uCoz Community » General Information » uCoz Updates & Announcements » Changes in the Pricing Policy: New Possibilities and Plans
Changes in the Pricing Policy: New Possibilities and Plans
Sunny
Posts: 9296
Reputation: 456

Message # 1 | 2:39 PM


We've been preparing the changes in our pricing and plans for several months, and today we are ready to announce them.

Starting from September (approximately September 22) we introduce new prices and add new options to the packages, such as:

  • additional storage in the plans;
  • a minimum package for "light" websites;
  • a business package for the owners of online shops;
  • increased security (basic and premium antiviruses);
  • automatic backups;
  • free premium templates.




We've always been the most inexpensive website builder, and if we take into account the features uCoz offers — the most functional as well. And we still want to keep the title, so the prices remain affordable.

We understand that many of our premium users have already purchased the existing packages or were counting on the existing prices.
We will continue to provide all purchased services for their original prices. Besides, the current plans can still be acquired until the new plans have been introduced. Afterwards only the new plans and prices will be available.

Want to switch to the new plans?
The previously purchased plans can be cancelled at any time — you will have the funds returned to your website’s account and will be able to select and buy a new plan.

We gave a lot of thought to the new plans before introducing them, but it is likely that we will continue to fine-tune them, adjusting and extending more options for the premium users into the future.

Our goal is to make the plans clear and useful; to remove the options most users don't need from the plans, and make them available for purchase as separate services. That can be done only through active communication with the users, so we will be very glad to receive your comments and suggestions.

I'm not active on the forum anymore. Please contact other forum staff.
Vorpal
Posts: 82
Reputation: 3

Message # 46 | 6:42 PM
Quote bigblog ()
Don't think so.


Not a rational argument.

Quote bigblog ()
uCoz is reliable, but a backup is always useful.


If you can't use that backup elsewhere (other platforms) and if uCoz is indeed reliable 100% then there is no need for a backup.

Quote bigblog ()
Don't think so.


Not a rational argument.

Quote bigblog ()
Someone needs this.


Yes, the aliens need it.

Quote bigblog ()
What it results? Plus work for site owners. Why to work more if you can do it automatically? And some site owners has not very good grapic software knowledges.

and so on..

Some users really needs these feaatures.


None of them provide something unique that can't be made outside of uCoz platform. Their usefulness is minimal but the prices on the other hand just went crazy high.
Post edited by Vorpal - Sunday, 2014-09-14, 6:42 PM
Paradox
Old Guard
Posts: 3284
Reputation: 145

Message # 47 | 4:05 AM
Quote Vorpal ()
Not a rational argument.


Bigblog was simply providing his opinion on the matter. There is no need to argue or debate the recent changes, a discussion is all that should be required. smile

As to antivirus - this has become an increasing need for uCoz site owners due to the tendency of third party scripts causing the transfer of virus' throughout the system. An antivirus would resolve a high number of these issues and in turn our abuse department would not have to temporarily close users sites due to virus' as frequently as they do now.

Quote Vorpal ()
If you can't use that backup elsewhere (other platforms) and if uCoz is indeed reliable 100% then there is no need for a backup.


Backing up is a core element of any data platform. If we look at it from an OS perspective even - both OS X, Linux, and Windows can all be backed up. This doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be cross platform intuitive. It simply offers a secondary solution to effective data management - which online can be especially useful when unforeseen technical difficulties occur. The uCoz servers may be 100% reliable in their normal operating mode, however, every system is prone to digital attacks and external influences which can lead to data loss.

Quote Vorpal ()
Not a rational argument.


As to the Social Media Publisher it's certainly not aimed at all user demographics. It's primary purpose serves as a link between social media and text based postings such as blog posts and the like where users may wish to share them throughout online media with their followers. It's an engagement medium which when used to it's full capacity can be a powerful tool in promotion your website - it doesn't suit every website, however, and as such there are going to be people who have no need of it. This is only natural for a module, not every webmaster and website is going to need every feature and module uCoz create.

Quote Vorpal ()
Yes, the aliens need it.


I feel you may know something I don't here... All humour aside, local users is required by users who wish to have further control over their websites user registration and user accounts features. For example - some of the sites I've created on the system don't appropriately reflect the requirement for a social/global sign up system, so in turn I have enabled local users to combat that. In most cases it is simply that I do want to be able to custom tailor the sign up process more capably than what I can do with the uID features.

Quote Vorpal ()
None of them provide something unique that can't be made outside of uCoz platform. Their usefulness is minimal but the prices on the other hand just went crazy high.


To put it succinctly - we live in a digital age where anything you can dream up online is going to exist, have existed, or be very soon to exist. If not, you can always make it yourself. What online services such as uCoz provide is an ease and efficiency of use to users who mightn't have the skill set to create and manage websites using web languages and server side languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Ruby, Perl, AJAX and many more. Even in my case, I prefer to run uCoz sites every now and then for projects due to the ease of setup - instead of having to spend 3 weeks to a month developing a solution, I can spend a week maximum.

