Today, we're announcing Smart Subscriptions for Nuggetize. Inspired by Kagi Search Engine, we now automatically only charge you for months you use Nuggetize.
If you're subscribed and didn't use Nuggetize in the past month, your card simply won't be charged when your subscription renews. Keep your subscription risk-free at zero cost to you. This offer applies to all current and future customers who subscribe directly from our website, and isn't currently supported for Apple App Store subscriptions.*
We hope this inspires more projects to copy this blueprint for better business, and opens the door for more people, like you, to enjoy Nuggetize risk-free.
(Don't) Forget to Subscribe
Early on, we learned convincing people to sign up for a subscription is a major hurdle.
It's warranted, as we've found businesses on the other side which profit from hordes of subscribers who've forgotten they signed up. "$15/month" quickly becomes $180/year, despite no one advertising it this way. (Are you forgetting about any subscriptions?)
That said, don't forget the benefits of subscription models:
- Cutting-edge software like Photoshop used to cost upwards of $1,000 per version. Today, it's $20/mo.
- It used to cost $5 to rent one movie at Blockbuster, whereas today Netflix offers unlimited access to thousands of movies from $8/mo.
Overall, subscription models can align interests of customers and businesses through more efficient pricing and continuous service & updates. However, over longer periods of time, their costs eclipse their savings, and incentivize businesses to hoard as many inactive, forgetful users as possible!
What We Found Testing Different Business Models
Nuggetize is a leading AI summary tool that lets you chat with and distill any content on the Internet – instantly – from YouTube videos, to news sites, to lengthy PDFs.
While building Nuggetize, we quickly realized that a usage-based or subscription pricing model was necessary to cover our costs.
After experimentation, we found that the usage-based system (i.e. credits or tokens) creates anxiety against using our service. When you have limited credits, people feel bad about using them. People saved credits for precious moments – rather than often as they browsed the web as we intended.
This led us next to a subscription model with a more "all-you-can-eat" buffet style. For the price of a cup of coffee or two, you can generate unlimited summaries with Nuggetize each month.
(Note: We also offer one-time payment options and a 30-day money-back guarantee)
As friends and strangers started to subscribe to Nuggetize, we found that usage was seasonal and spike based on the person's point in life. Students use Nuggetize frequently during exam season, but stop during school breaks. People need Nuggetize for deadlines at work, or have a phase of binging news & YouTube summaries, but inevitably also have periods with less or no usage.
Whatever the cause, in times where people aren't using Nuggetize, we truly don't wish to take their money. These unused weigh on us, as the developer, as it incentivizes us to do... nothing. They bug the customer, as a negative association, and a potential reminder to cancel their account.
How It's Made
This new pricing model was simple to build.
Stripe, our payment processor, now allows issuing credit grants in their developer API. We simply check your account's usage right before subscription renewal, and if you created no new nuggets that month, we grant you credits to cover the cost of your subscription. Thus, your card never gets charged on these inactive months.
This offer currently only applies to our Stripe customers – that is, people who buy subscriptions directly on our website. The Apple App Store does not yet support this model, unfortunately! Read more at the FAQ.
If you like the idea, please share this with other businesses to nudge them towards the same model! Appreciate your support & thanks for reading. ✌️
Nuggetize is the leading URL summarizer powered by AI. It's built by Organic Software, a design & engineering duo from San Francisco.