Announcing New Thurrott Premium Pricing

Good news! We’ve lowered the price of Thurrott Premium from $64 per year to $55 per year.

To be clear, this is good news for everyone.

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If you’re an Alpha member—someone who joined Thurrott Premium in mid-2016 before it officially launched—we are now guaranteeing that you will always get the lowest pricing. Right now, that pricing is $42 per year, the Alpha renewal price that we offered last year. So the next time you renew, that is the price you’ll get.

For other Premium members, $55 is the new annual price, and the monthly price remains at $7 (which is $84 per year). That’s a nice drop from $64 per year.

But making this change does introduce a few wrinkles, which depend on when your renewal time comes.

If you just renewed Thurrott Premium—meaning since April 1, 2018—we are going to give you a prorated refund. The amount of that refund will vary depending on when you renewed and when you contact us, but we’re sending out emails to those who qualify. Because of some complicated back-end billing issues, you’ll have to step through a process where we cancel your old subscription and create a new one. But the net effect is that you will emerge on the other side with a refund.

Other Premium members will receive a renewal email 30 days before their renewal date. This means you can take advantage of the new $55 annual pricing starting at that time. And if you do so before that renewal date, you will receive a prorated discount for the next year. This discount will vary depending on when you renew, of course. But you will also have to step through that same process where your old subscription is canceled and a new one is created. The net effect here is that your renewal will cost $55 (or less, depending on when you do it).

The issue with this subscription cancelation/creation is that your payment provider may send you an email explaining that your Thurrott Premium subscription has ended. (This varies by the payment provider, and we can’t control this, sorry.) Remember, however, that you’ve also created a new subscription, so you’re all set moving forward.

Be sure to check out our Thurrott Premium FAQ for a bit more information about why we need to cancel/create your subscription. We believe we’ll never need to do that again, but the end result is solid: You’re saving money. And new Premium members, of course, will never need to deal with this.

Moving Thurrott Premium to this new pricing model has been a difficult process thanks to the back-end billing issues I mentioned above. And I would be remiss not to thank Tim, in particular, for his hard work in making this come together. Thanks, too, to Tina, Stephanie, Brad, and everyone else at BWW Media Group who toiled over this project. I think we’ll all be happy to put this one in the rear-view mirror.

Finally, thanks to everyone who reads Thurrott.com. You folks are why I get up in the morning, and I really appreciate your support.

Thanks!

Paul

 

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Conversation 58 comments

  • Martin Pelletier

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 5:11 pm

    <p>Cool!</p>

  • lwetzel

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 5:37 pm

    <p>Thank you!</p>

  • RobMuntz

    01 May, 2018 - 5:41 pm

    <p>Great! I would have paid $64. You guys are great.. I read and listen to the podcast(s) daily.</p>

  • dcdevito

    01 May, 2018 - 5:42 pm

    <p>Thanks Paul and Brad (and others) – $42 is a steal, as I've mentioned already, I'd pay that just for those videos you guys put together alone. But seriously, this is the only site I pay for, and it speaks volumes why. Keep up the great work, cheers.</p>

    • mclark2112

      Premium Member
      01 May, 2018 - 8:24 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268208"><em>In reply to dcdevito:</em></a></blockquote><p>I agree! This is the only site I pay for as well.</p>

  • jwpear

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 5:47 pm

    <p>&lt;Like!&gt; Already taking advantage of the alpha member pricing, but appreciate y'all looking after others and doing right by folks with pro-rated refunds. That says a lot about the folks behind this site.</p>

  • kherm

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 6:12 pm

    <p>Thank you for what you do! Where else would I get my Microsoft snark ?</p>

  • Cdorf

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 6:16 pm

    <p>Sweet! Thank you guys- keep up the good work!</p>

  • Troughley

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 6:56 pm

    <p>Well worth it!</p>

  • KPRROK

    01 May, 2018 - 6:59 pm

    <p>I like it when a price decreases instead of going up, shows that the people behind the site care about their readers and are sensitive to the economy…or they just realized they don't need that much money! Like others said, this is the only sure I pay to read, and the money is well worth it. Thanks for everything and I wish you continued success.</p>

  • gvan

    01 May, 2018 - 7:28 pm

    <p>I really like my subscription and plan to renew</p>

  • infloop

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 7:54 pm

    <p>Nice! Thanks for all the work you do.</p><p><br></p><p>Looking forward to the Build behind the scenes video.</p>

  • MarkG

    01 May, 2018 - 8:07 pm

    <p>Thanks Paul &amp; Brad for all you do – great site and I enjoy reading and watching the content, well worth the subscription!</p>

  • Eric Johnson

    01 May, 2018 - 8:07 pm

    <p>I'm still curious about your pricing I pay for Ars Pro at $25 a year and XDA ad free at $30 a year but your pricing is still double those publications. Tech Magazine subscriptions are around $20 a year.</p><p><br></p><p>Is it that you have less readership so you feel that you have to charge more to pay for the ~3+ full time staff?</p>

