Given that, at the moment, Trakt is absolutely not worth $60, and that not only has it not improved, but has actually worsened from my perspective as a user, here is what I would expect:
Shut down Trakt Lite: it’s a pointless waste of resources.
Localization of the site and content: users have been requesting this for years. When it finally arrives, it’s on Trakt Lite. What’s the point? (See the previous point: Trakt Lite is a waste of resources that should have been invested in the main platform).
Separate handling of anime: there are three main content categories — movies, series, and anime — each with its own distribution and consumption model. Just as movies are separated from series, anime should also be treated separately: they are not TV series, they are anime. They deserve a distinct interface and a separate database. TMDB is seriously lacking in this regard. That’s why, in addition to Trakt, I also use AniList. (On Sinkl, for example, anime are managed independently).
Custom posters: this feature is borrowed from Letterboxd. Default posters are often ugly or change constantly. Every user should be able to choose which posters they see and which ones others see in their lists.
Multilingual comments: I rarely comment on movies or shows because, even though I speak English, it’s not my native language. I understand the moderation concerns, but in 2025 — in the era of AI — it’s hard to believe there’s no proper solution for multilingual moderation. (On Letterboxd, you can comment in any language).
Removal of Younify: automatic tracking is a nice idea, but I would never hand over my access tokens (which are equivalent to giving away my username and password) to a third-party service. And let’s be honest: everyone knows the price increase came because of Younify’s cost…
Sharing on Threads: the necessary APIs to enable this have existed for a long time, yet nothing has been done, despite Threads having over 350 million active users. It should be in your interest to encourage sharing on as many social platforms as possible, don’t you agree?
No limits on lists for free users: I use those lists myself, as a current—or rather former—VIP user; they are a benefit for everyone. Moreover, they are shared on social media or among friends, generating word-of-mouth promotion (see the point about Threads: encouraging sharing should be in your interest, right? A free user has less to share—namely, lists).
Side note: as I said, your service is not worth $60 (sorry), but honestly, it wasn’t even worth $30 (sorry again). Still, I used to pay that amount symbolically to support something I liked. But $60 now feels like charity… maybe it’s time to actually give something back. Something much more substantial.
I would have preferred a price increase for any other reason than this. As a privacy-conscious user, not only is this not an improvement of the platform, but rather, it is a deterioration: I am basically being asked to pay more to get less.
Anime - While I’ve never watched anime and never will because I just don’t get it, it’s obviously a source of contention for a large number of users and is incredibly frustrating to them. Being obstinate about building on providing what those users need is limiting the growth of Trakt, so yes any improvement would benefit everyone.
Custom posters - While I agree, I think you’ll find this is to a large extent limited because of the copyright issues on posters. That’s what created a problem for Plex also. This might not be as easily solved as you’d hope.
Multilingual comments - I’ve never understood why websites limit the use of any language. Translation is in 99% of the cases a click away for those not versed in a language.
Removal of Younify - Actually I’d prefer to see it remain as an add-on additional purchase. I find it useful and would have been more than willing to pay extra for it to have it as an extra perk. But I’m guessing there’s a basic minimum needed as a guarantee to make it work. I’d think a $30 without Younify and $60 with would be fine.
Sharing on Threads - I find it ironic that you have privacy concerns with Younify but are willing to hand Meta all your data. No thanks. Absolutely no way. Not in a million years do I want meta to even remotely sniff at what I watch. Their whole platform is invasive enough as it is.
No limits for free users - Again here nope. The business model for Trakt can’t work when you have a very minor percentage paying for support while not getting much more than a free user. Sure, have a completely free tier, but with all the restrictions currently in existence. But then offer those free users a very minimal fee of $0.50 - $0.99 per month (whatever the lowest allowed number is) to at least generate something for unlimited lists if that’s what they need. Then we will see how many of those freeloaders actually put their money where their mouths are.
No copyright issues. Posters are on TMDB, just let the user choose instead of automatically selecting the first option. They would have the same license as the actual posters, they are all available through the TMDB APIs. This is what Letterboxd does.
Being privacy-conscious means knowing how to manage your data. I should be able to give Younify access to my Amazon or Apple accounts, for example, so that they can do what they need to do, without having guarantees that they cannot also do something else with my data. On Threads, on the other hand, there is no personal data that I have not intentionally and consciously provided to them. A stark and enormous difference.
Lists have minimal impact, but on the flip side, as I wrote, they have a huge “publicity” effect: they must be easily created and shared by everyone, and be used as a tool to get the word out about the service. I myself came here years ago I came by following a list that was shared with me, then I stayed for the rest, even paying as a VIP user. Limiting lists in free users goes against the interests of the platform itself.
Also because no one is ever going to pay $60 to make a list that they can do for free on their phone notes…instead, for example, they will gladly pay to get charts and statistics on what they have watched, just like I did.
Oh, I get that. The issue is, they don’t have a good way to “monetize” free users, while free users still have a “cost”. Right now the minority of VIP users are “subsidizing” the free users, and that’s just not going to be sustainable long term because they’ll need to keep increasing our costs to pay for them. But, if there were options to still pay something but just less, it might strike a balance that minimizes future increases for everyone.
Anime series are objectively TV series. They are animated shows that air on TV in Japan. Same with anime movies.
They definitely do need a new database.
