Agave Pricing and future development?

[James Peterson]

I've received a few reviews talking about the pricing of Agave and I recently got another that really made me think about it.  For some reason the poster decided to remove the review, but I just wanted to talk about it anyway.  Original Review below.

 

How does everyone feel about what I am charging for the app?  Is $99 too much to ask for the All Access Pass?  When I first created that pricing, I really only considered it a more of an invest in future development.  Are the individual access passes and add-ons over priced? I don't make much money doing this.  There have been multiple occasions that I have considered shutting down development, because I don't know it the end result will ever be worth my time that I have to put into this.  I am very ADHD about this, I either really want to do it or I don't want to do it at all.  I don't mean to sound like I am complaining , but it even sounds that way in my head.  I just want opinions so I can make a clear path on where the future of this app is headed. 

 

 

★★

Love the effort by the developer, but a hundred bucks for a less-than-final effort is over the top, to say the least. Very good first effort, but I don't see dropping that kind of ambitious coin on being a quasi-beta tester. And yes, I know there are "modules", but what person wouldn't need most of them anyhow? And who wants to be nickel and dimed to death as tech emerges? Very nice app concept (ELK should be able to be widgeted on the home screen, and there should be more than one home screen... But we didn't skimp on the cop -ing, did we?), and I wouldn't have thought twice about 20, or even 30 bucks, but come on. Taking advantage of the lack of competition by someone who is familiar with the ISY community seems to run counter to the effort. Charging a third of the cost of the ISY itself should be a barometer that the cost is too high.

 

[G W]

We'll, let me say this about that.

 

The author of that review is not as knowledgeable as she thinks she is. She states one point then contradicts herself in the next.

 

As for being beta software, most applications are constantly in beta. That's how improvements are developed and tested.

 

Is $99 too much? No. I paid the $99 early in development so I can get all the updates without having to keep looking at enhancements. They just keep coming and I constantly get the updates.

 

James, I don't have an answer for you. I know it eats up a lot of your time. Never give up, never surrender.

 

Gary

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Teken]

I've received a few reviews talking about the pricing of Agave and I recently got another that really made me think about it.  For some reason the poster decided to remove the review, but I just wanted to talk about it anyway.  Original Review below.

 

How does everyone feel about what I am charging for the app?  Is $99 too much to ask for the All Access Pass?  When I first created that pricing, I really only considered it a more of an invest in future development.  Are the individual access passes and add-ons over priced? I don't make much money doing this.  There have been multiple occasions that I have considered shutting down development, because I don't know it the end result will ever be worth my time that I have to put into this.  I am very ADHD about this, I either really want to do it or I don't want to do it at all.  I don't mean to sound like I am complaining , but it even sounds that way in my head.  I just want opinions so I can make a clear path on where the future of this app is headed. 

 

I personally don't use your product so don't have a stake in it either way. Value is subjective as is anything and it really comes down to being honest about what the market will bare. At a high level if a product was fully developed and supported all Insteon / Z-Wave hardware it would probably offer more value to the end users.

 

Since the software platform is just starting off the price should be reflective of that base line.

 

Once its more mature and supports all of the Insteon / Z-Wave hardware I don't see it as a problem to increase the costs to cover R&D and other server side expenses. From reading others comments from long time members here in the forums the software has come along very quickly. Your layout and UI is by far one of the cleanest and pretty I've seen in a long time.

 

You've been active in the forums and offer quick turn around to unknown bugs while adding features along the way. I've been asked many times what are other smartphone applications for the ISY Series Controller that supports Android. Based on the above I haven't blinked in suggesting your product to fill that need.

 

REVIEW: I found the review to be honest, direct, and factual. Nobody likes to be nickel and dimed in any industry and lets be honest. Most Android users are used to getting everything for free or near free because they are cheap. Apple fan boyzz by their very nature don't blink plopping down $9999999999.99 for anything that's a simple truth.

