Don’t rely on Jetpack

  • Just went to check my site stats and saw that after a decade Jetpack have removed my stats and want me to pay a ridiculous amount to see them (it’s particularly ridiculous because I only check every few months, so I’d be paying something like $30 per viewing).

    Add new paid features if you want, but making a product worse to try and get people to pay for what they used to get for free is disappointing, but not surprising, and a perfect example of the much written about ensh*tification of the internet. I wish you’d reverse course, but I’d rather watch you go under than pay what you’re asking which is not commensurate with my actual use.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Support Tamirat B. (a11n)

    (@tamirat22)

    Hi there @letto1,

    Thanks for reaching out and sharing your feedback with us.

    Please note that Jetpack Stats should still be available for free or on a pay-what-you-want basis for personal or non-commercial sites.

    The Stats paywall only applies to sites with commercial content and isn’t meant to be a blanket rollout. If you think your site was classified as commercial by mistake and want to reinstate Jetpack Stats, please share your site URL with us and we’ll have a look.

    Furthermore, please be aware that the commercial plan indeed has premium features such as the UTM, and Device cards, both of which are only available with a commercial plan.

    We’re also in the process of launching a new paywall structure where basic Stats features will be made available to users, as you suggested. Therefore, I would encourage you to monitor updates to our plugin in the coming days and weeks.

    Best regards,

    Thread Starter letto1

    (@letto1)

    As you well know, almost no sites are completely non-commercial. Having one Google ad on the page that brings the site owner $1 a month makes the site commercial to you. Having an affiliate link to your webhost makes the site commercial to you. So while you can pretend there’s a free version, there’s not really for most people, and the plethora of one-star reviews you’ve been receiving for months speak to how many people feel the same way.

    Taking away free features might seem like the best way to make money, but it just enrages your loyal users. Instead of depreciating your free products (what is commonly called “ensh*tification”), why not try and innovate some new paid products? Why not gather more user feedback and see how people actually use your product and use that to inform your pricing? I’d be fine paying something, but based on the fact that I use the product once every few months I’m not going to pay $100/year (especially when you’ve added individual charges for all of the other things that used to be free).

    Plugin Support Chatoxz (a11n)

    (@chatoxz)

    Hi @letto1,

    I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and feedback with us.

    You’re absolutely right that many sites can blur the line between personal and commercial content, and we recognize that it’s a complex distinction. That said, our goal with the current model is to ensure that we can continue offering essential features like Stats for free to personal blogs and hobby sites. Unfortunately, asking for contributions from sites with commercial activity is the only way we can sustain the service for personal users without fully paywalling Stats for everyone.

    Additionally, this model helps us fund the development of new features, tools, and improvements, which are in the pipeline and being informed by user feedback like yours. We absolutely hear your concerns about pricing, and we’re actively exploring ways to make sure our plans and product features reflect the needs of different types of users.

    We understand that no one likes to lose access to something they’ve been used to getting for free, and it’s a balancing act to ensure we can keep providing high-quality services while continuing to innovate.

    I’d encourage you to keep an eye out for upcoming updates that might better suit your usage needs.

    If that would help with the transition, you can also get a 25% discount on your first purchase by using the coupon code?JP_Stats25?at checkout.

    Best regards,

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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