Logos Now and Faithlife Connect: The Why

Background Facts

(This is context, not the explanation for Faithlife Connect; the explanation follows.)

The software world is moving to subscription products accessed from any device anywhere via the cloud.

If we were to start new today, we would probably be a subscription-only product.

New users are asking for, and expect, a subscription offering.

Existing users are accustomed, and often prefer, to pay once and 'own' the software. They expect that upgrades will need to be purchased every other year or so.

Logos Bible Software has historically been priced in such a way that our bills are paid by book purchases; we've never charged enough for 'software' or 'features' to actually cover our costs.

We wouldn't do it that way if we were starting from scratch today, but that's where we are based on history and user expectations.

Many (but thankfully not all) of our "best customers" have built 'large enough for now' libraries, and are purchasing fewer ebooks, yet continue to want new features, and (as everyone adapts to the continual upgrade model of apps, subscription software, etc.,) they _expect_ new features more often, and at lower and lower (or no!) cost.

As previously noted, we've never charged enough for our software to cover our costs; ebook purchases have to cover book production costs, royalties, AND our non-trivial software development and other costs.

At the same time, pricing on other ebook (and content) platforms with different cost structures and pricing models are creating pressure to reduce the price of ebooks, lowering the revenue that we (unlike the competitors) use to subsidize our development costs.

What Logos Now Attempted

Logos Cloud was our plan for a subscription-only product, for new customers who wanted it. It was an alternative to transactional purchase, which we still offered. (We underestimated how many people would be confused that it wasn't a primarily inside-the-web-browser experience, which only now works well.)

Logos Now was a hybrid offering, essentially a kind of 'dynamic price' for people who had made a transactional investment, allowing them to get Logos Cloud without paying full price, since they already had lots of books and a significant investment.

How Logos Now Failed

Access to new features early, as they were released, was just a little part of what we imagined Logos Now would be, which we hoped would make it more attractive to transaction users, helping them transition to a subscription world.

It worked too well, and the tail began to wag the dog. Logos Cloud didn't mature quickly enough (because it needed a stronger web app, which wasn't yet there) and Logos Now's 'new features every six weeks started to feel like its primary benefit.

New customers, who should have only needed to choose between "Buy" or "Subscribe" were regularly being sent into a very confusing, and frustrating, pitch to both buy AND subscribe. Pure subscription wasn't attractive enough (without larger libraries and a pure-web solution), but just buying and owning felt 'left out' because Logos Now offered 'new stuff without the wait.'

Worse, as the tail wagged the dog, Logos Now subscribers (who turned out to vastly outnumber Logos Cloud subscribers) began seeing the product's entire value as the regular release of new features. (Which was not the original intention.)

And trying to make a new feature every six weeks leads to smaller, less significant features just to 'check the box'. It hurts our ability to dedicate team energy to bigger features and changes that might take months to develop, but which deliver more value. 

Planning for the Future

The old and new models are less compatible than we'd hoped, and the user needs are different. We tried to make a hybrid model, and it just frustrated and confused people. Moreover, hybrid models mess up business models, contracts, etc.

We need a true 'no purchase necessary, pure subscription' product. That's Faithlife Connect, and it's a great value that offers Logos Bible Software via the web (and mobile, and even download if you want), as well as Faithlife TV, Courses, and more.

We also need to support the pure transactional model for people who want to 'buy it, own it, and not have to pay again.' That's what we've always offered, and what we plan to continue to offer.

We need to remove the 'purchase, own, and yet you still need to subscribe to get the coolest/latest/best' model which confused everyone and particularly frustrated new customers. In addition to creating unrealistic expectations for exciting new features every six weeks. (Because, tying back to the facts above, pricing it just for new features doesn't cover the cost to create them, and the kind of features we can ship every six weeks may have diminishing utility over time.)

No Harm Was Done

Behind all the smoke, there's a simple fact being obscured: Nobody lost anything with this week's announcement. We didn't kill Logos Now yet, we are delivering everything we promised, we are honoring everyone's subscription and delivering what was promised in it AND MORE.

We're just letting you know that around nine months from now we will no longer be offering Logos Now in the existing price and configuration. That's a lot of advance notice, and more than many companies give when they change product offerings.

Wait, isn't this harm?

"But I got new features for $X/month, and now it'll cost more!"

Kinda, but not really. Because we weren't going to be able to keep up the pace of high quality, high value new features on such a regular schedule. We want to do the best thing for the product -- whether that's a tiny feature, a massive big new feature, or a lot of invisible work on speed and stability -- without having to check a 'cool new feature' box every six weeks. So that part of Logos Now was fading out anyway.