The new pricing structure will have improvements made to it from user perspectives as Raver and Sunny have said. This is new territory for the service, they've never updated pricing in over 9-10 years now. There are going to be a mix of opinions and feelings on the matter and as such we're taking them all into account across multiple communities and the like. As such, all we can ask is that everyone remains patient, takes the new structure in stride, and gives us constructive feedback so that we can tailor these new packages to our users needs. smile

Jack of all trades in development, design, strategy.
Working as a Support Engineer.
Been here for 13 years and counting.
Vorpal
Posts: 82
Reputation: 3

Message # 48 | 10:15 AM
Quote Paradox ()
Bigblog was simply providing his opinion on the matter. There is no need to argue or debate the recent changes, a discussion is all that should be required. smile

As to antivirus - this has become an increasing need for uCoz site owners due to the tendency of third party scripts causing the transfer of virus' throughout the system. An antivirus would resolve a high number of these issues and in turn our abuse department would not have to temporarily close users sites due to virus' as frequently as they do now.


If there is no need to argue or debate the recent changes then why does uCoz still need its machine like customers that never ask questions, argue or debate things ? If they are machines with no right to comment then there is no need to offer them a package, because the robots should accept any offer that was made since they are programed to do so.

What about all the free sites ? Can they continue to "use scripts causing the transfer of virus' throughout the system" ? So only the premium users at the top would not get infected ? Are premium user sites on different servers ?

If i have a strong antivirus on my computer and if uCoz antivirus on the other hand detects false positives then this will only annoy users. The antivirus works to help uCoz not the user and should not be included in any premium package.

Quote Paradox ()
Backing up is a core element of any data platform. If we look at it from an OS perspective even - both OS X, Linux, and Windows can all be backed up. This doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be cross platform intuitive. It simply offers a secondary solution to effective data management - which online can be especially useful when unforeseen technical difficulties occur. The uCoz servers may be 100% reliable in their normal operating mode, however, every system is prone to digital attacks and external influences which can lead to data loss.


When uCoz loses a site of a premium user due to unforeseen technical difficulties what should the client do ? Should he/she pursue legal action against the company ? In that case a backup is useful for uCoz in order to avoid legal actions and be able to restore a site or for a user to make a duplicate site on another uCoz sub-domain.

The backup shouldn't be in the premium plan because it is more important to uCoz than to the user.

Also according to the new plans the backup must not be bigger than 60 Mb - 90 Mb - 135 Mb !
Because if it is you won't be able to upload it via FTP.

Quote Paradox ()
As to the Social Media Publisher it's certainly not aimed at all user demographics. It's primary purpose serves as a link between social media and text based postings such as blog posts and the like where users may wish to share them throughout online media with their followers. It's an engagement medium which when used to it's full capacity can be a powerful tool in promotion your website - it doesn't suit every website, however, and as such there are going to be people who have no need of it. This is only natural for a module, not every webmaster and website is going to need every feature and module uCoz create.


Some people need this feature for download module and not for news or blog module. In this case you are giving news and blog a free access while you ask a premium for the rest. And some people do not need the news and blog. So it would have been better to allow anyone to chose 2 free modules where they want it.

On the other hand this is not a major feature and should not be included as a premium functionality.

Quote Paradox ()
I feel you may know something I don't here... All humour aside, local users is required by users who wish to have further control over their websites user registration and user accounts features. For example - some of the sites I've created on the system don't appropriately reflect the requirement for a social/global sign up system, so in turn I have enabled local users to combat that. In most cases it is simply that I do want to be able to custom tailor the sign up process more capably than what I can do with the uID features.


This should have some usefulness.

Considering you can buy any package for 1 month change to local users and then to never buy a thing i still think this feature should not be included in premium package. You can have more control of the users if you block their accounts than if you delete their account in local users and thus allow them to register again with the same account.

Quote Paradox ()
To put it succinctly - we live in a digital age where anything you can dream up online is going to exist, have existed, or be very soon to exist. If not, you can always make it yourself. What online services such as uCoz provide is an ease and efficiency of use to users who mightn't have the skill set to create and manage websites using web languages and server side languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Ruby, Perl, AJAX and many more. Even in my case, I prefer to run uCoz sites every now and then for projects due to the ease of setup - instead of having to spend 3 weeks to a month developing a solution, I can spend a week maximum.

The new pricing structure will have improvements made to it from user perspectives as Raver and Sunny have said. This is new territory for the service, they've never updated pricing in over 9-10 years now. There are going to be a mix of opinions and feelings on the matter and as such we're taking them all into account across multiple communities and the like. As such, all we can ask is that everyone remains patient, takes the new structure in stride, and gives us constructive feedback so that we can tailor these new packages to our users needs.