 

The fact you have posed the question about price vs value should affirm there is room for improvement. There are times where offering what some would consider a *Loss Leader* a good way to offer that value while driving long term sales. Its up to you to decide where that balance lies and where it makes financial sense because its your costs.

 

My view is if I had to buy your software for the whole thing which supported all Insteon / Z-Wave hardware $50.00 would be fair. At the current state of development a honest price would be $25.00. Keeping in mind most Home Automation applications range from $2.00 ~ 19.99.

[LFMc]

James,

 

This is very timely for me. My trial period ended a couple of days ago and I was just trying to figure out what to do next. 

 

First, I want to complement you on a job well done. This is a very smooth, well done app. I see lots of thought went into it. I was thinking of testing and buying Mobilinc for Android just when I ran into your product. Mobilinc is somewhat a competitor to Agave but according to reviews and update frequency it seems like an ignored product. So even investing $20 in it would probably a frustrating waste of time. 

 

I cannot answer the bigger question of "is this worth your time", but only the smaller question of is the product worth my investment. I am careful of how I spend my $ on items like this, so I guess I fit into that basket of deplorable, cheap android users. (-: So bias all my answers in that direction.

 

Like Taken, I probably would have shifted the initial charges cheaper and increase them as features and development matured, but saying that, $6 isn't a big deal at all for the basic function. As I stare at the screen wondering what to buy next to keep it working, I am challenged to even know what modules I need without asking for support. I think I need at least $30 (base, thermostat, ISY portal, program/variable), but maybe $46 (Do I need the extended access module?) plus $10 more to add the wife. As an aside, I can't see how buying everything separately adds up to more that $72, so I have to assume the all access pass for $99 is betting on future modules, but I would certainly need to see a road plan to justify that in my case. Please correct me if I am wrong. 

 

What I have found during the trail period, is I am falling back to using the ISY Ajax app on my phone because it has the energy module I rely on. So I am debating buying your product later when it does support the ISY built in SEP-Zigbee connection. But on the other side, I probably will go ahead and buy it because I want to support your efforts. 

 

While I haven't bought anything on my Android close to the $30 to $46 price range, I know that your product is a niche item that we won't see for a long time if we don't support you and it becomes another ghost app like Mobilinc Pro for Android. So my final recommendation is to lower the "all access" price to maybe the $50 range so it is a better deal vs. separate modules and then bump it up as you add more features and modules later.  That would definitely push me over to buying "all access" now even though I will never own ELK or the Sprinkler product.  

 

Hope this helps.

 

Edit:  After rereading your initial post, I want to be more to the point answering your question. It is hard for most people to invest in your future development ideas, they want something they can justify today. So I would leave the individual module prices alone and lower the "all access" so it is noticeably less expensive than the total for all modules now. Then bump it up in price for new buyers in lock step with future add on's. 

 

 

[James Peterson]

James,

 

This is very timely for me. My trial period ended a couple of days ago and I was just trying to figure out what to do next. 

 

First, I want to complement you on a job well done. This is a very smooth, well done app. I see lots of thought went into it. I was thinking of testing and buying Mobilinc for Android just when I ran into your product. Mobilinc is somewhat a competitor to Agave but according to reviews and update frequency it seems like an ignored product. So even investing $20 in it would probably a frustrating waste of time. 

 

I cannot answer the bigger question of "is this worth your time", but only the smaller question of is the product worth my investment. I am careful of how I spend my $ on items like this, so I guess I fit into that basket of deplorable, cheap android users. (-: So bias all my answers in that direction.

 

Like Taken, I probably would have shifted the initial charges cheaper and increase them as features and development matured, but saying that, $6 isn't a big deal at all for the basic function. As I stare at the screen wondering what to buy next to keep it working, I am challenged to even know what modules I need without asking for support. I think I need at least $30 (base, thermostat, ISY portal, program/variable), but maybe $46 (Do I need the extended access module?) plus $10 more to add the wife. As an aside, I can't see how buying everything separately adds up to more that $72, so I have to assume the all access pass for $99 is betting on future modules, but I would certainly need to see a road plan to justify that in my case. Please correct me if I am wrong. 