    • Th3

      01 May, 2018 - 8:37 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268385"><em>In reply to Eric_Johnson:</em></a></blockquote><p>Agreed. I'd happily pay $20-25/year, but $55 is just too rich for me. Not a reflection on the quality or value of the site, just my price point…</p>

    • Joe Blow

      01 May, 2018 - 9:55 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268385"><em>In reply to Eric_Johnson:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Curious where you got that 3 full-time staff number from…</p>

      • Eric Johnson

        02 May, 2018 - 12:10 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#268461"><em>In reply to 85Joe:</em></a></blockquote><p>Paul, Brad, and Mehedi.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      02 May, 2018 - 9:25 am

      <blockquote><a href="#268385"><em>In reply to Eric_Johnson:</em></a></blockquote><p>Obviously, we look at a lot of different things when it comes to pricing, and, as obviously, we do and will adjust that over time as needed. As to the specific price point, we want it to be as affordable as possible, of course, but it needs to be sustainable for us as well. We won't stop evaluating this. But this is where we're at now. That some other sites/publications charge different amounts is interesting, but I don't know anything about their businesses models or whether that actually works for them. </p>

      • Eric Johnson

        02 May, 2018 - 12:11 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#268600"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Thanks for the reply, a good point that they might not be charging enough I had not considered that option.</p><p><br></p><p>I also see that ARS has a $50 option as well.</p>

      • globexco

        02 May, 2018 - 12:25 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#268600"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Hi Paul. I'm a big fan, lurker and podcast listener of the site who is a bit confused: not by you, but the cynical comments here. I understand Windows is a mainstream product, but the news and insights you offer are extremely difficult to find elsewhere. It's shockingly hard to find legitimate, honest reports on Microsoft who actually have insights into the company (as much fun as modern tech logs are, the contributors tend to have very little actual real-world knowledge on the companies they report about.</p><p><br></p><p>I understand the pricing is expensive in comparison to some larger networks, and to the person comparing your prices to Amazon Prime, I think it's sad that any educated person could expect you to compete with one of the biggest corporations on the planet. This is rough because that mindset is out of your control.</p><p><br></p><p>With all that said, I am not a premium subscriber yet but I will think about it with this price drop. </p><p><br></p><p>Can I ask, do you have any plans to do more product reviews? For example, there is frustratingly little info out there about the Thinkpad X1 Tablet (3rd gen) and you are exactly the kind of person who I would want to hear discuss these products due to your sensible mindset and focus on real-world experience over specs on paper [the reason I dislike traditional tech blogs for product reviews].</p><p><br></p><p>Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon as a premium subscriber. :)</p>

  • djross95

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 8:09 pm

    <p>I was prepared for an increase, so this is a nice surprise! Always have enjoyed Paul's stuff, from tech to clutter to weight loss… 🙂 </p>

  • Wolf

    Premium Member
    01 May, 2018 - 8:58 pm

    <p>Very nice! I'll be renewing for sure. :)</p><p><br></p>

  • davidblouin

    01 May, 2018 - 9:07 pm

    <p>Hoping this is because you're making too much money out of this site and not the other reason ;)</p>

  • warren

    01 May, 2018 - 9:21 pm

    <p>I paid for the first year but didn't renew after it became obvious that Thurrott -wants- the withering, unending, dishonest negativity of a few specific people on these message boards. He seemingly -likes- having that as a hallmark of his web site and -wants- every post about Windows 10 be slatered with NUR THANKS URR WILL USE WRNDOWS SEVRN INSTRD, FREVER AND EVUR.</p><p><br></p><p>Not the kind of environment I am willing to pay to support. Sorry, Paul. Clean that shit up and I'll renew my subscription.</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      02 May, 2018 - 9:23 am

      <blockquote><a href="#268453"><em>In reply to warren:</em></a></blockquote><p>I very much want the opposite of what you're describing. The abject negativity of comments—like this one, incidentally—is quite frustrating to me. But I can't control the world, sorry.</p>

    • Brockman

      02 May, 2018 - 11:54 am

      <blockquote><a href="#268453"><em>In reply to warren:</em></a></blockquote><p>I'm frankly stunned that anyone would post this, let alone up-vote it. Complain all you want about the "Never 10" crowd and their comments, but do not put that at Paul's feet. </p>

      • Chris Payne

        02 May, 2018 - 1:27 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#268715"><em>In reply to Brockman:</em></a></blockquote><p>You can blame Paul a bit, because (hopefully) he has the ability to block those kind of offensive posts but doesn't. If he doesn't, he needs to switch to a new forum software (and do it anyway, because this one is just nowhere near as good as tried and true like disqus).</p><p><br></p>

        • Chris_Kez

          Premium Member
          02 May, 2018 - 3:07 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#268778"><em>In reply to unkinected:</em></a></blockquote><p>While I would like the option to block some users so I<em> </em>don't personally see their posts, I wouldn't want Paul and team to delete comments unless they are spam or they are literally offensive or threatening (i.e. not just dumb, negative or pointless). </p>

