WristLog - Let's talk money

This post is aimed for users of WristLog, an app for watch enthusiasts I’ve been working on for over a year now

There are over 400 of you now. 400 who used WristLog in the past week. And that’s a lot. About 400 more than I ever expected to be precise. Also 200 more than there were 6 months ago. WristLog grew from a passion project I built in a few hours while watching over my newborn daughter at night. That scary number brings responsibility. Responsibility to maintain the app for you. To keep it running all the time without issues or bugs, and to keep it user-friendly and secure. And I’ve been doing all that for free. Hundreds of hours of my time, developing new features, polishing the app, releasing iOS and Android apps, responding to your feedback and help requests. While also paying from my own pocket to keep the lights on, so to speak. And I need to change that.

Economy of the app

Let’s actually talk money. What I pay and what I got.

• $10 a month for the server that hosts WristLog. And that server is working overtime with 400 active users and needs to be upgraded in the near future.
• $5 a month for storage. Storage of your beautiful watch photos, documents and data within the app. Backup of the server and all your data in case something goes wrong.
• $10 a month (about $120 a year) for Apple developer account to keep iOS app in existence.

That’s $25 per month or $300 a year. Just to keep WristLog going.

As some of you know, there’s Buy me a coffee link within the app. Some of you donated. 22 of you to be precise. I did collect $217 (there are fees and taxes to be deducted) in about a year and a half and I appreciate every single one of you very much.

So if I do generous math, I’m spending about $100 from my own pocket yearly while doing hundreds of hours of development work. And don’t ask me how much that would be in money if I got paid my regular development hourly rate 😅

Survey results

I did a short survey which more than 100 of you responded to. Turns out almost 70% of you are willing to pay for the app. Different amounts, but even a small amount from everyone is better than an occasional donation. The issue is, you all want to pay a fixed amount, not a subscription fee.

Why fixed payments don’t add up

I get it. I hate subscriptions too. But you’re clever people and probably started connecting the dots already. If I have regular payments to make to keep the app running while also working on new features, updates and providing support, a fixed payment doesn’t work that well. Even if you pay a hefty sum, I’ll start “paying for you” sooner or later. So taking it to the extreme, if you pay a fixed price for the app, economic thinking would be to make you stop using the app so I don’t have to pay that much for all those services. And I don’t want that.

I want to provide the best app there is for watch enthusiasts. And seeing all your very positive feedback and app reviews, I might actually be succeeding at it. And if I’m succeeding at my goal, I hope you find enough value in the app to pay a few bucks a month/year regularly to support its future development and maintenance.

What would I want

My ideal would be to ask for $2 per month or $10 a year with very generous trial period so you very clearly know what you’re paying for.

I think that’s very cheap compared to other apps, even other watch apps. And to be honest, if you can spend money on multiple, often not cheap watches, $10 a year doesn’t sound like that much. Or does it? Because if it does, I’m failing at my goal of providing the best app there is, or at least providing enough value for your money.

But Adam, you’ve made a promise that the app would be free forever!

That’s true. And there are multiple ways for me to lawyer myself out of that crazy promise.

• If you’ve donated or donate before the app stops being free, you get it for free forever. If you want. There’s no question about it.
• Web version of the app will be free. Possibly forever. But I’m done with definitive claims for now.
• Current users might get iOS and Android apps for free as well, but I’m hesitant with this one.
• Another possibility for current users is to get special treatment with one time payment option for native apps. Let’s say $10. Also hesitant with this one.

Conclusion

There’s my two cents on the topic of money. I hope it shed some light on how economy of the app works, how much I pay, how much I get back and what my ideal solution would be. Not something that is going to happen in a week, but very probably within few months.

Please do let me know what you think. Would you stop using the app if it stopped being free? Did I change your mind about fixed payments or never paying for the app? There’s a comment section below this text or you can reach me privately on Instagram or email. Nothing is set in stone yet