Customizable Dashboard Pricing

We are going to be launching a brand new customizable Dashboard for our Ezlo platform. (Alpha version in June fingers crossed)
Our goal is to make it the most customizable, most functional Dashboard in the market.

Imperihome charges 1.99 Euro per month
Sharptools charges: $3 per month etc…

Would love to hear your opinion about what price point is reasonable in your view…?
$1 per month, $2 per month, $3 per month and so on…

Please tell us your opinion by replying to this post.

There is continuous cost of employing developers and running an infrastructure to sustain these kind of operations that has software in it.
examples from imperihome for instance:

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I’m going to offer mine at no cost. That seems like the right price to me.

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Great to hear! When are you launching yours?
Will that work with Ezlo / Vera only or with other hubs and connected devices as well?
Don’t you see a server cost with your architecture?
Don’t you see a continuous development cost to support and maintain the product?

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I would say a one off price would be acceptable.

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What we envisage is a software and cloud service that needs to be maintained.
One off price model works when you are buying things that requires no update or maintenance.
In Software and Firmware, one off price model is not sustainable (Unless they charge you a huge upfront to cover themselves for next few years).

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I use an excellent app called automate, i paid for this app. The developer updates this app monthly and is always adding features. Your sevice would have to have bells and whistle to make me even consider a monthly fee.

ps. he also runs a server and is extremly good at support.

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I think we are talking cross purposes…
I am referring to “customizable dashboard” vs you are referring to “a rules engine”?
something like that for example from imperihome…


Rule engine (like what @rigpapa have built) is not what i was referring to here.

But do you not agree that in order for him to support his previous customers, he has to get new customers?
Imagine if he sold 5000 units only and then stopped selling…no new money coming in…how could he support himself?

If you rely on new customers to service the old ones, its a business model that will fail eventually (very similar to a ponzi scheme…Math will always catch up!)

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Yes he does have to attract new customers. He does that by making the app the best and good support. I am sure one day there may be a better app and his app will die, or he will walk away. edit/ the one thing that will kill his app/model is google and their march to restriction and not allowing users to make their own security decision

You will probably get some takers but that model is not for me.

on another note -
I could have a customisable dashboard if Ezlo/vera added widgets to there app. But it doesn’t matter to much to me as i don’t wish to open a mobile device or start a pc just to turn on a light. To me the interface is for trouble shooting and configuing. Everything else in my house can be turned on manually or via voice,logic, scenes etc. Most of which i have learnt from this and other forums and the people that offer free advice and softwareand only ask for a beer if you can afford it.

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If I may give another extreme example: Lets say this app was so successful and everyone who could buy it bought it and there is no new customers left. What will happen is that revenue will stop for that developer even though he had the best app in the world and everyone was using it.

Interesting to see you only view these things as turning on/off vs display devices reporting status or realtime information (like camera feed). Of course both views are legitimate. For example i would love to have few of my old tablets and my TVs scattered around the house where I can have “status” on devices as well as see camera output etc. like i said both views are valid.

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OK lets go to extremes. what if only one customer signed up for your service?

The Automate developer would have $21000000000 if everyone signed up, enough for several lifetime.

I do not see this as on and off, that was as simple example as i don’t find typing easy and like to condense what i say. I don’t require reports and such tho. I do have my cctv turn on when some one approches my door, but vera is not the best system for that, i only use vera to turn it on and send command to display on tv. I have a multitude of smart things and i like it when they sort themselves anfd i only put input in when something goes wrong.

All opinions are valid, you asked for opinions on pricing and i gave mine, i hope you find it of some use.

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much appreciated!

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Generally speaking, I am always happy to pay $3-6 (once) for an Android app, and if I find a piece of software (Windows, mobile, plug-in, etc.) especially useful, I seek out the developer’s PayPal link and heap gobs of money into it.

