I literally use this site to keep track of TV shows and film releases and my own rather extensive collection of Blu-rays and DVDs. You’ve just killed that for me, and unless it’s changed I no longer have a reason to use this site.
9 Likes
Another confused user here from a few hours ago wondering if the system had broken:
https://www.reddit.com/r/trakt/comments/1i9jhg7/app_error/
Why did Trakt just not COMMUNICATE these changes to users?
I expect there will still be a lot of confused people over the days/weeks to come that think Trakt functionality is broken rather than severely curtailed by the owner.
9 Likes
Just imported everything to SIMKL. It doesn’t seem as good but it’s better than what you’ve done to this site.
It’s a shame, I used this site for a very long time and always loved but in one simple move you’ve destroyed it for me.
13 Likes
I’ve been using SIMKL for the last month, and have already accrued enough days for PRO status. I just can’t get used to it though, and most things don’t work as well as on Trakt.
So unfortunately, I may have to eventually capitulate and pay the $60, but not yet, because I completely resent what Trakt have done, or more specifically, the way they have gone about it.
But I mustn’t delay too long to join, because the price will be increased to $120 one day and the free users reduced to one list with 5 items in it. 
I may be saying this last paragraph in jest, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are more uncommunicated changes to come for us free users, well, those users that are left when the dust settles. 
EDIT: The first year $30 promo code seems to work again, so I’ll give it 12 months and then re-evaluate based on my experience and what is going on then.
8 Likes
I was wondering why my watchlist its not updating anymore…wish you good luck with your platform, for me its time to search for alternatives…
13 Likes
Been trying to get used to SIMKL for the last hour and I just can’t, the UI is terrible. Guess I’ll just keep searching for alternatives.
5 Likes
It sucks. I get it, but I wonder if all/most/some of the non-VIP (free) users who have been benefiting by Trakt for years had supported the app by paying $30/yr then, would this change have been necessary? I looked at it as an amortized cost. I used the system free for 5 years and started paying last year. If I pay $60 for 5 years, it averages out to $30 per year and well worth it to me.
1 Like
Seems like it is time to look for alternative cause I was using this site to track what I’ve watched and now with these limits, I can’t do that anymore so what’s the point even. Hopefully that decision would be looked over with how many are complaining but I have a feeling it won’t
8 Likes
Me thinks you’re being purposefully condescending and not reading peoples actual complaints.
26 Likes
Never used the forum but had to post and say wow, what a stupid move and it seems the owner is just cash obsessed. Already moved to Simkl as I had 400+ items on my Watchlist, the crazy thing is I was about to buy VIP this week to support but not anymore eh just can’t support this trash move
11 Likes
Basing this kind of decision on just the last 3 months of activity feels like an incredibly unfair and shortsighted assessment of the platform. Like I pointed out in my previous message, a lot of users—more now than ever—will have periods of inactivity due to things like less free time, poor mental health, or general life circumstances. The fact that they may not have been active in the past 3 months doesn’t mean they’re not engaged with, contributing to, or reliant on the platform—regardless of their VIP status.
On that note, how many of the accounts you’re counting were created in those 3 months? How many were actually active for the entire 3 months, and how many just tried the service and dipped? Using only 3 months of data is hardly an acceptable sample size for making such a significant decision for a service that has existed 10+ years—especially a decision that will limit free users to just 100 items in their watchlists. Unless, of course, you weren’t interested in reflecting the actual numbers, just finding one to support your decision.
Let’s not forget—the entire backbone of Trakt is built on the contributions of free users. Not just from a community standpoint but also in terms of the data they maintain elsewhere. The same data that powers the services you scrape from, right? Decisions like this feel like a slap in the face to the very people who helped you build and sustain the platform in the first place.
21 Likes
I appreciate the need to keep your business thriving, but this didn’t have to be user-hostile.
Giving everyone some advance notice would have helped. I’m a developer and I’ve first heard of this change from an affected user. Knowing in advance that the limits would affect many more of my users, I’d have planned some improved messaging ahead of time. Instead, I need to drop everything and scramble to adapt. This is disrespectful to the developers who have invested countless hours in supporting your platform and helped grow your user base.
And a couple more things you could have done:
- Giving users some insights behind the change from the start. Even now, it still looks like a cash-grab and that’s not a good look.
- Offering your affected users a discounted price on their first year as a gesture of good-will. Alternatively, a grace period for existing users while limits get applied to new ones for a time.
Those wouldn’t make everyone happy but would have helped your users feel like they weren’t just being taken advantage of.
