ProtoPie News7 min read

Introducing the New Free & Pro Plans

Anyone can use ProtoPie for free forever. Learn how the new plans affect you and how you can benefit as an existing ProtoPie customer.

Fredo Tan
Fredo Tan, Head of GrowthApril 28, 2022
Introducing the New Free & Pro Plans

TL;DR — from May 30, 2022

  • The Free plan replaces the 30-day trial and Individual plan. Anyone can use ProtoPie for free forever.
  • Users—on the Individual plan right now—can keep using this plan for its current price as long as they remain subscribed.
  • The Team plan becomes the Pro plan with a price of at least $67 / editor / month, with more features for connected prototyping.

In the last few years, we have seen ProtoPie grow from a prototyping tool used by individuals to a fully-fledged high-fidelity prototyping tool used by some of the world’s most renowned companies.

We’re proud of where we are now—yet there’s still a lingering question: what’s next?

We noticed that design teams with very specific, often complex high-fidelity prototyping needs are the ones that use ProtoPie to its full potential. As a result, we realized that we don’t want ProtoPie to be a prototyping tool “for the masses” in a market already overcrowded with design tools.

ProtoPie isn’t a tool for the masses. Instead, it’s a high-fidelity prototyping tool that empowers teams to do what other tools cannot—to prototype advanced interactions, scenarios, and environments without the help of engineers. We want ProtoPie to be a specialized prototyping tool for design teams and their stakeholders—the sort of people who value the benefits of high-fidelity prototyping.

However, we found that our users would run into two major limits within our current plans:

  • Not enough time. When people learn ProtoPie, they need enough time to invest in 1 or 2 prototypes to fully understand how ProtoPie can fit their workflow.
  • Limited access to high-fidelity features. Most of our users couldn’t benefit from connected prototyping and cross-device experiences because ‘ProtoPie Connect’ was exclusive to the Enterprise plan only.

The new Free and Pro plans fully address these issues, allowing everyone to experience ProtoPie to the max.

A Brief Plan Comparison
A brief plan comparison showing the differences between each plan. We’ll release the full plan comparison on May 30.

Introducing the Free plan

We learned that most users couldn’t experience all that ProtoPie has to offer within a 30 day period. While we don’t want ProtoPie to be a tool for the masses, we do want to give everyone enough time to do high-fidelity prototyping with ProtoPie.

The biggest change is the Free plan, which replaces the 30-day trial and Individual plan. With the Free plan, anyone can use ProtoPie for free forever. Everyone should be able to experience the true value of ProtoPie at their own pace—from high-fidelity prototyping to handing off interaction specs and usability testing.

The Free plan includes:

If you’re on the 30-day trial on May 30, 2022, or have an expired trial, we’ll move you to the Free plan automatically.

What happens to the Individual plan?

We'll grandfather the Individual plan. Users—on the Individual plan right now—can keep using the Individual plan for its current price as long as they remain subscribed. However, it won’t be possible for new users to subscribe to this plan after May 30, 2022.

If you cancel the Individual plan after May 30, you cannot subscribe to the Individual plan again.

Interaction recordings for the Individual plan

By popular demand, interaction recordings (previously known as interaction recipes) are now available for users on the Individual plan.

Interaction recordings for Individual Plan
Create interaction recordings of your prototype–showcasing the flow of interactions, how interactions work with each other, and each interaction spec.

Now, Individual plan users will be able to create interaction recordings for any of your prototypes in ProtoPie Cloud—without any limitations.

Pro plan, replacing the Team plan

We’re replacing the Team plan with the Pro plan. The Pro plan has a price of $67 / editor / month (billed yearly) or $79 / editor / month (billed monthly).

If you’re on the Team plan now, your team will be transitioned to the Pro plan from May 30 onward. As a courtesy, you will be billed once at the current price for the next billing period after May 30—regardless of the billing option.

With the new Pro plan, you’ll have everything you already had in the Team plan... and more.

Bringing ProtoPie Connect to the Pro plan

With the increasing demand from our users to take their high-fidelity prototyping to the next level and stretch the value of a prototype, we’re including ProtoPie Connect in the Pro plan.

Protopie Connect available for pro plan
A preview of the new ProtoPie Connect that will be available for anyone on the Pro plan.

ProtoPie Connect is your gateway to building your own dynamic prototyping environment for your specific use case. ProtoPie Connect’s features include (but are not limited to):

  • Standalone offline player on the desktop.
  • Hub for all connected prototypes and cross-device experiences—across desktop, mobile, and tablets. The advanced example scenarios you can prototype with the Pro plan include:
    • A driver app boasting one-to-many interactions with multiple passenger apps at the same time.
    • A streaming app on your TV that you can navigate with a companion app on your smartphone.
    • A voice assistant on your smartphone that can lock, unlock, and start your car.
  • Hub for prototypes working with external hardware and platforms. The Pro plan supports integrations for the following hardware and platforms (no code required):

FAQ

  • When will the new plans take effect? May 30, 2022.
  • What happens to my current plan on May 30, 2022? It all depends on your current plan:
    • If you are on the trial plan or if your trial expired, we’ll move you to the Free plan automatically.
    • If you are on the Individual plan, you can keep using the Individual plan for its current price as long as you remain subscribed. Unlike before, you will be able to access interaction recordings.
    • If you are on the Team plan, we’ll move you to the Pro plan automatically. As a courtesy, you will be billed at a discounted price (the current price) for the first billing period after May 30—regardless of the billing option.
  • Are discounts for students and teachers still available? Yes, the conditions remain the same. Individual students have the same benefits as Individual plan users. Teachers and their students using the Class Support Program will benefit from the Pro plan.
  • I don’t want to pay anymore. Can I move to the Free plan? Yes, you can downgrade to the Free plan and use ProtoPie for free. But there are feature limitations to consider.

Looking forward

Pricing changes can sometimes be needlessly complicated and difficult—fortunately, these new plans make ProtoPie more accessible, allowing us to fully optimize our product and move our company in the right direction.

If you have any questions or input regarding the new Free and Pro plans, please contact us directly.