You should consider a new Premium type version on a regular shareware basis…

[Sputnik]

Hi !

I just want to say that I will just use the free version of AxCrypt as the things actually are.

How can I stop the use of the Premium version and start using right away the free version ?

The reason why I will not use the Premium version is because this is a subscription based software for which you must pay month after month or year after year if you want to use the Premium options. I never, NEVER, have used such softwares and I never will and I think that I am certainly not the only one to see things like this.

Maybe you should consider to offer, beside the actual subscription based Premium version, another kind of Premium version with options which would be slightly different from the actual subscription based Premium version, making of this new Premium version a version with a little less options than the actual Premium version but with a little more options than the free version.

This new version would not be a subscription based version but a regular shareware version for which you have free updates for a year or for all the minor versions and that you may still use after the free update period is over. You could also offer a lifetime upgrades license of this new type of Premium version.

I think that many people will not buy the actual Premium version for the same reasons than mine and that they would maybe be interested with the new kind of Premium version I am talking about.

I am not saying that you will not sell any licenses as your software is right now, I know that many people will be OK with the Premium version as it is now, but you will certainly cut yourself from some potential customers if you do not offer a regular shareware version with different options.

Thank you.

[SvanteSpectator]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for the detailed reasoning. I can certainly understand and respect your position.

We may well do something similar to what you suggest in the future, right now we’re a bit constrained for development resources so we’ll have to pick one model and run with it for a while.

You ask about how to use the Free version directly, without the Premium? That should really be a non-issue though. Once the 30-day trial runs out the software reverts to Free mode and you can continue to encrypt and decrypt as always. Any documents encrypted in Premium mode will always be decryptable in Free mode, no worries.

Once again, thank you!

Regards,

Svante

[Sputnik]

Hi Svante !

Thank you very much for your listening and I perfectly understand and agree with your point of view.

If you ever launch a new version of AxCrypt, on a shareware basis as has been said, I will surely consider the possibility to buy a license of it.

I know however that you would have a hard work to do on the price tag of this new version : the price would have to be not so great that it would repel people like me who will not buy the actual Premium version and not so low that it would encourage those interested in the actual Premium version to buy a cheaper product…

Thank you,

Sputnik

[SvanteSpectator]

Thanks Sputnik! Be sure to stay tuned, we’re working very hard on all fronts to make AxCrypt better and more accessible and to please as many users as possible, both with usability but also with licensing of course!

[Author]

Posts