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High cost for professional
Rank: Newbie
Joined: 5/28/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2
Location: Mississippi, US
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Hi,
I've only been using this program for a few hours but I really like it. I wanted to contribute to the project and maybe get some of the Professional features, but I find the $67.00 price tag for Professional very high. I could understand a $15-$30 price tag and would already have paid if it were in that realm - but I cant justify $67 especially with most of the useful features available for free (hmmm not that I'm suggesting you take away the free version).
Do you have plans to make a middle version available, or to lower the price of the Professional version?
The features I would be interested in would be (in order of importance):
Categories
Advanced Search
Show Notification After Away
And I'd pay $30 for those features.
I would still want it to be by user and be able to install on a number of computers.
Additionally many times I leave my desk and I know I'm going to be away so I would like a quick and easy way to mark my time as Away (possibly with categories such as AwayFromDesk and OnPhone) - similar to the off the record button - press a button so I can immediately be marked as away (not have to wait 10 minutes or risk false positives by setting away to 1 minute). When I come back - press the button to be back and then I can enter details of what I was doing.
Thanks,
Mark
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/13/2010(UTC)
Posts: 872
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MT was free for about two years and this is the first version in which some features are not free. During this time we have accumulated a lot of users.
When we decided to start charging for MT we wanted to keep all these users and still be able to offer them an upgrade to the new version without taking out the features they were already using. And the only way to do this was to keep all the functionality which previous version had free and only charge for the new stuff. For now we will stick to this and see where it takes us.
And I think you are right when you say it is a bit overpriced, but we wanted to set a price with which we are comfortable even a year or two from now when MT will hopefully have a lot more functionality then it has now. Thats why we also offer one year of upgrades with the pro package.
Anyway for now the pricing will remain as it is, we have no plans to change it.
We did have a discussion a few weeks ago about charging for each feature separately, but it would give us so much work that it is just not worth it. We'd rather spend more time on improving it, then working on a system to charge for every feature.
As for the away time, one trick is to lock your workstation, this will start away time immediately. The other option is to start a stopwatch, in the future versions we will improve it so you can specify what you were doing at stop not just at start.
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 5/28/2010(UTC)
Posts: 2
Location: Mississippi, US
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Thank you for your response. Can you provide any details of features that you expect to add over the next year (I understand it might not be guaranteed - I'm just trying to get a feel for where this might be in a few months/year time)?
Thanks,
Mark
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/13/2010(UTC)
Posts: 872
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For the next few months we will focus on ability to share the data between different MT installations.
For the smaller features we will listen to the feedbacks and this forum, so what users request here should be a good indication of the features we will work on.
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Rank: Member
Joined: 5/25/2010(UTC)
Posts: 14
Location: UK
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Hi, like Mark I find the price of Professional a little higher than I expected. Your response - Quote:we wanted to set a price with which we are comfortable even a year or two from now when MT will hopefully have a lot more functionality then it has now maybe needs more consideration, with a view to providing users with a lower-cost upgrade path - say $40 now with a $20-30 upgrade fee later for a new version? (existing Pro users get free upgrade or credit for future upgrades). It is right and proper that you have to take the commercial decisions, but it is maybe worth taking your users on a journey with you, rather than a bit of a leap of faith. As to future developments, pleased to see Quote:For the next few months we will focus on ability to share the data between different MT installations. I assume by that you mean over a network. It would be great to be able to share tags (which would provide consistency in analysis results within a work-group) and also to carry out analysis across a work-group. And don't forget the tag editor :-)
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 9/21/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1
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Hello!
I was thinking about buying the pro version if my two features (configurable snap at timeline and reusable comments) are implemented in the next version. Not because i need one of the big pro features, more because I would like to support this good tool. I think 67$ is high but affordable. But I see an other problem: What happens after the year?
The free edition will get some small new features and bugfixes. And I would have to choose to pay an other 67$, don't get these small improvements or loose the pro features.
Nothing of these would be a fair option to me. I think this is a problem you should think about, because I would like to know before spending 67$. Perhaps a small amount for the next year of professional version updates would be a solution. Or only minor new features and bugfixes after the year.
Cheers
Bernhard
PS: I hate websites telling me how secure my password should be and usually I don't register if this happens. My account on this website is not important and therefor a password with one sign and no secure questions should be enough.
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/13/2010(UTC)
Posts: 872
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Within a year we will definitely offer a discount for those who want to renew the license.
All software works like this, at least to my knowledge. You buy either by version, by time, or in online apps you subscribe by time period (usually a month).
We could bill by major version change, but we actually thought this would give more value to the user, since we can increase the version any time we want to. In this way you know exactly what you get when you buy.
About your two features
Could you explain what you mean by configurable timelines.
About reusable comments
We usually recommend that if you need reusable comments, why not just turn that into a tag?
For example
Tag -> Support
Comment -> Helping John to setup his computer.
Could be 'Support, Helping John'. And when this repeats you can also get stats for helping John.
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 1/11/2011(UTC)
Posts: 1
Location: Milwaukee, WI
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Chiming in to say that I really like ManicTime but that $67 is past some mental threshold that I have developed for utility software. I would have long ago purchased Pro for $35, but can't bring myself to pull the trigger at almost $70. I keep muddling along with the free version. Just thought I would offer you one more data point.
Maybe you could run a sale sometime and see what results you get.
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 2/1/2011(UTC)
Posts: 2
Location: Oxford
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Hi, I am a new user and have been testing Manic Time for two weeks, I was so impressed with it I have just stumped up £52.07 for the Professional Version. I don't usually buy software as I find there are usually excellent Open Source variations for Free, though there have been 1 or 2 exceptions.. I thought the Price was high..in the UK the VAT has gone up to 20% so what would have been £43.39 has jumped by£8.68
I am retired and on a limited income, so this purchase was for me quite a lot..however I am prepared to Support such a well thought out useful program.
I do hope that in a years time when my Licence comes up for renewal that it won't be too much of a Sting..
By the way I am not a Professional, and am just an ordinary Home User, I use the program for my own amusement and interest in how I use the computer.. I do not Bill Clients on a Time Basis.. the only profit I make is my own enjoyment of a very clever program..
Thank you for letting me share my views..
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/13/2010(UTC)
Posts: 872
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I think you are correct, so here is a new policy.
Students and retired persons get 80% discount.
I will also refund your money in that amount.
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 2/1/2011(UTC)
Posts: 2
Location: Oxford
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Thank you for your reply to my Post, it just shows what a great bunch of guys you are...many thanks
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 10/1/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1
Location: CA
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Whoa! Really? Students get 80% discount? That's amazing! How can I get this deal?
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Rank: Newbie
Joined: 5/23/2011(UTC)
Posts: 1
Location: Moscow
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The price is high enough, but it is paid for a sufficient increase in my productivity and is likely to repay in few days. The only reason I am not going to buy the lisense is if by the end of the trial period I find (by chance) a cheaper programm equally suitable for me and with a pie chart. Still I have not found and a vast search would cost me more than $67.
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