 

What I have found during the trail period, is I am falling back to using the ISY Ajax app on my phone because it has the energy module I rely on. So I am debating buying your product later when it does support the ISY built in SEP-Zigbee connection. But on the other side, I probably will go ahead and buy it because I want to support your efforts. 

 

While I haven't bought anything on my Android close to the $30 to $46 price range, I know that your product is a niche item that we won't see for a long time if we don't support you and it becomes another ghost app like Mobilinc Pro for Android. So my final recommendation is to lower the "all access" price to maybe the $50 range so it is a better deal vs. separate modules and then bump it up as you add more features and modules later.  That would definitely push me over to buying "all access" now even though I will never own ELK or the Sprinkler product.  

 

Hope this helps.

 

Edit:  After rereading your initial post, I want to be more to the point answering your question. It is hard for most people to invest in your future development ideas, they want something they can justify today. So I would leave the individual module prices alone and lower the "all access" so it is noticeably less expensive than the total for all modules now. Then bump it up in price for new buyers in lock step with future add on's. 

This does help.  I do not know what route I will take, but this does help me weigh my concerns.  

 

Side note:  I hope to start development on your Energy monitoring soon.  I will contact you then to get more incite.  

[larryllix]

I am on about the same plane as Teken. I use Android Mobilinc, even though much of the devices do not work properly.  Although I live on my cell phone a lot I just can't justify the usage of the app for $99, at this point. If I had no other access methods to ISY, more likely.

 

For $30 I would have Agave, whether I used it more than once per year, or not. For $50 I would be ready to go there but still waiting for that needy time over the next year or so. I really thought I would have laid  out the money earlier but I am losing the drive to have more remote control. Home Automation is what I have been  striving for, and my algorithms are improving a lot, negating the need for remote access..

 

OTOH: (I know this isn't  helping) I haven't seen Agave work since it's earlier days and once you have power windows and door locks on your car, you can never go back.

 

All the best with it.

[James Peterson]

I am gathering from the responses that $50 would be the most acceptable number for what is currently available. So... What I will consider is this. Adding another purchase option that will cover the current feature list minus the ELK system. The all access pass will still exist how it stands and those who have or still do purchase it will still get everything including new add-ons in the future.

 

The new access level will have all of extended access plus, thermostat, irrigation, programs, and portal.

 

I would still like more input so I will leave this topic open for discussion for a while.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[larryllix]

Myself, and I am sure a few others perfer the fixed price for possibly a version now that you have it working quite well, apparently.

 

Eg. (I stress example, as well as example pricing)

 

First purchase is $50. includes every released update until next full version (major) is issued. V1.01 = $50 includes up to v1.9999

 

V2.01 = $50 but with previous version upgrade from v1.xx to v2.01 = $10

 

V3.01 = $50 but with previous version upgrade from v2.xx to v2.01 = $10

V3.01 = $50 but with earlier  version upgrade from v1.xx to v2.01 = $20 (2 upgrades) etc..

 

I like to see working proof and get addicted to it. Then I don't mind paying more for more work, You make major version upgrades, you get more first time, as well as repeat customer funds.

 

 

I use embroidery digitising software as well as a few others, that uses price schedules like this.

 

Too complicated? I know you are working through a web service for this.

 

Anybody else?

[mykanderson]

First of all I want to thank you for all the hard work and quick fixes when bugs do pop up.  Being an Android user, I have to agree with Teken.  Most of us expect everything to be free and we'll deal with pop up adds.  That being said, if I have the choice between a free app that's unpolished or pay for an app that has a clean finished look, I'll drop some money.  I myself understand that I am not just paying for an app but paying for continual development and service also.  I have searched for a long time for an ease of use software to use on wall mounted tablets at a reasonable price.  I can say that Agave more than meets this need and is a lot cheaper than other options.  Thanks again.