As the new statistics will show the increase in prices will be directly proportional to the quantity of premium users. So if you double the prices for Basic to 6$ you can expect a 50% drop in premium users for the 3$ package. If i do the same for Business package 5.49$ and turn it into 10$ you can expect a similar drop for the associated group.

This is one thing, but the most important one - besides losing a considerable part of the premium users due to increase in price - is that you send waves of negative emotions to your most loyal customers that always recommended you for easy to build and accessible prices.

Now everyone thinks that uCoz has an unstable pricing policy and overnight or tomorrow or in 6 months if a manager gives an OK, they will double the prices again to 20$ or 12$.

uCoz has a very bad history regarding the relation with its own customers. They always announced things without asking first the community (or listening to rational arguments from the users). Sometimes they made surveys just for the show, then they did what they wanted to do in the first place.

uCoz always imposes first the will of some dominant manager that never listens to its colleagues or the community, then they either keep the new policy in place and wait for result or they go back and try to reduce their initial disproportionate policy.

This kind of schizophrenic and psychopathic behavior is scaring people away forever. Despite uCoz being owned now by another company the leadership of uCoz is intact and so the same method of making business will remain, while the community will be simply ignored.

Remember 90% of managers are overpaid relative to "True Talent" and if you don't ask the community first you will never be in the heart of the people or have loyal customers that bring other people to the system.

If i have a company and after 5 years i decide to double the prices of some of my services without rationally discussing with the users and blaming it on inflation (in reality bad management of the company) the only thing i do is lose clients.

The correct way to do it is to first make a topic where people can suggest what would they like to see instead of the current prices and packages. If some of their proposals are viable economically for my company then i would gradually implement them. As for the other suggestions that are not great for me as a company i would find the best compromise to please my wallet and my customers. This is how a sane administration does it.

You don't impose first and - if you don't like it - we don't care. The managers themselves don't have any interest in the company itself but only for their own salary.

The owner of uCoz on the other hand if it doesn't see financial success they will simply replace the current administration / management team.
Post edited by Vorpal - Monday, 2014-09-15, 1:49 PM
Sunny
Posts: 9296
Reputation: 456

Message # 49 | 2:48 PM
Quote Vorpal ()
If there is no need to argue or debate the recent changes then why does uCoz still need its machine like customers that never ask questions, argue or debate things ?


Probably Paradox didn't phrase his thought well. All our customers are welcome to express their opinions, to comment. We read and analyze all of the comments and suggestions.

Quote Vorpal ()
What about all the free sites ? Can they continue to "use scripts causing the transfer of virus' throughout the system" ? So only the premium users at the top would not get infected ? Are premium user sites on different servers ?


When users use some unknown scripts on their websites, they must be ready that they may not be safe. It concerns not only free, but premium users as well. The new packages will make it easier for premium users to keep their websites safe. As for free users, we will keep helping them find and delete viruses on their websites, it just won't be automatic. And I would like to note that it is not possible that one website will be infected by another, only because they are located on the same server.

Quote Vorpal ()
if uCoz antivirus on the other hand detects false positives then this will only annoy users.


You are right, "if". Let's wait and see first how it works wink

Quote Vorpal ()
When uCoz loses a site of a premium user due to unforeseen technical difficulties what should the client do ? Should he/she pursue legal action against the company ? In that case a backup is useful for uCoz in order to avoid legal actions and be able to restore a site or for a user to make a duplicate site on another uCoz sub-domain.


Even now websites are regularly backed up. And in case of emergency data loss can be restored from a system backup. With the new packages users will be able to have their websites backed up more often, and will have several backup copies (depending on a plan).

And if we speak about backups - a backup is a necessary option for a site administrator. Sometimes users mess up their sites, delete entries by mistake, give administrative permissions to users who them mess smth up. Such situations are not rare, and site administrators tend to forget to create backups themselves. This is where the auto backup feature will be useful.

Quote Vorpal ()
Also according to the new plans the backup must not be bigger than 60 Mb - 90 Mb - 135 Mb !
Because if it is you won't be able to upload it via FTP.


If a backup is bigger than the max. file size, the Support Team will help you upload it, you just need to send a request. (it is applicable to both new and old packages)

Quote Vorpal ()
You can have more control of the users if you block their accounts than if you delete their account in local users and thus allow them to register again with the same account.


It's really up to a website administrator. Not everyone have the same needs and requirements concerning their websites.

Quote Vorpal ()
They always announced things without asking first the community (or listening to rational arguments from the users). Sometimes they made surveys just for the show, then they did what they wanted to do in the first place.