Pretty much agree with everything else except with no limit on lists for free users. It’s reasonable for there to be some limit. It’s just the current one is too much.
One thing I’ll add is to add tracking beyond series and movies. Instead of Traktcasts they should have just added podcast tracking to the site. Add books and games. YouTube. Let us create custom Trakt pages.
They should have introduced a way better platform for everyone to support or demote specific ideas or projects.
You can hardly debate something in a forum with so many different users and such varying interests and usage profiles, and expect to get a realistic impression of what the general users would prefer or prioritize.
That said, the absolutely only VIP feature that ever mattered to me was “advanced filtering”. And I think by now most of that (or at least “Watch now”) became part of the free user model too?
Of course, now that I intend to leave data export also is a valuable VIP feature. And I have more than a year left to put that to good use.
No, anime are structured differently from TV series and their seasons. They follow a cour-based logic, with different titles for each narrative arc. On Trakt, there’s a complete lack of coherent handling for related content (OVAs, movies, specials), which are often mistakenly placed in a generic “special season” or ignored entirely.
Just look at how AniList, MyAnimeList, or the anime section of Simkl work: they take a different approach compared to Trakt because tracking anime requires different criteria than those used for TV series. This is simply because anime are not TV series.
The main problem with the $60 is that you need money for the developers. Surprisingly, this money grab section came with Trakt Lite. A completely unnecessary thing that eats up money and nobody wanted. Except trakt.tv itself.
Unclear, lousy handling and above all list-less, which is what most users use trakt for besides tracking.
In addition, a completely different voting with steps 3,6,9 and no longer 1-10. Voting via trakt Lite spoils the logic of trakt Rating.
Trakt Lite simply has to go. The focus should be on trakt.tv, for which many people have been willing to pay for years.
But not worth $60 in any case.
I’ll have to see if trakt finds another option otherwise I’ll be gone from April 26 as my lists and content are more important to me. Thank goodness there are other platforms like Simkl.
I’m quite sure no matter how many good suggestions people in this forum could come up with, nobody from Trakt will listen.
It seems we are way past the point where they cared about user feedback, the decisions have been taken already. It’s as simple as that: suck up and pay the new prices or go f*ck yourselves - the new prices stick.
Compared to the last time when they decided to limit the free tier and increase the price to new VIPs, this time not even @Ohifriend came to try and reason with the people. Probably because now even for him it would be difficult to defend Trakt. Sadly.
This is not a different structure from TV series and their seasons at all. “Cour-based logic” just means 12-13 weekly episodes as the standard. Not different at all from a lot of American TV shows.
with different titles for each narrative arc
So what? Shows with named story arcs is not unusual.
On Trakt, there’s a complete lack of coherent handling for related content (OVAs, movies, specials), which are often mistakenly placed in a generic “special season” or ignored entirely.
They should be in the specials section or as a separate entry if it’s a movie. That’s fine. An OVA is no different from a DVD special of a non-anime show. It’s quite literally exactly the same.
Just look at how AniList, MyAnimeList, or the anime section of Simkl work: they take a different approach compared to Trakt because tracking anime requires different criteria than those used for TV series.
The way AniList or MAL does it is not a requirement. It’s just how they decided to structure their database because it’s anime-specific and different seasons have their own info. It’s not necessary for a general movie and TV show tracker. It’s better for it to all be in one show entry.
Trakt does not need to follow Simkl’s footsteps. Like I just checked and yeah this is a mess.
This is not a mess, this is how anime should be shown and how those who watch anime want it to be shown and have been asking Trakt for years for it to be shown. If you search on AniList you get the same results. And this is because, I repeat, anime is anime, they are not TV series.
This, also MAL clearly states they make a new entry for each season (“cour”) because they don’t want user lists to have something as forever currently watching.
They have their own little guidelines. But that doesn’t make the content anymore special than western TV, or eastern dramas if I you will.
7 entries with the exact same title in the search results with the English translation in much smaller text below is a mess and is not how it should be shown. MAL and Anlist at least have the season number in the title.
this is how anime should be shown and how those who watch anime want it to be shown and have been asking Trakt for years for it to be shown
I watch anime and I don’t want it to be shown like that on Trakt. And I’ve been on this forum for years and I’ve hardly ever seen serious movement regarding this request.
If you search on AniList you get the same results.
Again, it is not a requirement.
And this is because, I repeat, anime is anime, they are not TV series.
Anime is animated series and movies from Japan. That’s a TV series and movie. What’s your definition of a TV series?
Yeah, I’m certainly not trying to defend this decision myself. I am providing feedback because I really do enjoy Trakt. At least for me, they are the best solution out there and so I don’t want to see them disappear. Sadly, even though I love the site and services provided, even I am having a hard time stomaching $60 for a year given what I utilize (which is really just Plex integration and the stats, nobody does this better today with year and month reviews).
My concern is, since they dropped ads for free users years ago, the only way they can continue is to have VIP members that pay for the site and largely “subsidize” the free users. This isn’t sustainable, and now with this price increase it is likely even less so as people cancel VIP. I’ve been a VIP member for 13 years and have never ONCE considered cancelling. Even if they had raised my rates to $30, that would have still been worth it to me. At $60 I’m definitely looking at other options, and even considering just giving up those two “nice to have” features to revert to free usage (which will make the remaining VIP members have to bear the burden of subsidizing me).
