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Comment by michael_dorfman | Hacker News Reader

Are they really going to be using the product "monthly", or just continuously, on an ongoing basis?

I was thinking, I suppose, of Google AdWords, which has a pre-pay model-- you pay a chunk of money (as much as you want, with a set minimum), and they let your pre-paid funds are getting close to running out, so you can add more.

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Well, this depends on how people will use the system. Say, you're just tracking down a used car with best possible price. So you sign up for text notifications so that you're the first one - and once you bought the car, you no longer need these notifications.

Other usage patterns might assume regular, monthly usage.

Since I just launched this and have only a handful of users, I'm yet to see how it'll be used.

Edit: I misread your comment. They will be using this, in the best case scenario, regularly on ongoing basis - so not "monthly" in a sense of regular subscription services.

The problem with the "monthly" concept is that it forces me to estimate how many notifications I am going to get each month, and then choose an appropriate plan. For me, that was pure friction. In addition, I try to avoid recurring charges on principle.

So, from my point of view as a potential user, I'd be much more likely to just pre-pay a fixed amount.

Right. For that purpose, the system tells you (when you add links), on average, how many messages you will get per day. I know it is quite rudimentary for now, but I will be adding friendlier analyses tools soon, maybe even on the Pricing page - e.g., tell us what you want to monitor and we'll estimate which price plan you might want.

Also, I just got my first paid monthly subscription users this morning (1st day of launch, woot!), so I might be keeping this payment option for now.

However, I try to avoid recurring charges as much as I can myself, so great pre-paid options are a must.

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