I can tell you that a lot of recently added features were implemented as per users' suggestions. And we will continue this practice. We are working to be better, to make our website builder more functional and user friendly. Just remember that if you don't need some features, or on the contrary, need some of the features that don't exist currently, it doesn't mean that a lot of other users need/don't need them as well. We are trying to listen to all of our users, but when we make decisions we have to take into account the statistical data.

I'm not active on the forum anymore. Please contact other forum staff.
Urs
Posts: 303
Reputation: 4

Message # 50 | 11:24 AM
If you want to use the new structure of features the prices should be the following :

http://tariffs.ucoz.com/

1. Basic 3$ / month (not 6$)
2. Shop 9$ / month (not 10$)
3. Maximal 13$ / month (not 16$)

Remove : Minimal & Optimal
Allow : Basic 3$ + 2$ shop package as a separate service.

If you want a recommendation for the old structure you can find it here : http://forum.ucoz.com/forum/46-18545-1 exact location here : http://forum.ucoz.com/forum/46-18545-108875-16-1407328237

Thassos Island Portal :
https://thassos.one
Post edited by Urs - Tuesday, 2014-09-16, 11:28 AM
Sunny
Posts: 9296
Reputation: 456

Message # 51 | 1:34 PM
Quote Urs ()
Allow : Basic 3$ + 2$ shop package as a separate service.


The E-shop will be available for purchase as an additional service to any of the plans (as well as PHP).

I'm not active on the forum anymore. Please contact other forum staff.
Urs
Posts: 303
Reputation: 4

Message # 52 | 2:08 PM
Quote Sunny ()
The E-shop will be available for purchase as an additional service to any of the plans (as well as PHP).


I know this, but right now for a functional site without ads you will need to pay 6$ + 2$ (8$) not 5.49$ like before.

Thassos Island Portal :
https://thassos.one
Vorpal
Posts: 82
Reputation: 3

Message # 53 | 3:04 PM
Do you know when the new prices and adjustments will be ready outside Russia ?
Can you still buy the old plans ? Until when ?

Are you still going to analyze the new prices ?
Cyberdasm
Posts: 639
Reputation: 7

Message # 54 | 4:20 PM
Quote Sunny ()
And if we speak about backups - a backup is a necessary option for a site administrator. Sometimes users mess up their sites, delete entries by mistake, give administrative permissions to users who them mess smth up. Such situations are not rare, and site administrators tend to forget to create backups themselves. This is where the auto backup feature will be useful.

Clarification madam sunny last last last year my website content has been mistakenly deleted but you only say that there is nothing to do with it but now you say in your post that there is a way to restore it? What's the point it in here?

Please clarify it..

Added (2014-09-23, 10:20 AM)
---------------------------------------------
Sunny, how about if i buy premium products for one month my storage will also restore before i buy?


1F4BF3B
Eriko
Pokémon Master
Posts: 962
Reputation: 34

Message # 55 | 5:10 PM
dense0293, Auto back-up is a feature that is available for Baisc, Optimal, Maximal, and Shop plans. Minimal and Free plans don't have it. And if you mean 3 years ago on that "last last last year" then auto back-up still doesn't exist that time. As far as I know auto back-up is a new feature that will be available once the new Pricing Plans are implemented.

Quote dense0293 ()
how about if i buy premium products for one month my storage will also restore before i buy?

Please explain it more clearly.
Cyberdasm
Posts: 639
Reputation: 7

Message # 56 | 0:37 AM
Quote Eriko ()
Please explain it more clearly.

Eriko, sir... I mean if i will buy a storage about $3-15(or 10GB it depends) now I have 800MB server diskspace in my website so if my package will expire does my 800MB back to 400 MB or its just only the same of what i buy OR back to my diskspace 800MB?

Secondly how about if i will upgrade 100GB for hosting a storage? As i see on their plan above its not just like before that you can buy 100GB alone. So how it will work then?

1F4BF3B
Eriko
Pokémon Master
Posts: 962
Reputation: 34

Message # 57 | 5:24 AM
dense0293, no. It will not go back to the default 400mb when your plan expires, but the 10gb that you bought will disappear.

On your second question, it seems like you can still buy a separate service even when the new Pricing plans are implemented...
Quote
and make them available for purchase as separate service


...but of course it'll be much cheaper if you just buy a package.
Cyberdasm
Posts: 639
Reputation: 7

Message # 58 | 5:34 AM
Eriko, What will happen to my files if that happens??
1F4BF3B
Eriko
Pokémon Master
Posts: 962
Reputation: 34

Message # 59 | 10:25 AM
dense0293, your files will stay, but if you're over the limit you won't be able to add more files.
Sunny
Posts: 9296
Reputation: 456

Message # 60 | 11:08 AM
Quote dense0293 ()
As i see on their plan above its not just like before that you can buy 100GB alone. So how it will work then?


Additional storage won't be available as a separate service.

I'm not active on the forum anymore. Please contact other forum staff.
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