[James Peterson]

Myself, and I am sure a few others perfer the fixed price for possibly a version now that you have it working quite well, apparently.

 

Eg. (I stress example, as well as example pricing)

 

First purchase is $50. includes every released update until next full version (major) is issued. V1.01 = $50 includes up to v1.9999

 

V2.01 = $50 but with previous version upgrade from v1.xx to v2.01 = $10

 

V3.01 = $50 but with previous version upgrade from v2.xx to v2.01 = $10

V3.01 = $50 but with earlier  version upgrade from v1.xx to v2.01 = $20 (2 upgrades) etc..

 

I like to see working proof and get addicted to it. Then I don't mind paying more for more work, You make major version upgrades, you get more first time, as well as repeat customer funds.

 

 

I use embroidery digitising software as well as a few others, that uses price schedules like this.

 

Too complicated? I know you are working through a web service for this.

 

Anybody else?

I am afraid that that pricing model would require an amount of change that I do not think I want to undertake.  but thank you for the input, I really do appreciate it. 

[manowell]

I've received a few reviews talking about the pricing of Agave and I recently got another that really made me think about it.  For some reason the poster decided to remove the review, but I just wanted to talk about it anyway.  Original Review below.

 

How does everyone feel about what I am charging for the app?  Is $99 too much to ask for the All Access Pass?  When I first created that pricing, I really only considered it a more of an invest in future development.  Are the individual access passes and add-ons over priced? I don't make much money doing this.  There have been multiple occasions that I have considered shutting down development, because I don't know it the end result will ever be worth my time that I have to put into this.  I am very ADHD about this, I either really want to do it or I don't want to do it at all.  I don't mean to sound like I am complaining , but it even sounds that way in my head.  I just want opinions so I can make a clear path on where the future of this app is headed. 

 

In my opinion, what you're charging is quite a bit, but what you're delivering solves big problems for me, so I'm in.  (The reviewer's comments that the software price as a percentage of the appliance prices is pure BS, imho.  The appliance free software right there, if it suits your needs.)  I started with the $2/wk subscription for a few weeks to learn what I could do with it.  Not being able to upgrade until the week's subscription was expired was baffling and frustrating.  I very much saw the $99 as my investing in your future development.

 

The app badly needs to have widgets and multiple home screens, somehow.

 

I fully understand the "ADHD thing".   

 

Keep it up.

[giesen]

I thought the $99 was a bit steep when compared against the functionality of eKeypad on iOS (same price) but paid it anyways for the following reasons:

 

1) Lack of alternatives on Android

2) Desire to support a new developer who is active and responsive on the forums

3) Hedge against prices of future modules.

 

I've been generally pleased with Agave, it's well-designed and stable. That being said, the biggest let down for me so far has been lack of Elk thermostat support, which forces me to keep another app on my phone to manage my thermostat (M1 Touch). Also would be nice to have DVR/IP Camera support, though that is less of a priority for me.

 

Sent from my SM-N9500 using Tapatalk

[G W]

Does the ISY show this "Elk thermostat?" I'm not familiar with what you are referring to.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

[giesen]

Does the ISY show this "Elk thermostat?" I'm not familiar with what you are referring to.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

Yes. I previously posted all the node dumps http://forum.universal-devices.com/index.php?/topic/20661-Now-that-thats-out-of-the-way.&do=findComment&comment=211368 . Elk supports several thermostats directly, including Aprilaire, RCS, HAI and Z-Wave thermostats. As far as I know, they are all exposed by the ISY (certainly my Aprilaire thermostat is)

 

Sent from my SM-N9500 using Tapatalk

[Brad]

Initially when I saw the $99 price, I balked at it. It does seem a bit high, but as a software developer, I understand your dilemma. I bought the all access to support your efforts and with the hope that you'll continue the good work. Also because Mobilinc stopped working for me and I needed a replacement. I like the clean layout compared to Mobilinc and most things just work. I'm really hoping that you'll start working the ticket to add tasker support similar to what Mobilinc provides. Being able to reference devices by name and send commands to them within tasks beats having to dig up the Id's to send via the ISY REST API.

