IFTTT is killing its pay-what-you-want Legacy Pro plan

Remember when IFTTT said it would allow its legacy users to set their own prices for the service’s “pro” plan, and that it would honor those prices “forever”? Well, it turns out “forever” has an expiration date.

In a message posted on its website, IFTTT just announced that its pay-what-you-want legacy Pro plans are going away, with current users on that plan slated to be migrated to the $5-a-month IFTTT Pro+ plan at the start of their next billing cycles.

In the notice, IFTTT argued that the “Legacy Pro” tier “no longer exists in our current offerings,” as the web applet service has added “nearly 200 new services, and dozens of new features” since first offering a pay-what-you-want option for grandfathered-in users.

“Our decision is driven by increasing infrastructure costs that have created an unsustainable pattern for our business,” the IFTTT message concludes.

IFTTT first made its “pay-what-you-want” offer back in September 2020, following the introduction of a paid Pro plan.

Initially, the deal was that IFTTT users who signed up for the Pro plan before October 7, 2020 could pay whatever they wanted for a year, with a minimum monthly payment of $1.99.

After an outcry from irate users, IFTTT relented and said that legacy subscribers could keep their pay-what-you-want prices “forever.”

But now, it appears IFTTT is reneging on that promise, and furious users on the IFTTT subreddit are already talking about a class-action lawsuit.

We’ve reached out to IFTTT for comment.

The move comes just a couple of weeks after IFTTT announced that it would yank access to Twitter applets from its free users, as well as reducing the number of applets that free users could create to two, down from the original limit of three.

IFTTT originally priced its Pro plans at $10 a month. After a series of changes, IFTTT paid subscription plans settled down to two: a $2.50-a-month Pro tier that (among other features) offers access to 20 applets, and a $5/month Pro+ tier that lets you create as many applets as you want.

Short for “If This, Then That,” IFTTT allows users to create web-based applets that connect a wide variety of services, and IFTTT integrations have long been popular with smart home users.

IFTTT was completely free to use until 2020, when the service first announced its paid “Pro” plan and began limiting free users to just three applets.

Here is the complete text of IFTTT’s announcement that it is killing off its Legacy Pro tier:

Nearly three years ago, we introduced a set your price option for our original Pro launch. Since then, IFTTTers have been with us as we have made many decisions about our business while maintaining our commitment to their existing price and plan. Since the initial purchase, our small team has continued to work hard. We have added nearly 200 new services, and dozens of new features, including the ability to add delays and our new AI tools. The Pro plan that we have supported for legacy users no longer exists in our current offerings.

On an upcoming renewal, legacy accounts will be migrated from our Legacy Pro tier to Pro+. The Pro plan that legacy subscribers currently have is most similar to our Pro+ tier, with unlimited Applets, filter code, and access to services that are exclusive to subscribers. Subscribers will now be able to add multiple accounts per service, in addition to other existing benefits and features such as increased rate limits and faster polling times.

Our decision is driven by increasing infrastructure costs that have created an unsustainable pattern for our business. It has always been important to us to have a starter tier that allows people to learn about what IFTTT can do and to keep our prices accessible for lifestyle users ever since we ended our model of being funded by partner organizations.