PlanetScale

The End Of The Free Tier

Smashing Magazine

Juan Diego Rodríguez, a front-end developer, has expressed his thoughts on the transition of services from free to paid models, exploring the frequency of this occurrence and its implications for users and developers alike. Rodríguez argues that these shifts, while inevitable in the business realm, can be especially challenging and frustrating for users who have invested time and resources into a service during its free phase, only to find themselves suddenly facing a paywall. For example, the recent decision from PlanetScale to remove its free-tier hosting plan has caused uproar amongst its user base. Rodríguez states that while it is understandable for businesses to use free tiers to increase growth, customer transparency and clear communication should be prioritized. He suggests that a service's transition to a paid model should be presented in a way that allows users to make an informed choice and better prepares them for such changes in the future.

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