"But I passed up purchasing the feature set, and now I'll lose it if I don't double my monthly subscription cost!"

We have tried to address every case of this through credits to help you purchase the feature set, and thus lock in the new features even if you cease subscribing. It was our intention that every Logos Now user who'd chosen to 'upgrade via Logos Now instead of purchase' have the option to re-make that decision, choosing purchase-for-ownership, with the help of a credit.

"You're punishing your best customers!"

No. We've done detailed analysis of what people invested in transactional purchase, as well as what they spent over the life-time of their Logos Now spend, and have emailed credit (or even free Faithlife Connect subscriptions) to ensure we're taking care of people.

"You didn't take care of me!"

If you didn't get an email, or think we somehow let you down, contact us. We'll make it right.

"Is this all about raising prices?"

Yes and no. Mostly no.

We have extensive data (25 years!) on what people spend on average to start with Logos Bible Software, and what they spend each year to grow their library, upgrade, etc. We have also built a business with hundreds of employees serving these thousands of customers and we know what it costs to provide that service.

Faithlife Connect is designed to be a great value for users, and a sustainable business for us. Its value is subscription access to Logos Bible Software tools, content, video, courses, and more. Yes, that product (like all web-based subscription products) will be continually updated -- often quietly and with little fanfare. But 'new features every six weeks' is not its value proposition: the value is the tools and content by subscription, with no large up-front cost.

Logos Bible Software for purchase continues to be what it was: something you can buy and never pay for again, or buy and add books and occasional upgrades to.

You can also choose to do both, and build your own hybrid either way. Subscribers can buy specific books; purchasers can choose to subscribe for the extra content and tools, and the _incidental, not primary_ side effect of some new stuff sooner.

I'm going to say that again, because it's important: "new features sooner" isn't the primary value of Faithlife Connect.

So yes, since everything in Logos Now is now in Faithlife Connect (and more, of course), and since Logos Now is no longer sold separately, you could argue that we raised the price of Logos Now.

But, since Logos Now's old 'primary value' was fading away, it's more like we are retiring Logos Now and offering a new subscription product, which you may not want, but which new users may value and consider a great deal. And we're taking care of you by giving nine months of notice, letting you 'rewind' to a purchase-the-new-features-and-never-lose-them model, or, if you see the value in Faithlife Connect and its extra content/tools, transition to the new subscription product.

“I am not going to renew.”

It may be that you don’t value the other components of Faithlife Connect, and simply want to stay up to date with new versions of Logos Bible Software. In that case, you may not want to subscribe to Connect, and simply stay with the existing upgrade model. We hope to keep adding value to Connect in order to make it a smart move for everyone, even if they have already invested in Logos Bible Software, but that’s an individual decision based on what’s important to you.

My analogy attempt:

You subscribed to a weekly paper news magazine for $100 / year. They announce a new product that is a subscriber-only news website with daily updates, plus a monthly paper magazine, plus a gym membership, for $200 / year. Every present subscriber will get the new monthly magazine and the gym membership now, and the weekly paper news magazine will continue through the end of your paid subscription, but then you'll have to pay the higher price or cancel.

Is this sad? Maybe, if what you loved was a weekly paper news magazine for $100, and if you don't want to read online daily or go to the gym.

Are you being cheated? Not if they deliver your paid subscription through its term. And you're getting more than promised for the remainder of your term.

Is this raising the price of the news? Yes and no, but really it's just offering a different product configuration at a different price point.

Shouldn't they offer the original deal too? Things change, and businesses need to offer products that are financially sustainable and that work in the market.

Technology changes, by definition; those changes aren’t always just about the tech, though. We are all navigating a major change from buy to subscribe in lots of businesses. It’s here now all over the web, and it’s rolling up all the older software business models, and then it’s coming for everything else -- maybe in surprising ways. (Most of us probably won’t buy cars in ten years, but will subscribe to transportation services.)

We’re doing the best to navigate these changes at Faithlife while continuing to serve you well. We understand that every change has the potential to frustrate someone’s plans or expectations, and we’re trying to do it as gently and wisely as we can. Sometimes we make mistakes, or launch things that don’t turn out the way we plan, and sometimes we’ve got to take another shot at it.

I’m sorry when that frustrates you, and promise that we will continue to try and do right by every user, even if we have to address each user’s situation specifically. We will also continue to listen to your feedback; it is the most important thing in helping us make decisions.

Thanks for letting us know what you think, even if you're unhappy.