I guess everyone received the email entitled ‘The Future of Webflow in 2015’. It seems to be saying that the Personal Plan (currently $16 p/m) will be free - as it says:
To fully deliver on that promise, we’ve now made Webflow free to use: You can create (and host!) up to 20 websites without worrying about costs or the constraints of a time-limited trial.
Does anyone have any comments on this?
…also a big new release of Webflow is on the way. does anyone know what might be in this release?
Our Free plan allows you to create and host up to 20 public websites.
I’d say the main limitation of the free plan is that it doesn’t include custom domain hosting or the Export functionality, and sites are limited to 2 pages. Also, the public sites you design and host on the Free plan can be viewed by others publicly - so you can think of it like the free Github plan if you’re familiar with that service.
If you’re creating lots of custom sites for other clients, and especially if you’re hosting them on custom domains, I’d still recommend one of our paid plans, such as the Personal plan or higher that allows up to 20 private sites.
The Free plan is really great for those who are experimenting with web design and learning the ins and outs of Webflow without having to worry about time running out. I hope that makes sense!
We will release more details on features in the new updates soon.
Custom domains means that webflow hosts your site but uses a custom domain you choose like yourwebsitename.com. They provide the hosting if you are unfamiliar with exporting and hosting on your own separate service.
Thanks for your reply. I already subscribe to the annual personal plan and as my sites normally exceed 2 pages. I export my sites as need to add CMS, so the free plan would be a non starter for me.
I haven’t really had chance to use Webflow fully. I’ve published a 1 page site (on my host) and created a few unpublished multi-page sites. My feeling it this is a great product for writing simple (1 to 5 page) pretty sites but struggles on the bigger stuff. Better drop-down navigation is a must for any new release, and perhaps a much simpler interface. I understand CSS very well but struggled at times to get pages to format well. It could be my lack of experience with the product but for most users I’m sure they will just want to drop content in and go and not be concerned about floats,blocking etc. Is this likely in the new release?
I subscribed to have a vehicle to write quick and easy HTML5 sites so am looking forward to seeing what turns up!
Wow, i really hope they don’t dumb down webflow the way you suggest. The whole point is to allow designers precise control over all parameters available as if you were a developer yourself. I think if someone is looking to have a super simple way to build drag and drop sites, go check out wix or squarespace or any of the dozens of other clunky awful but easy to use alternatives. I personally love webflow and have learned exactly what every parameter does and I don’t find it hard to understand at all. And I had zero CSS experience going in, just HTML.
There’s a lot of room to bring a ton of ready made modern and trendy widgets without messing with how WF works today. I think widgets such as super simple better drop down and stuff aren’t coming at a faster pace because WF is young and the team seem to be reworking some basic functionalities… so it’s better to wait to publish new widgets, for them to benefit from code rewriting.
No, i sell it as a CMS with a Monthly price, and I’m the one in charge of updating the website. Of course I will show my client how to add/update things. Imagine Websites only managed and updated by a Web designer. This is the future of web I think, every small business will pay DAAS, Designer as a Service in the next years. I include everything in my package, Facebook branding, Twitter branding, 1h per month of design advice, email, hosting, domain name, support, etc… The referral program will have a place of choice in a Setup like this.
I think everybody is screaming for a CMS until they have to pay extra for it… then a lot of designers stay just using the Designerstool. My message for Webflow would be: Make that CMS Free for use (hosting can only be at Webflow) and i will be sure a lot of sites will come…
I already pay for Webflow from 1 year now. I don’t think that no one will scream if the price is adjusted. But I also think that the price will remain the “same” for personnal and pro. I think that because a CMS feature is a common natural evolution for a tool like Webflow and user will stick more with them. After that, they should focus on selling a lot of Webflow account via Referral and CMS to midclass entreprise and big corporation,
Please do not dumb down Webflow! The precise control based on specific positioning/display model, etc. is the greatest thing about this program. I’m coming over from Adobe’s Muse (an EXCELLENT visual layout, wysywig/drag and drop tool but currently not responsive-capable) and I find Webflow beautiful and thoughtfully designed.
I forced myself to learn some of the basics just to work in this app.
Also, custom CMS/WP style integration/add-ons would be excellent product additions. I would pay good money for these kinds of extra features and functionality.
I’m having a blast with Webflow currently - it’s a great tool.
I’m pretty sure Webflow will stay the way we know it. More smart widgets will be added and the new things they been hinting about. If(when) they add some kind of cms I don’t see any problems Webflow adjusting prices or maybe adding an extra monthly fee like when you have a custom domain. Its not for everyone, designers and developers still need to export the code and put in WP or whatever to meet client needs. Webflow has from the beginning had the designer and developer in mind.
Now some free thinking =D What if the CMS is exportable? That would be awesome. In designer you get extra widgets to make client editble areas. This would probably be a lot of work and support on the team though. Maybe you can export the code but the cms backend stays at Webflow? The most likely scenario is that you must host your site at Webflow, template and content stays there. If that’s true maybe you are able to export your entire site and any given time. I also wonder how the developer/designer can handle clients and editors. Its gonna be exciting to see.
Personally I don’t mind if it’s hosted at Webflow. My dream scenario would be that I as a designer with limited coding skills can design complex sites like ecommerce, front-end user based sites etc and handle multiple clients, and clients can have different permissions all within Webflow.
I still love Webflow for what I can do with it now. And I’m very excited to what they have in their sleeves =D “We’re doing something that’s never been done before”
