We don't plan on monetizing our existing users. As early users, they're providing their value with feedback and helping us work out the kinks.
Once the app is monetized, all new users will have to go through that. Even then, I think a free period is a good idea or maybe a freemium version. The only risk with freemium version is giving away too much or too little for free.
Trust me, it's not just you. That is exactly why I couldn't use any of the budgeting apps. I'm an adult and I don't want to be told by an app where I can spend my money.
Funded takes an "anti-budgeting" approach. You only set up your obligations and savings. You're left with discretionary spending that rolls over every paycheck and you can spend it on whatever you want. Not tracked and not budgeted.
Thanks! It's free for now because it's new. We want to get an initial set of users, polish the app further, and then start the monetization.
Right now, I'm leaning towards a subscription model because it makes the most sense. I think YNAB is too pricy and a personal finance app can sustain with a $2-3/mo subscription.
Is there any other monetization model that we should be looking at?
After struggling with Mint and YNAB for a while, I figured that I didn't really want to budget. I was tired of categorizing and setting up $20 budgets. I ended up with a simpler methodology which is basically a MUCH simpler version of YNAB. It worked really well and I've stuck with this for a while now.
Just a few weeks ago, my partner and I launched Funded [0] that follows this method. Would love to get feedback from the HN community too.
Once the app is monetized, all new users will have to go through that. Even then, I think a free period is a good idea or maybe a freemium version. The only risk with freemium version is giving away too much or too little for free.