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Comment by vishal_sahu | Hacker News Reader

Thanks for your feedback.

What if the startup says that in case if it fails or shut down, it will make the source code public? Even in that case, it will be quite tedious and challenging to host the application due to its complexity.

Will you be willing to spend some bucks (like 6/12 months subscription fee in exchange of the code?) so that there is no forced-commitment/attachment with the platform and you can host it yourself as and when needed.

We are planning to charge around $25 - $250 per month, depending on the traffic volume. All features will be available in all the plans.

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> What if the startup says that in case if it fails or shut down, it will make the source code public?

I don't know if marketing people will approve mentioning such a thing. And yes it's a big project to adapt a SaaS platform to self hosted or on premise. I don't see that happening after the death of a startup.

Paying more to get the source code could work. But in my personal case, I usually have small projects and a fair pricing is necessary. When I see a "contact us" price to do on-premise in SaaS for example, I don't even bother to contact and I look for something else. I can't afford it if I have to ask about the price.

>I don't know if marketing people will approve mentioning such a thing.

Thought to mention so that user know but no one will wait till that day or may be that day never comes.

> And yes it's a big project to adapt a SaaS platform to self hosted or on premise. I don't see that happening after the death of a startup.

Yes, that the fear that although some people may have the confidence but majorly of them will not be able to do anything with that code.

We would plan to keep the price open so as to gain the confidence. The user will know that this is also an option going forward and they also know the price in advance, so that whenever they want to switch, then they know how much to pay. Obviously the price will be dependent on the plan and the app usage, so simpler apps will be cheaper to export and vice versa.

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