What additional functions are provided with Premium services? I see they are described as optional. At the expiration of a 12 month contract period, what level of functionality remains? Will existing automations continue to operate with non-optional service, or just those with no cloud integrations? I'm getting ready to pull the trigger and these questions came up when I reviewed the terms of service. Thanks for any clarification you can provide.
We have not rolled out any premium services yet. When we do roll out premium services, we will communicate clearly what they are, before one can use any of them.
The price for the premium services will be $49.95 per year. Premium services are related to the cloud infrastructure.
Keep in mind, that not all cloud services will be bundled in the “premium services”. We already have basic cloud functionality that comes with the hub, and will continue to work without a subscription, including popular 3rd party integrations (E.G. Life360), mobile presence, smartphone notifications and more.
Yes, everything that is not part of a "premium feature" will continue to work.
2 Likes
Does the 12 month included period start when the premium features are available?
Bumping this topic as I am new here and trying to decide how to go forward. As @bobbyD Bobby stated:
That is good! Nothing is worse than having a feature that works one day and then stops the next. However, regarding the cloud feature...let's say that is 'Nest' for example purposes. Day 1 I pay for the premium service, day 2 I install my Nest Thermostat. Now, day 364 I decided that the Nest is great, but I have no other cloud functions to add so I am going to let my subscription lapse. Does, on day 365, the Nest Thermostat stop working? Or does it remain, but any NEW cloud services would require a subscription?
Thanks!
I don’t know for sure, but “access to premium features” is a yearly subscription. No pay, no access. I suspect premium features will be things that require cloud storage, not just access. Nest will probably be a non-premium type. Maybe remote viewing of security cams will be premium?
1 Like
Is that 49.95 per each premium service or 49.95 for all premium services in a bundle?
I’m not sure there’s anything decided yet. 
This is about as much as has been shared thus far...
I infer that the $49.95/year fee is for all of the premium services, not each. But it's too soon to know for sure.
Personally, I am happy to pay $50 a year if it means the Hubitat platform stays viable, supported, and receives continuous improvements. It also means that my data is MY data. Privacy is a good thing.
4 Likes
We have decided not to go this way, and are no longer packaging Hubitat with a "premium service" option (the FAQ was not up to date). Instead, we are offering Hubitat Elevation with the basic cloud services and future mobile app included, not for a separate annual fee. We may still bring out fee-based services in the future.
20 Likes
I would recommend that the future mobile app be a Premium service. A stripped down, basic access version could be bundled free.
Obviously, the issue is that any feature offered for free can't later become "Premium" without pissing everyone off. I only just ordered my Hubitat, but from the little I've seen, while "in development" new features are experimented with and released rapidly. Later, maybe they're expanded, or polished. Or ignored as good enough. That's great, but if a basic new feature is offered, but can't be expanded or polished later for lack of ROI, the basic feature can't be pushed to Premium - it creates a Catch-22. Without the Premium platform, only what drives sales for the platform can be given resources. What I'm getting at is this...
-
Do offer Premium services. Seems most power users are willing to pay to guarantee future platform stability (it's a massive stretch to call myself a "power user", but this includes myself).
-
Figure out before releasing new features whether it could or should be folded into Premium since it's far harder to move them later (if not impossible). This "we may decide" is going to majorly bite you in the â– â– â– .
It'd be easy enough to make the app a paid one, with a limited function trial type for free.
There is no doubt a misunderstanding of our approach here. Our mobile app is not at all comparable to the ST mobile app. I think it's fair to say that anyone coming from ST will call it "stripped down, basic".
Please consider that the ST architecture was largely designed around their mobile app and the cloud. The IDE was sort of a side show. Many aspects of their architecture stem from this. The ST mobile app was like a chop-a-matic: it provides automation configuration, device joining/naming/organizing, a means of control through tiles, mobile presence, notifications, etc.