 

 

Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

[apostolakisl]

I understand the $99 price.  You have a fairly small potnetial audience.  It is by far the most money I have ever spent on a playstore item though.

 

I too paid the $99 expecting the product to continue to evolve into something more complete.  Personally, I would most like to see camera support built-in.  I also wish it could to Elk tasks, but that is missing becuase ISY doesn't support it and you only support ISY's rendition of Elk.

 

I heard something about tasker integration.  I do use Tasker, though less than I used to as Android has started builiding in many of the things I had used Tasker for.  Not sure what sort of ideas the Tasker/Agave integration would bring alive and would love to hear some.

[bipto]

Add me to the list of willing buyers @ $99 - I purchased a few weeks ago.  To echo some of the sentiments above, I was willing to pay a premium because I'm impressed by how far you're come with Agave in a relatively short time, and would love to see some of the improvements / enhancements on the Agave road map come to fruition.  Thank you James! 

[danbutter]

I guess there isn't much I can say that hasn't been said here, but I'll add my opinion.

I helped beta test and when the pricing came out I saw 99 bucks and uninstalled. I understand you are trying to monitize here and I don't blame you, but 99 bucks is not something I would ever pay for an app. Now that is me personally, but yeah the target audience is pretty small so you have to make it worth the time you spend on it. I do understand that.

I haven't used it since the beta, but from reading here it sounds like it is broken up in a similar fashion to what UDI does.

Now this works for something like the elk, but I'm not sure about the rest. (I simply don't know what the rest is)

I see things like thermostats as pretty basic and don't see them not being included in the base level. Is zwave separate too? Node servers? What about updates? Do you have to pay more for those after a year?

These are more hypothetical questions that I could probably find answers to if I looked, but I could never tell my wife you need to pay more to kick the A/C on.

[mwester]

I see lots of folks on this thread who've paid the full $99 -- and that's not surprising, since they're far more likely to respond than are those who've not purchased due to the pricing.  I'm certainly guilty of skipping over this thread for that reason, but you asked a valid question, and as one of the folks (perhaps one of many?) who've not purchased the product due to the pricing, I feel I do owe you a response on this.

 

In a nutshell, Agave is desirable but not essential to home automation for my family -- that makes it more of a "convenience" purchase.  And paying almost as much for that as I did for a copy of Windows 10 is hard to justify.

 

Oh I get the economics of it - guns vs butter, college economics -- and I appreciate your situation with the effort involved vs the small market!  But $100 for a remote control is hard to swallow here.  Don't take that as a negative on the app - it's a great app; the problem is that I just don't have so much money that I can rationalize $100 on having that on my phone.  So I'll continue with the hodge-podge of user experiences on my laptop, and VPN in from time to time when necessary -- painful, yet, but not $100 painful.

 

I also appreciate the attempt to make the pricing less of an issue.  Unfortunately, I found it just too confusing, and in general I just have a bad taste for applications that constrain functionality.  What I mean by that is that usually that form of pricing is all about getting the consumer hooked, and coaxing them into paying more for future features.  That may be unfair to Agave, but at least from where I sit, the taint was put on that sort of pricing model years and years ago (e.g. a CAD program I was delighted to purchase at a bargain price - what a deal! - until I found the catch -- if you wanted to print, you either upgraded for big $$$, or you sent the file to the vendor for a fee for them to print -- great marketing, and I was stupid enough to fall for it).  Now please don't get me wrong - I have no indication that Agave uses any similar marketing techniques, nor am I suggesting that Agave's lowest-tier pricing is in any way crippling the program -- I'm merely outlining my gut reaction to the pricing and explaining why I have such a negative reaction to licensing in that fashion!