For example, I’ve happily paid all of this year’s pocket change to the creator of Reactor, which is (by far) the best and most useful application I’ve encountered to date. I call it “The Tasker of the Vera ecosystem!” Discovered it in late February of this year, and estimate it’s worth at 50 cents a day so far.

I’ve never used a “custom dashboard” product like Imperihome, and would doubtfully do so in the future. Why? First and foremost: Cost. Not just of the software, but of the hardware involved in deploying it beyond my phone or PC (where I already have all the UI I need). Secondly, complexity. Setting up, maintaining and using an ex parte interface to mimic and control a system that I’m already the only manager of (nobody else in my household cares about nor wishes to learn anything about “Vera” or “Alexa” or home automation at all) only consumes more of my limited time and energy.

Third, installing tablet- or phone-based panels for family use would only lead to confusion (not if but) when something doesn’t work as advertised. “Not working as advertised” is – as we all know by now – the very cornerstone of Vera products!

As for pricing, what would I pay? Maybe up to $10 one-time? Not sure. I certainly would not pay an on-going monthly fee for such a product (and would happily steer others away from doing so … in fact, I often read that is the rationale behind people leaving Imperihome and rolling their own).

I initially purchased my (first) Vera for being self-contained, approachable and low-cost, with free support being touted among its many features. At the time, it was the best fit for what I wanted. Along the way, I’ve never felt the need for having a customizable dashboard, although I clearly understand it having value in some homes and workflows (not least of which is exposing a simple UI for a complex system). For me, it would just become another thing to maintain and explain.

I am eager to see what @rigpapa and others create, as that is where the true talent lies! Intrepid, gifted, generous devs like him have my unwavering support.

  • Libra
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This is one style of mine that I use in my house. Looks better on a tablet than desktop (better font fits). It has customizable tiles (layout, content, colors, dimensions, placemenet), create your own tiles/widgets, works across HA platforms (currently implemented for Vera, openLuup and HomeAssistant), all display and control is completely transparent to source platform, skinnable. Basic functions are pure JS, so it can run serverless. It also has widgets for camera views, media players, and RSS feeds. I run it on Kindle Fires all over the house.

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I wouldn’t pay a monthly fee unless it was totally compatible with multiple platforms, such as competitor hubs and likely Blue Iris.

SmartThings currently has 4 compatible dashboards that I’m aware of. Some are a 1 time per tablet fee and others are subscription. The primary dashboard with a subscription has a wonderful integration with Tasker, plus supplies their own rules engine. I believe that 1 is $20/year unlimited devices.

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Why not offer both?
If you are curious and want to try it for a few month after free trial you go for a subscription and if you love it you pay one off for lifetime.
I dismissed many apps cause of monthly fees, free or one time payment only works for me.

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I’m just generally opposed to the rent-seeking behavior of products these days. I restrict my consumption of such products to an absolute minimum. Sometimes it’s hard to avoid, but it’s worth my effort to try.

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Hi,

Depends, on whats included.

only vera, then it must be free.

But other systems, Netatmo, NVR, other HA systems. automowers etc etc. then yes, a one time fee

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I would suggest a free version with basic support (similar to ALTUI) and a paid version with more functionality. There could be a small monthly fee or a one lifetime purchase for users who are planning to use the app for a very long time. Similar to what Plex does for its subscription. I would happily pay for the app, just as long as it leaps beyond the current Vera app… meaning better/faster support, wayyy more customization, full support for third party plugins, customizable device configurations (ie: a layout for using the app as a TV remote) and so on.

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Like many others here I also do everything I can to stay away from monthly fees. I can accept one time payment or a fee for added functionality. For example remote cloud based use of a dashboard could come with fee but locally it should be free.

If the new dashboard does come with a pro version with a monthly fee I would like it to have the option to be able to pay for example for 1 or 2 years at once because I do hate monthly fees no matter how small.

Luckily I bought the Pro version of ImperiHome before they changed it to monthly fee. To bad it stopped working, hope they get it fixed.

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