TLDR; I have not read the entire thread because it is at 367 posts when I first jumped in.
To the OP’s problem of a 3 day lapse doubling his price I am with him. I have accidentally let subscriptions lapse due to mistakes or a credit card having expired. If someone has spent at least a year with you a little lenience would be nice. You have the data on how long a subscription was lapsed.
Personally I jumped in the annual pricing before there was a price hike because it was announced. I would only be a few-months-a-year subscriber at the higher rate. To be honest I subscribed just to support the podcast. It is my favorite part of TR. For me the app is just a nice perk to the podcast but I would not subscribe yearly for the current prices.
It will also vary each month if you subscribe monthly, depending on exchange rate. And depending on how you pay for it and your credit card you’ll have to probably tack on another 3.5% foreign transaction fee –of course this is not a TR specific issue. One nice thing with Zwift is at least it’s charged in CDN so while we’re still paying $4/mo more than our American friends, it’s a consistent hit at least .
It will also vary each month if you subscribe monthly, depending on exchange rate. And depending on how you pay for it and your credit card you’ll have to probably tack on another 3.5% foreign transaction fee –of course this is not a TR specific issue. One nice thing with Zwift is at least it’s charged in CDN so while we’re still paying $4/mo more than our American friends, it’s a consistent hit at least .
I have a few “travel” credit cards that do not charge foreign transaction fees. they are out there
I think TR competes with both in person coaching and software based cycling platforms. Quite frankly, I struggle to make a terrific argument for why I’m worth 10x more than TrainerRoad for a strict cyclist. For a runner or triathlete, yeah… but if you don’t think coaches are competing with apps like Zwift and TR, well… I think they’re eventually going to put all but the very best of us or elite level coaches out of business.
I don’t think that’s a reasonable question. This isn’t a strata, this isn’t a government, this isn’t a public company. If you’re giving them money out of goodwill, then say so… That said, the pricing increase does make it hard for me to even suggest to others to get onto this training program. Like, let me try to sell this to you, you have to get a bike, trainer and a pm to make this all work, for the potential to seeing gains, depending on your nutrition and overall stress. Yeah, hard sell, but I hope TRs calculations are all in order.
Nonetheless, the price increases for new or non-continuous users over the last 9 months have been very substantial. You can argue that $99/year was a total bargain of course, but I wonder how this will work out commercially. Are you trying to discourage existing users from temporarily dropping Trainerroad (say, for the summer) so that your revenue is less seasonal? Aren’t you concerned about growth?
Given all the negativity here, let me say that I appreciate how @Nate_Pearson handled the topic on the podcast. I think he took the community’s criticism the right way, and it shows why we love TrainerRoad.
Just locked in my annual subscription having now realised that I make use of the platform year round. Maybe less so in summer, but there is a time and place for an early morning session where the convenience of a structured session without getting kitted up is excellent. I’m also impressed by how quickly they’ve coded and released the fix for the annual increase so that it is the right grandfathered price.
I totally understand the conflict for @Nate_Pearson and the company but development is often financed by being able to demonstrate good consistent income. Having people drop in and out is not sustainable with their ambitions.
Depending on how you calculate insurance and other benefits into the fully loaded cost of an employee I’d expect a reasonably experienced mid-level software engineer (5ish years experience) to cost somewhere between $150,000 and $200,000 a year
As many others have pointed out TR should consider to implement different tiers of subscription plans and make people pay for new features such as analysis tools and others to come. My suggestion would be
Silver 9.99$/month or 49.95$ for 6 months (for the shop around / try out customer)
to include 3 plans (2 base plans volume low and mid and 1 speciality plan) and let the customer add one more plan for an additional 1$/month
Gold 129$/year no monthly subscription (for the loyal customer)
to include all the plans and to include the presently available futures TR offers
Platinum 189$/year no monthly subscription (for the loyal customer and supporter)
to include all the plans and all the to be developed new futures
I’m sure you’ll find enough supporters who are willing to pay for and to fund future plans to expand and enhance the TR platform. For all of us weekend warriors who want to stay fit during winter, you’re outpricing some of us and make us look stupid against those with “grandfathered in” plans paying double of what those enthusiasts pay. I know @Nate_Pearson has already said that as long as he’s the CEO, this won’t change. Maybe reconsider and don’t build your future plans for the platform on the back of potential new customers. Just a thought.
Any link between the cost of a product/service and its market price is purely coincidental. The company staff can be living in a campground or going around in chauffered Rolls Royces, that changes nada to the value of the product/service.
–of course this is not a TR specific issue. One nice thing with Zwift is at least it’s charged in CDN so while we’re still paying $4/mo more than our American friends, it’s a consistent hit at least 
.