If we find any success with selling cosmetics, I’m on board haha. (Eyeing sound themes in the early roadmap too and doing some exploration with our sound designer.)
1 Like
This is actually a pretty cool idea! One of the most original I’ve seen on here
The sci-fi and 8-bit sound packs in the original Clear were great, fun additions that I was happy to pay (a very fair) price for
Depends what the goal introducing pricing is:
• maximize the user base
• create profits
• be the entry point to a broader Clear ecosystem
My take: freemium model with paid individual features (ex: checklist themes, app icons, member-organized events). The entire value proposition for Clear is that it’s simple to use and that would be a great foundation for a free offering.
(photo: fencing arena)
I think a free version to get everyone on board makes the most sense. I might be in the minority here, but I despise subscriptions and would much prefer to pay outright, even if it was $20. I like the idea of charging for aesthetic upgrades as needed. Perhaps all of the above, subscribe or pay more outright but free to try maybe with limited icons/themes and a set number of lists.
2 Likes
I’m using Clear almost since the beginning and paid to get the app. For years, Clear hibernated with absolutely no answer on twitter, direct mail, etc to the paid users. For now, the beta brought one true key feature if you ask me : the info that the app won’t just suddenly disappear from the store and that I don’t need to export my lists right now.
In that context, I’m absolutely not ready to pay a subscription to just get clear out of its zombie mode. Paid iAP for themes (with a preview) are the way to go (could absolutely buy one from time to time). Subscription, if any, should not be linked to the legacy features, but to REALLY distinctive ones. I’m not talking about list theming here, but about collaborative lists, etc. Obsidian successfully selected this approach with two different subscriptions (one for cloud syncing, one for online diffusion).
2 Likes
I’ve used Clear off and on for a long time. I find it very helpful for long lists that I do infrequently (packing lists, some shoppings lists, interview subjects for work), but I use Fantastical for my daily calendar and to do stuff, and that works well for me. The feature I’d really like, and be willing to pay for, would be to find/reference/download my Clear lists on devices other than my phone. I wouldn’t have any issue paying $10/year for cloud-based support for that, and as some noted, to help out the developers (and, whether I like it or not, give 30% of that to Apple). I don’t think I get $20/year use out of the program. For my own part, I loved the simplicity and elegance of the original graphics and I’m not keen to play with them much. And I’m honestly so pleased you’re resurrecting this product!
1 Like
Most people who are engaged by this project have been using Clear for many years and paid to get the app. It seemed this point was being missed in the early newsletters, which mentioned the “quest to win back our spot on your Home Screen.” For many of us, Clear never left the home screen. That’s why we’re interested and/or concerned!
Your long-term user base is a miracle and your most valuable asset, so it seems the obvious first step is an affordable “Foundation Tier” to retain everyone who paid for Clear 1 (as well as those helping with the Clear 2 beta). Sorry to be blunt, but without us neither of these projects exist. If we can trust you will maintain the app for a small annual fee, I believe most of us will stick around.
I feel like the pricing strategy for many apps these days is to continuously turn the screws on their most dedicated users, and this would be a mistake. I still use Evernote, a great, poorly maintained app whose heyday was the same era of the internet as Clear 1. When I received notice of the latest price increase, I decided that I was finally out. There are decent, affordable alternatives, and I will take on the migration project because I’ve had enough. Don’t let this be you!
Unfortunately, a brilliantly simple app has limited mechanisms for driving subscriptions. For the free version, you can limit themes, icons, fonts, and the number of lists a user can create, but the skepticism expressed about selling cosmetics is valid.
Here is the part you don’t want to hear: The feature that would make paying for Clear truly worthwhile is iCloud cross-device sync.
I have seen this come up in other threads, and I understand it’s difficult, but it’s not impossible, and you have to acknowledge it as the greatest threat to the future relevance of Clear.
In the meanwhile, I think your best bet is to maintain a clean, simple, rock-solid app in exchange for a lower-than-you’d-like price that retains existing users and is not a barrier to new ones.
Clear is an incredibly special app and I hope to see it thrive for many years to come!
4 Likes
Looking ahead, given the recent buzz in the topics about Clear for Mac and iPad, I wonder if per-platform pricing would be reasonable to introduce when those apps are ready to launch. Cultured Code’s Things (which, along with pen and paper, sometimes competes with Clear for my attention) is sold as a one-time purchase per major version, per platform; The Iconfactory’s Tot is free on macOS, but US$19.99 on iOS, so the Mac app is effectively subsidized by people who want the iOS app.