21 Likes
If at least it was the free tier limitations first and only after that the raised VIP prices, fine.
But instead of that, first the VIP prices were raised and only then the free tier was restricted further. The limit changes in 2022 made sense to curtail abuse with extremely large lists, while these ones just give a bad look, indeed.
Again, I’d be content with a cheaper VIP Basic/Lite with a larger limit than the free tier, but without all the other VIP stuff which could be the Premium tier. Essentially, what they previously had with the VIP and VIP EP tiers, except instead of the latter being just a way to contribute more for the same stuff, the higher priced has all the features while the cheaper has the limits above free tier.
EDIT: Or regional pricing, because I’m sorry if I don’t have an American or Northwestern European salary to accommodate this in my budget.
11 Likes
First off, I just want to say I am a longtime fan of Trakt. I fully understand the need for monetization, and I was even looking to see if you had any job openings at one point (I’m a software dev.) I appreciate you taking the time to listen and be active on here.
Here is the main issue from my perspective. I have used Trakt as the source of truth for my watchlist for years. Then, one morning, I discover that I can no longer add things to my watchlist; I have to pay or switch services. That is a horrible experience. If you are going to break core functionality for more than 1 in 20 users (and realistically, this group probably skews way towards your most engaged/active users), you really ought to give way more warning than a single email sent a month in advance (e.g. in app messaging, multiple emails, many months in advance).
It has also caused me to lose a lot of trust in the service in the team – how can I rely on a product that is apparently willing to unceremoniously yank away features I use or jack up on the price on a whim? If the company’s finances are indeed healthy as you say, it makes the decision to do this even more puzzling.
No matter what, this change would probably have spurred me to consider alternatives. But the way it was executed decreased the chances that I choose Trakt in the end.
29 Likes
FWIW, you can install Showly (Android or iOS). Then you can sync it with Trakt to import your data to Showly. Unlink from Trakt. Then continue to use Showly (for free or you can buy an in-app purchase–which is what I did to support them).
7 Likes
This whole thread highlights how many people use Trakt daily apparently, for free, never considered supporting the site, in fact never even joined the forum side to contribute, yet feel entitled to demand that a business rolls back a change because it’s setting limits (not ending) on a free service for certain aspects.
The mob mentality is quite amusing if you step back for a second and look at it. But clearly very few of those complaining are looking at it from a business owner’s view. Precisely what do you all think Trakt loses if as a free user you take your “business” elsewhere?
Wait until they find out they can no longer go sit in Starbucks, not buy anything, sit there and use their WiFi all day…
8 Likes
So when the freemium users jump ship elsewhere, and potential new users are put off by the ludicrous limits - what do you think will happen to the price of your subscription?
Hiking the price to $60 and a few months later pulling this is pretty nuts. I won’t pay $60 for a glorified spreadsheet, and quite frankly, neither should you.
FWIW: Don’t care about personal lists. Fine, the Watchlist and Collection change is insane given how Trakt works. You may aswell rename the free tier to free trial, because it will rapidly become impossible to use without paying.
19 Likes
Thats nonsense. You can still track the stuff you’re watching. No limits whatsoever. Expect you can log the same entry at the exact same timestamp.
A watchlist of 100+ items, really, are you actually ever gonna watch those items? Maybe cut your darlings and only list what you actually wanna watch in the near future.
4 Likes
Not sure why you think having 100+ items on a watchlist is hard to achieve. I struggle with my memory hence my watchlist contains things I want to purchase/rent or wait to appear on streaming services.
Everything on my list, I intend to watch.
It’s fine, already found an alternative. I really hope this change doesn’t inadvertantly result in the price of your subscription going up due to the lack of new free users coming along. At $60, definitely won’t be converting me.
20 Likes
Not sure why you think having 100+ items on a watchlist is hard to achieve. I struggle with my memory hence my watchlist contains things I want to purchase/rent or wait to appear on streaming services.
Everything on my list, I intend to watch.
Just curious, do you bother to manage the list and remove movies you’ve watched along with series that have ended you’ve also finished?
I really hope this change doesn’t inadvertantly result in the price of your subscription going up due to the lack of new free users coming along. At $60, definitely won’t be converting me.
Again, how do you think the impact of free users not paying like they never were is going to impact the cost? There’s no ads which is apparently something Justin is unwilling to entertain.
Plus, the vast majority of people, you included, complaining about the $60 seem to overlook they never supported the site at $30. And had they done so they’d be locked in at that price.
I have far more understanding for those who supported the site at $30 but didn’t have autorenew on and were impacted.