I’ve had the privilege to be a part of the WordPress community as a developer and seller of Themes and Plugins for over 5 years now. During that time I’ve witnessed many fads, phases and changes in business models. I’ve watched some small companies crop up out of nowhere and then disappear as quickly as they came and I’ve seen others find their stride and grow into quite profitable and reputable businesses.
During this time there has been one common thread that seems to keep winding its way through this short history of WordPress businesses and that is the idea of sustainability and recurring revenue. With a few bold businesses deciding to take the leap and be the first to implement license keys and yearly subscriptions for their products we began to see a new era unfold. Now it’s quite common to find “one year of support and updates” tacked onto the features list of your favorite premium WP products. The obvious reason for this is to ensure sustainability in your company as you strive to provide your current and future customers with the best products and support possible.
As I’ve watched this unfold I’ve cautiously considered doing the same, waiting for the right time and structure to go ahead and join the ranks. Finally, within the past few months, I decided it was time to make this necessary shift and re-structure Cobalt Apps pricing to include multiple tiers and yearly subscriptions. The goal being to build a more solid foundation for my company which translates into a brighter future for my community who have faithfully relied on my products over the years.
New Pricing & Licensing Structure
From this point forward all premium Cobalt Apps products will include yearly subscriptions and offer three levels of site activations. These levels include “Single Site”, “Up To 3 Sites” and “Unlimited Sites”. The idea behind these three levels is to appropriately price the amount of possible service and support we might provide any given member. For example, it doesn’t make sense for the person who only uses Dynamik on a single site to pay the same as one who is using and requesting support for a dozen sites. So these three tiers help price the products to their level of support, balance the load for our support team and give us more resources to work with as we strive to better our products.
Add in the yearly subscriptions and you have a much more sustainable business model for Cobalt Apps and, I believe, a more confidence inspiring company for our ever-growing community of WordPress and Genesis users.
What About Those Who Purchased Before This Change Took Place?
Rest assured that all who purchased a Cobalt Apps product before May 29th, 2014 at 9am EDT, received a special “Unlimited” license which gives them continued limitless use and a lifetime subscription to that product. I knew that moving forward the subscription based model needed implementation, but not at the cost of going against the expectations of our current members. Many of these members helped build the foundation of Cobalt Apps and I’m happy to pay my respects by “grandfathering them in”.
Moving Forward…
So nothing has changed with regard to our continued goal of providing powerful and flexible WordPress products that run off the Genesis Framework. And our dedication to support and resources for such products remains as strong as ever. What this announcement instead confirms is our broadening vision for the future of this company and the products and resources it provides as well as an even stronger dedication to the needs of our amazing community of members.
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