These apps don’t have cosmetics they could sell, and this won’t even be relevant to Clear when the iOS app launches, but they’re interesting non-subscription pricing models. Things is Cultured Code’s only product and it apparently brings in enough revenue that way to be viable.
1 Like
I do think this is interesting, and I could see it helping make the math work for a future new Clear Mac given it being a much lower usage niche compared to iPhone. Maybe purchasing it on Mac could unlock a pack of exclusive cosmetics for Clear as well to play well with that side.
1 Like
This is what we’re currently looking at for our launch. Basically a cosmetics shop with some daily rotating options for sale:
The basic idea is that you might treat yourself to ones here or there that you love, especially after a day of some good work done with Clear.
The goal is to make enough from the people who love the app and get the most out of it, and because they want to treat themselves vs. gating key features and such.
It will by nature be pretty experimental but I feel like there is something here that feels aligned with Clear, enough to give it a try. Curious what you think of it ahead of running it by twitter/email update.
5 Likes
Speaking for myself, I will gladly purchase many (all?) of these themes since I’m aggressively anti-subscription without an option for a lifetime version. If this is the way to support the devs and extend the life of the functioning app while getting some cool themes out of it, I’m in. Even if that means spending around the monthly amount, $5-$10, that could’ve been locked behind a subscription fee.
Also, not sure if sound packs are on the roadmap, but I was partial to the legacy 8-bit one, albeit with some volume control next time.
1 Like
Yeah there is some world where we can capture a lot of the benefits (for building a sustainable business) of subscription while avoiding some of its negatives if this direction works. Fingers crossed!
Sound themes are something our sound designer Josh is starting to explore. Not sure if they would be ready for initial launch but agreed it should plug into this well.
1 Like
To add a different point of view: I’d be happy to see country/region based pricing - basically much cheaper prices than the US.
Others said 20$/year, or 20$/lifetime
Looking at the average&median salary helps me to understand the pricing, but wouldn’t justify it for me. In my country the average&median salary is around 1/5 of the US, and it’s still EU, so I think it’s a pretty good ratio.
For me 20$/year is outrageus, and I would not buy it for a 20$ one time purchase either.
I’m sorry to say, but however great it is, Clear is just a to-do app. If it will be subscription based or expensive, I’ll just switch to Apple Reminders. (And I’m saying that with all my love, as the original Clear was the first app I’ve purchased for iOS about 9 years ago…)
But that’s just a user point of view. From the business perspective it probably doesn’t worth it for you, and I understand that 
1 Like
For my two cents:
I am really excited by the idea of trying cosmetics for a productivity app, and do believe the Clear is in a unique situation to experiment in that space.
I want to put a vote in favor of subscriptions, since I would suspect that the anti-subscription community is more vocal than those who don’t mind or prefer them.
I also wonder if there could be a subscription that would unlock some or all of the cosmetics? Maybe something where if you are subscribed the items in the Treat Yourself store are free (kinda like they were in an earlier beta). Not sure if the numbers would work out, but could be a nice perk for supporting Clear on a continuing basis while not deviating too far from the “core” pricing model of cosmetics.
2 Likes
I figure à la carte cosmetics is the simplest place to start that kind of lets us dip our toes in all kinds of waters – free people can ignore them, some people might casually spring for one or two here or there, and others might love Clear and collecting them so much they are kind of subscribing as they go in a way.
Clear needs to make enough to keep it going and thriving. But compared to most apps on your home screen its costs are tiny and very indie scale. Really the only thing we care about past this baseline is delighting the most people possible with it and the kind of virtuous feedback loop this can create.
Very curious where the natural center of gravity ends up and maybe that could point us towards where to focus our business.
6 Likes
To me, Clear is beautiful. Anyway its true power is in the gesture and speed, the way I can use it, the way Clear can help me.
I may BUY the one theme that fit to me but not more.
Goodnotes is 30$ for its lifetime, or 10$/year. Subscription enables additionally syncing with other platforms.
Goodnotes will NEVER be an alternative to Clear! I mention it because I feel it solves other problems that are at least as worthy as Clear does.