While I’m planning the features for Preview SMS, I’m also planning the split of which features will be available to all users, for no cost, and which features will only be accessible for paying users (whether they purchase 1 year subscription, or a lifetime of access). There’s a fine balance between making the free version so good that nobody bothers upgrading and hampering the free experience too badly for users to get a true sense of what they would be purchasing access to, should they make the decision to pay for it.
The way that I’m planning to balance this split is to make the free version of the product helpful to many people. It should be a simple product, that allows users to come to the site, paste in text they’re workshopping for a message/series of messages and then have the results instantly. If they use the service often enough to warrant needing to see how different font sizes and phone screens show the message(s), then they’re able to do so for a very reasonable (in my humble opinion) price. That being said, if they never want to pay for the service, they will still get a great product experience, with accuracy of UI formatting that no other service provides.
Free usage of the application allows users to preview text messages as the default iOS text size, on an iPhone 14 Pro. While it's a recent model, it's not the latest, and while default text size is helpful, many iOS users adjust their text size to suit their eye abilities and viewing preferences.
Upgrading allows users to access 7 text sizes, as well as 23 iPhone models going back to the original "notched" model, the iPhone X released in Fall 2017. Additionally, paid users remove ads, and also get early access to new features. Features planned are integrations with OpenPhone and other SMS-as-a-service platforms, support for Android device previews, RTL text formatting, and the ability to save messages and create templates.
For launch, I'm offering 50% off, which means paid users can opt for a $6 per year subscription (promotional pricing locked in for as long as the user's account exists), or a one-time payment of $30 for lifetime access. These prices are fair for the type of customer I'm targeting - marketing-centric users who send substantial SMS messages for their work.
What do you think? Are these prices fair for this product? You can try the application to see if you're content with a free plan, or if the paid plan offers the features you need. Email me, tweet (X?) me, and let me know what you think.
