Is Webflow going over the edge? Is it too expensive?
Tags: webdev, javascript, jamstack, serverless
Published: 2023-03-05 16:45:00

Did you hear about the recent Webflow price hike? The recent changes in the price of this website builder seem to have caused a lot of resentment. Some call it "outrageous," some call it "squeezing more money out of people," "screwing over freelancers"...

Every change in the price of a product we use, no matter how good it is, causes us to reevaluate the quality and value of that product. Let's take a quick look at recent events in WebFlow to see what our options are.

How to transition to a Workspace?
For those who are just starting with WF, Workspaces will be their default, so not a big deal. Existing users are those who feel confused. Because their WebFlow account doesn't look, nor cost - like before.

Is Webflow free?
No paid plans-
free Webflow plans will remain free, and the transition goes automatically.

Individual account plans-

All users with these plans need to switch to the appropriate Workspace plan based on site count and account complexity.

Team plans- For these members, transition leads to Growth Workspace plans.

Enterprise plans- customer success manager will handle this switch and be in touch to walk through questions and demo the new features.

Transition problems start with more advanced plans.

There are the free plan, lite plan, and pro plan (spoiler alert: the problematic one). The Pro plan will go from $35 to $60 a month. 360USD more every year for every Pro user. What do Pro users say about this unexpected price increase of 70% ⁇😱?

(SLIKE)

The first Webflow response is to offer coupon codes for most users in that pro plan.

The idea with coupon code is to support freelancers in staying in a Pro plan and keeping using features available only at that plan. With that code, freelancers can maintain that 35 or 42 a month, whatever their current plan is. It is a good idea, but is it sustainable for a long-term period?

In my opinion, the biggest problem here is not the price but something else. This transition is focused on positive changes for teams, but what about individuals?

Freelancers VS. agencies

Webflow is a platform that delivers a ton of value across the board, and it's also empowering people to build and create careers for themselves. Also, Webflow is a top-rated tool that freelancers like to use because it enables a lot of creative and visual solutions for various projects.

Before Workspace, there were individual and teams' plans, and basically, everyone could find a plan that perfectly suits their needs. But with this “team focus” changes, individuality is lost, and expenses are the same for everybody.

For agencies and companies, this can be no problem when it comes to financing because they can earn more money, have more clients, and can charge their services than a freelancer can do.

To be honest, improvement in a control section can be helpful and valuable for agencies, but are they ready to pay 360USD more yearly just for that?

The real question here is, if someone is a freelancer, how much does it cost to make a site if he has to invest $ 60 per site? Is it realistic for the price of his work to jump by 70% as well?

CENOVNIK

If you are a full-on freelancer, you probably have more than 10 projects that simultaneously require white labeling and site password protection, so you are forced to take the Pro plan and have more expenses.

The decision is basically on a freelancer, if this pricing for you looks like an investment, you will keep using Webflow as a platform, you need to charge more for your services to earn the same amount of money, and if it is for you an increase in costs, maybe it’s a time to find out some [Webflow alternative.] (https://thebcms.com/blog/is-webflow-too-expensive)