 

I know this is a negative post.  But you asked about pricing -- and since I don't use Agave only because of the pricing, I feel I owe you an explanation of why.  And perhaps I'm just a cynical, too-often-burned consumer, and one that you may not want to have as a customer -- I also get that pricing serves as a "filter" to ensure that you get the right kind of customers as well!

 

I wish you the best with Agave - it's clearly filled a void that needs to be filled, and based on the reviews as well as the commentary here, it does that very well.

[apostolakisl]

I see lots of folks on this thread who've paid the full $99 -- and that's not surprising, since they're far more likely to respond than are those who've not purchased due to the pricing.  I'm certainly guilty of skipping over this thread for that reason, but you asked a valid question, and as one of the folks (perhaps one of many?) who've not purchased the product due to the pricing, I feel I do owe you a response on this.

 

In a nutshell, Agave is desirable but not essential to home automation for my family -- that makes it more of a "convenience" purchase.  And paying almost as much for that as I did for a copy of Windows 10 is hard to justify.

 

Oh I get the economics of it - guns vs butter, college economics -- and I appreciate your situation with the effort involved vs the small market!  But $100 for a remote control is hard to swallow here.  Don't take that as a negative on the app - it's a great app; the problem is that I just don't have so much money that I can rationalize $100 on having that on my phone.  So I'll continue with the hodge-podge of user experiences on my laptop, and VPN in from time to time when necessary -- painful, yet, but not $100 painful.

 

I also appreciate the attempt to make the pricing less of an issue.  Unfortunately, I found it just too confusing, and in general I just have a bad taste for applications that constrain functionality.  What I mean by that is that usually that form of pricing is all about getting the consumer hooked, and coaxing them into paying more for future features.  That may be unfair to Agave, but at least from where I sit, the taint was put on that sort of pricing model years and years ago (e.g. a CAD program I was delighted to purchase at a bargain price - what a deal! - until I found the catch -- if you wanted to print, you either upgraded for big $$$, or you sent the file to the vendor for a fee for them to print -- great marketing, and I was stupid enough to fall for it).  Now please don't get me wrong - I have no indication that Agave uses any similar marketing techniques, nor am I suggesting that Agave's lowest-tier pricing is in any way crippling the program -- I'm merely outlining my gut reaction to the pricing and explaining why I have such a negative reaction to licensing in that fashion!

 

I know this is a negative post.  But you asked about pricing -- and since I don't use Agave only because of the pricing, I feel I owe you an explanation of why.  And perhaps I'm just a cynical, too-often-burned consumer, and one that you may not want to have as a customer -- I also get that pricing serves as a "filter" to ensure that you get the right kind of customers as well!

 

I wish you the best with Agave - it's clearly filled a void that needs to be filled, and based on the reviews as well as the commentary here, it does that very well.

 

I appreciate your dislike for tiered program pricing.  But, there is no other way about it and in truth it is very fair, provided the seller makes it clear . . .which he has.  You have different markets.  There are people who need/want a very extensive program.  And they should thus pay for it.  There are people who need/want a smaller program.  And they shouldn't be forced to pay for the r and d that went into the fancy version.

 

It really is no different than simply having two completely different products sold as two separate brands.

 

I think the $99 price seems high for one reason . . . it is an app.  If it were a piece of hardware it would create a different impression and you probably would feel differently.  It is the equivalent of 2 or 3 switches which for many of us is what we keep around as spares.  And this app has far better customer service and (theoretically) is going to updated and supported indefinitely (unlike anything Insteon).

 

Having said that, I wouldn't try going higher priced!

[James Peterson]

Thank you for all of you thoughts.  I'll keep all of this in mind as I move forward.  If anyone else has any thoughts please let me know.  

[lilyoyo1]

I am on about the same plane as Teken. I use Android Mobilinc, even though much of the devices do not work properly.  Although I live on my cell phone a lot I just can't justify the usage of the app for $99, at this point. If I had no other access methods to ISY, more likely.

