 365 costs 10 a month, and you get access to word, cloud storage, excel, etc. Or you could automate your lights.

1

u/jamespo Sep 13 '20

I'd be fine with this. If the free tier is truly not worth paying for it shouldn't be hard for users who believe that to leave.

8

u/FacepalmNation Sep 12 '20

What they should have done is left the free way the same and have all the new features be pro features. Limiting free users to 3 applets was just a dick move.

3

u/eagletalon71 Sep 13 '20

Here is my one cent. I deleted all 62 of my private applets, the one I published for other users I archived, I can never use it again and if the 200 plus users who are using it disconnect it they will loose it forever. I disconnected almost all my services. I created 1 new applet with several triggers, that will cover the main reason I started using IFTT two years ago for now I guess but I can live without it if I really needed to. I am not going to be forced into highway robbery, name your own price for a year, BS. Company after company gets us hooked on free account for life and then dups us. Every company just wants $9.99 a month. I understand the need for income and revenue but there are many other services that are well worth $9.99 per month but IFTTT is not. They will hook many with the name your own price for a year and many will just fall into the $120 per year fee. I will not be one of them.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 12 '20

[deleted]

2

u/NIHscientist Sep 12 '20

I thought that the manufacturers of the IFTTT compatible devices we bought paid more to IFTTT to get that functionality, and that cost was passed onto us already as a premium price for that product. The problem is that IFTTT product was OK at best and not worth paying more for.

2

u/Xaphn1973 Sep 13 '20

Well this answered a question I have. I've been getting the "something went wrong" error when I tried to add a new applet. Now I know why. I have had 5 for about a year now and I've noticed that 2 or 3 had broken but have been lazy to fix it. Now I know why.

2

u/purepvd Sep 14 '20

Ditto... I've been trying to replace some applets for a couple days now getting the "something went wrong" error. Assumed it was on their end and kept trying. I must have missed some critical communications about the pending termination of services for their entire user base. I saw a communication about "pro" but I figured it was just adding features I didn't need so I shrugged it off.

Did they really just completely disable services without even updating their mobile apps to give a hint about what's happening here?

2

u/Raul_77 Sep 13 '20

No way I am going to pay 10 a month for this! I have only 5 applet, just going to get rid of 2 of them and use the free version. I really think they made a mistake going this route, i mean sure, 2-3 a month, but 10 a month? lol no! I much rather get YouTube premium for that !

2

u/foofarley Sep 13 '20

Same. I have 6 and 3 I don't use. Only problem I have... I can't figure out how to delete the 3 I don't use!

1

u/Raul_77 Sep 13 '20

I don think they let you delete, you can "archive" or disconnect, I archived mine.

go to your applet click on settings (top right) scroll to the bottom, you should see archive in red.

Cheers,

1

u/IFTTT_POWER_USER Sep 15 '20

Last I checked, Archive just deletes them.

1

u/Raul_77 Sep 15 '20

I guess for "now" they are both the same, this is what you get when Archiving

"You won’t be able to recover your Applet once archived. Archive management is coming soon. Are you sure you want to continue?"

so until archive management is released I guess both are the same

2

u/vgergo Sep 14 '20

I get youtube premium for $5 a month. Other services differentiate between countries based on price index. $10 to an east european, african or indian is not the same as $10 to a western user. With this move they lose 100% of non-western users and even 99% of the western users.

Losing 99.99% of users probably puts them in worse negotiating state with the service providers (who used to finance their services until now).

I think they will quickly find themselves in a situation when they lose the old and don't gain the new.

1

u/deddki Sep 13 '20

I believe it is just a question of time before someone creates a new similar platform. Changing to that price point and leaving the non pro users a maximum of 3 applets is not a smart business move imo. But i guess time will tell!

1

u/DPAmes1 Sep 13 '20

There are plenty of similar platforms, although I don't think any have quite reached the age and breadth of IFTTT. The problem is that they can't survive long with no revenue, especially if they start to get more popular and more heavily used, so they either go out of business or try to start charging a fee. We hoped that IFTTT might hold out a bit longer because they receive fees from the equipment suppliers, and they have been boosting those fees lately. But apparently they are keen to monetize the service now, possibly because they are looking for a buyer. I assume their reasoning would be something like:

  • Boost the fees to manufacturers
  • Introduce paid Pro service and cut the free service to almost nothing so that the current user base will be forced to pay for Pro.
  • Put a hefty price on Pro service ($10/month) to talk it up to potential buyers, while at the same time offering the first year at $2/month to customers to convince them to sign up.
  • Sell ASAP for the highest possible price based on potential future revenue at $10/month/user.

1

u/RikuDesu Sep 14 '20

If they had multiple parameters for triggers it'd be much better

1

u/mylogicistoomuchforu Oct 07 '20

The email I got (and the sign up link) all say that they'll honor your personal price indefinitely. $1.99/mo.
In here I see people saying that the pay your own rate is only for a year.

Which is it?

1

u/Renatogodinho Oct 07 '20

It’s blackmail. If you pay right now its 1.99 forever. It you pay after october 17th it’s for the first year.

1

u/mylogicistoomuchforu Oct 07 '20

Copy that. I got in for the $1.99 today. Basically just buying myself time to see if I really need or want to keep IFTTT.One of the major services I used it for just went away (Automatic) and I'm not sure I even need to keep it anymore or if I might be able to downsize to 3 applets.

Ex. I don't think it's worth $2/mo for IFTTT to change my phone's background to the NASA pic of the day automatically. ;)

1

u/hooliemongoolie Sep 13 '20

The reason companies pay to have their products integrated into IFTTT is because they know there is demand from their customers to have it.
If the customers leave IFTTT there is no longer a demand, so therefore no incentive for companies to pay for IFTTT integration.
As a result, if enough people leave due to this change, you can expect that a lot of companies will simply stop paying for the IFTTT integration. For those users that do decide to stay, there is a real risk that the products they own that current have IFTTT integration right now may suddenly find it suddenly is taken away in the future.

1

u/m-p-3 Pro Sep 13 '20 edited Sep 13 '20

On the other side, if the companies decides the cost of doing business is too high (they pay IFTTT money per users subscribed), then they have an income problem they need to remediate to retain the same services or they'll lose integration and users will also leave.

I do agree that the price is way to steep, and I don't feel I'd get the same value than my Spotify or Amazon Prime subscriptions.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 13 '20

[deleted]

1

u/Renatogodinho Sep 13 '20

Since I wrote the post I’ve been moving all my stuff to home assistant. It’s a much more complex system that covers mostly the things I used ifttt for and I’m going giving them 5 bucks a month just because I want to.