Blues Wireless Ditches Subscriptions, Launches "Freemium" Notehub Pricing Model
New pricing model means that those "prototyping and testing" should never have to pay a penny in routing charges.
Blues Wireless has announced a new pricing model for its Internet of Things (IoT) offering, dropping ongoing subscription fees for a consumption-based model that only charges for what you use.
"Our core objective is to eliminate the complexity involved in connecting IoT devices to the cloud," claims Ray Ozzie, founder and chief executive of Blues Wireless. "The Notecard has fundamentally changed the game, eliminating complexity in part through embedded cellular. Today, we're changing the game again with Notehub, eliminating complexity by embedding PaaS [Platform-as-a-Service]. From device to cloud: No subscription required."
The company hit the ground running a year ago with the launch of the Notecard, a $49 cellular modem aimed firmly at the IoT and which offered a decade of bundled access at no extra charge — providing you stayed below a 500MB limit, at least. It followed this with the launch of the Notehub, a central cloud-powered platform for creating, configuring, deploying, and managing IoT projects — providing you were willing to pay a per-project monthly subscription for routing.
Now, those subscriptions are going away: The new Standard pricing tier allows for unlimited projects, users, and connected Notecards with no fee to pay. Use of the platform, meanwhile, will be charged using "Consumption Credits" — consumed for routing events. Each Notecard receives 5,000 Consumption Credits, with each account — but, it must be noted, not each Notecard — getting topped up to 5,000 Credits at the start of each month. Additional Credits, meanwhile, start at $11 for 15,000.
"Enterprises and individuals are tired of the fee-based, multi-year subscription model. People want simplicity, affordability, control, and transparency," claims Jim Hassman, president and chief revenue officer of Blues Wireless. "Every single company and person we have shown this pricing model to has confirmed that this is the future of IoT."
More details on the new pricing model, including its price-on-application Enterprise tier, can be found on the Blues Wireless website.