Hubitat set out on a fresh thought based design to our architecture, based on a local hub. This turns the model completely upside down from ST. It makes the mobile app an accessory, not the center piece. It makes the cloud an accessory, not the center piece. Our mobile app is not intended to do what ST's does, nor really resemble it. It will provide mobile presence, notifications, and dashboard access. It will not provide automation configuration, device joining, etc. All of these functions are provided on our hub through its web ui. We are not going to charge for it.
This is actually a misquote of what I said back in March. What I said was that "we may still bring out fee-based services in the future". I did not say that we may decide to take something you have now, and start charging a fee for it. There is no "bite you in the â– â– â– " coming in the future. If and when we bring out fee-based services, they will be introduced as such, not bait and switched. It's curious that people are worried about our ROI if we don't change this and somehow flip the business model. We don't have that worry.
For now, our obvious goal is to provide a very stable platform that offers reliable, fast and secure home automation. Any customer of ours can go their own way, and what they have today is going to continue to work as well as it does today. They are not dependent on our cloud, nor is the code in their hub going to suddenly grow fangs and become unstable or cease to function the way it does now. Platform stability is pretty much baked into our approach.
9 Likes
I find it fascinating how often customers in these online forums (not just here, but ST, Blink etc) can have such strong opinions about corporate strategies like this when we are, as customers, not privy to all the information that company management and staff are.
1 Like
Facts? We don't need no stinking facts !!!
2 Likes
And, IMHO, having a less stripped down version would be one possibility for a premium feature. Personally, I would want an app to be able to control devices (on/off) and check device status. But, I'd also be willing to pay for more features, even if I don't use them very often.
You misunderstand me. I'm saying that since you won't "bait and switch", every new feature added is one less thing that could have been Premium. What are "quick fixes" for now might have otherwise been ideal candidates for more full-fledged Premium options, and after having been partially implemented, it becomes too late to switch tracks. You guys are adding features left and right, which I'm certainly not complaining about - it was a major factor for me buying a Hubitat! - but what will be Premium? ALL that I am saying is that I recommend the decision for Premium services be made sooner rather than later. If you folks already have ideas, then perfect.
There is hardware/software stability and what I'm referring to as "platform", which includes expanding to keep current. Although Hubitat looks to be largely immune to hardware/software instability, the entire HA industry is extremely unstable. None of use can guess where HA products will be in 5 years. Obviously, I think everyone's hope is that Hubitat becomes the killer app for the entire HA industry - who wouldn't want that?! But, if Hubitat goes out of business, then it won't. Without a subscription model, there's a finite number of people even remotely interested in another hub, and then the money goes bye-bye.
It amazes me how many people look a gift horse in the mouth instead of just riding it.
1 Like
Well, gosh, maybe because SmartThings was bought by Samsung within a couple years, which did no favors for development.
I don't want to ride a gift horse for a couple years. I want my attempts at automation to be made easier, responsive and stable. Getting automation to work right on any platform is a pain in the â– â– â– (and wallet). I have better things to do than to start all over on a new platform. I'm switching to Hubitat because it looks like ST is a failing product. See above. I rode the SmartThings horse. Now I'm abandoning it for Hubitat. What's next? I hope better and better versions of Hubitat. So, to ensure that, rather than "just" riding it, I'm riding it while offering constructive advice, rather than just for instance offering useless platitudes about horses.
1 Like
My comment was meant to be lighthearted. I am very appreciative of the Hubitat product, price point, staff and everyone who takes the time to post here. If it came across wise, then I will try and do better in the future.
Hey, give us some credit!
We live this business 7 x 24 and have done so for over two years. We have traversed these issues many times over. I pointed to the marktheknife post because you can't really expect us to engage in a full-on business strategy dialog here, and it's sort of a reach to think that you have hit upon the solution to whatever business model issues we face. 
We do appreciate your enthusiasm and desire to see this platform be a mainstay in the industry. We work toward that goal every day as best we can. Bear in mind, that at launch we had to play catch up, are still playing catch up, but soon we will have caught up with what you guys expect and need from a solid home automation platform. Then we will keep going!!
10 Likes