 

For $30 I would have Agave, whether I used it more than once per year, or not. For $50 I would be ready to go there but still waiting for that needy time over the next year or so. I really thought I would have laid  out the money earlier but I am losing the drive to have more remote control. Home Automation is what I have been  striving for, and my algorithms are improving a lot, negating the need for remote access..

 

OTOH: (I know this isn't  helping) I haven't seen Agave work since it's earlier days and once you have power windows and door locks on your car, you can never go back.

 

All the best with it.

I'm with you on that one. For the amount of money that I spent on my system, I don't want to pull out my phone for any reason when it comes down to controlling something. 

 

I don't use agave only because I don't want to use apps and because I have RTI on my system as well ( I don't even use that app). In the grand scheme of things, I feel that a person gets what they pay for. When I look at your charges vs everyone else's its extremely high. However, dig a little deeper and you see your response times, speed of adding additional features/bug fixes, troubleshooting etc.; I see the value in your app going up and the cost looking like a bargain more and more. 

 

I think your price is great if you are a forum member. We see how engaged you are with the app and the value it brings which makes justifying its cost much easier. Its the avg customer that has no clue about everything else that will avoid the price like the plague.

 

I would say do what mobilinc does. Have a baseline app that is competitively priced with Mobilinc simply for controlling devices etc. This can help fund development cost (through volume). You can still have the all in app for 99 bucks for those that can afford to use it as well as see the value in it. Keep them separate to avoid sticker shock. In the end, unless its free, you will always get customers like the one who wrote in. Even if its free, you will still find someone with a complaint. I like that you take it to heart to improve things but unfortunately, there will always be someone with something bad to say.

[jillande]

I hear quite a few people saying they think $50 is a "good" price point for Agave but as best as I can tell, that's about the cost of all Agave features except ELK (I even used a calculator to figure out $47.95 to be precise). It doesn't come in a bundle, so perhaps that's the confusing part; however, on the other hand, it lets a person save a few bucks if they don't need or want all of the features. $99 IS a good price for forum members who see your engagement and keep tabs on upcoming features or who want to use their dollars to influence those features coming to fruition, so to speak. A person who wants to spend no additional software costs to control devices using their ISY can use the Default Web Interface for free; no one is forcing anyone to buy any app.

[Compusmurf]

I love the model you have now. Buy only the parts you need. Idiot reviewers only saw the 99 part and ran away. I won't use the elk, probably never use the sprinkler, didn't care about the variable section. As time went on, I bought the variable add on exactly when I needed it. Some day, will probably get family, and who knows what else. Compared to other apps, yours is top dog.

 

Just remember, keep striving for best.

 

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[technoweenie]

Having just purchased an Android phone I searched for ISY software and came across Agave. Google Play indicates there are in-app purchases $1.99 - $99.99 per item. I could no explanation of what "per item" meant and nearly dismissed Agave for consideration. I then stumbled on this message thread and learned that there was a pricing schedule for features. But I still couldn't find what that pricing schedule was. A search of the forums provided a message reply to another user directing him to your website. I went to the website. Nothing on the home page about pricing. The tab labeled Features seemed to be the most logical place to look. Near miss. I found there are indeed levels of feature support and what those options were but again no pricing for those levels/options. Not even a mention or link to take one to pricing. You make it unnecessarily difficult for a potential customer to consider purchasing your product. It's only by accident that I clicked on the Access Guide before closing the webpage in frustration. "Access Guide" is not an intuitive tab name for pricing.

 

You might want to consider making feature/pricing more accessible. It's possible I'm not the only app purchaser that is reluctant to download an app, even for a trial, without an explanation of what Google Play means by in-app purchasers. Consider adding something like "Please visit the website for option details and pricing". And as I suggested above make that pricing info easier to find from the home page.

 

You started this thread to determine if your pricing is too aggressive. I don't have an answer yet because I've spent way too much time this evening simply researching what the pricing is.