CertPal

I was browsing the internet today and an interesting website caught my eye. Creately offers the ability to draw diagrams online and save them. You can also collaborate and comment on diagrams. There are a range of diagrams to choose from. Flow charts, UML diagrams, Wireframes etc. You can check out the complete list here. I managed to create a small diagram in a few clicks.

Flowchart:

So the next obvious question that came to mind was, how much does a tool like this cost. Its a pretty nice tool. You can edit diagrams online, no installation, no platform dependencies etc etc. So I traversed to their pricing page which asked me to upgrade, which lead me to the payment page. And this is where it got real confusing.

Pay what you want:

The payment page was asking me to choose how much to pay for the upgraded version.  My first thought was “Umm… are you mad ?”. I could easily type 5$ here. So just to check if they were joking I typed in 5$ and it actually took me to a paypal payment page for a 5$ bill payment (I obviously did not proceed with the payment because the tool, in my opinion, is certainly worth more than 5$). This got me thinking a lot. Their blog mentions why they are doing the “pay whatever your like” thing. Some of what is said there makes sense while some does not. For example

1. How do you handle abusive users. Those that want to use the tool but do not want to pay ? They will just “buy” the tool for 5$.
2. How sustainable is such a pricing model ?
3. Can you actually make profit or even break even on such a model.

I am glad that I am not at the receiving end of those questions. The parts that do make sense to me are

1. I can understand why a flexible pricing model will work. There are times I look at a product, then look at the price and go “no way !”. If I can choose my own “reasonable” price, I can purchase the product.
2. Although rare, some one might actually pay you more than what you bargained for, because they are so pleased with the product.

I am not sure what factors lead them to decide that this will be their pricing model. The ‘plus’ version of their software will supposedly be followed by a ‘pro’ version and the reason for having the ‘pay what you want’ model might have been to judge what users will be willing to pay and to generate interest. Whatever the reasons, the tool is worth a look.