Okay, everyone, I’m going to close this thread as the discussion has veered off-topic. Let’s try to keep future conversations focused on the original post. If you have any suggestions or questions, please send them to @support or email support@trakt.tv – we appreciate your feedback!
I apologize for not communicating these changes more clearly and we will do a better job moving forward! I’ll try to clarify some key facts about the recent changes and address some incorrect assumptions.
VIP Pricing
Why was the decision needed?
In 2015, we introduced two VIP pricing tiers: $30 and $60 per year. It is expensive to run Trakt, servers aren’t cheap 
. We retired the lower cost plan because it just wasn’t sustainable anymore. It covered things like infrastructure costs, but it didn’t leave enough to help with other expenses like salaries. As I’ve mentioned before, we are planning for Trakt to exist well into the future.
When was this implemented?
VIP pricing was changed in August 2024 on the website VIP page and official apps. We also introduced a $6 monthly plan, along with free trials and regional pricing (India and Brazil) in the iOS and Android apps. We ran various 50% off promotions until the end of the year.
What was the impact?
VIP signups remain steady, so it appears most people that wanted to subscribe still see value with the new pricing. Increased revenue allowed us to double down on product development, hire more people and deliver new features like our Apple TV app, data importers, automatic tracking (streaming scrobbler), better AI recommendations, month in review, etc.
Freemium Limits
Why was the decision needed?
The freemium model consists of a free plan for casual users and a premium plan for power users. A power user is someone who uses Trakt every day and enjoys a lot of the features we offer.
We’ve always had a freemium model, but our VIP benefits were a bit unclear. VIP subscribers were mostly people that realized by themselves they are power users and wanted to support Trakt to keep it going. It also wasn’t easy to try out any VIP features before deciding to sign up (we fixed this by offering free trials).
Collections and lists were misused and cost a disproportionate amount of resources that VIPs are essentially subsidizing. Limiting these to 100 items on the free plan corrects these issues and sets a clear threshold from casual to power user.
How was it communicated?
Not well enough, but we tried. We emailed users with bigger lists (100+ items) about the proposed change about two months in advance. We also offered a 50% VIP discount, but not many took advantage of it.
What is the impact?
VIP signups have increased since enforcing these limits. Another key metric, monthly active users also continues to grow strongly.
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