  • Pierre Masse

    01 May, 2018 - 10:49 pm

    <p>I personnaly get up in the afternoon, but I can appreciate somebody who gets up early and is hard at work for me :P</p>

  • RobertJasiek

    02 May, 2018 - 12:57 am

    <p>If one wants to subscribe for exactly one month (or subscribe and pay monthly), how does one cancel recurring subscription at all and in time? The FAQ should answer this.</p><p>Everybody judges for himself whether subscription is worth the price but a site offering subscriptions should fix its bugs in the source code faster than within one year.</p>

  • spacecamel

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 1:57 am

    <p>I hope Paul does not have to take a pay cut for this lower price.</p>

  • mmuntean

    02 May, 2018 - 2:25 am

    <p>$55/year is way too much compared to other publications…</p>

  • Bart

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 2:56 am

    <p>Good news all around! </p>

  • benstat

    02 May, 2018 - 4:27 am

    <p>I've been a reader for many years, but I simply can't justify spending $55 a year on something like this. It's approaching Netflix/Amazon Prime costs, but isn't in the same league value wise.</p><p><br></p><p>Rightly or wrongly (I'm no expert, this is just my gut feeling), I have a figure of around $20 in mind. Maybe I'm undervaluing it, but it's not even close to being an impulse buy for me yet.</p><p><br></p><p>Shame, because I've always enjoyed Paul's writing (and the rest of the gang), and would happily contribute if the fees were more in line with other services I pay for.</p>

    • StephenCWLL

      02 May, 2018 - 4:35 am

      <blockquote><a href="#268517"><em>In reply to benstat:</em></a></blockquote><p>You've nailed it. I agree with what you said. Only $20 or less would tempt me in.</p>

    • Chris Payne

      02 May, 2018 - 1:25 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268517"><em>In reply to benstat:</em></a></blockquote><p>100% agreed. I can get a subscription to any technical magazine for less than $20/year. This site isn't really delivering more or more exclusive news than those, so it shouldn't be worth ~3x more. Love reading this site, but there's nothing in the premium content that justifies that price for me.</p><p><br></p><p>In short, I can go elsewhere and get better news and coverage for free or much cheaper.</p>

  • Matt Kelly

    02 May, 2018 - 7:11 am

    <p>Hmm ~$20 would be the price point for me too.</p>

  • gregsedwards

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 8:23 am

    <p>Thanks, guys! I always appreciate the excellent quality of the site’s content, and I do much prefer the ad-free (well, mostly) subscription model to overly saturating the content with sponsorships. I’m confident that the views expressed here aren’t influenced by financial obligations to third parties, and those reviews that are related to sponsors are clearly indicated. As an alpha member, I appreciate the perpetual discount. It’s a welcome surprise that incentivizes those of us who’ve been here since the beginning to continue that subscription.</p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 9:21 am

    <p>Thanks for the kind words, everyone. 🙂 </p>

  • cheetahdriver

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 9:29 am

    <p>Cheap at twice the price.</p><p><br></p><p>But I am still awaiting the "Microsoft Account Field Guide"</p>

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 9:30 am

    <p>Just so we're clear on this, I wish we could do this for "free" (meaning ad-based). But that model has dried up. And every site like this is trying different ways to make up the difference. Our idea is simple and honest: We just want to be paid for what we do. We don't sell your information to lists, have sneaky promotions, sell you worthless "pay what you want to learn [x]" bundles, sell low-quality accessories, or whatever else you might see out there. </p><p>Yes, I've explained all this already, and probably many times. And I understand that the grumbling will come up again every single time there's any discussion about paying. That some people simply can't afford whatever price points, or just won't pay anything. Got it. But we try to accommodate each need as well as we can. And all we can really do is keep trying.</p><p>Anyway, thanks for reading and for chiming in. We're listening.</p>

    • Mestiphal

      02 May, 2018 - 11:09 am

      <blockquote><a href="#268604"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p>but how else would you know that "The 6-quart Instant Pot has dropped to a new all-time low price at $110"</p><p><br></p><p>I wonder if it'll get Cortana integration with the next update… lol</p>

    • Chris Payne

      02 May, 2018 - 1:34 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268604"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p>Paul, what about site sponsors? You may have already evaluated this, but when I worked for a smaller site that relied on ad revenue, we also sought out sponsors, using share-of-voice or presenting-sponsorship type of deals. There may be a lot of IT companies out there willing to purchase those kind of advertising deals, given how much clout you have. Then again, it does require a more hands-on sales force.</p>

  • digiguy

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 10:27 am

    <p>As many here (at least in the premium side of the comments), I am a happy subscriber and this is the only site I pay for</p><p>At the beginning I was hesitant, but decided to give it a try: I wasn't happy and was planning not to renew. In the end, very hesitantly I renewed because of the lower price but almost regretted it immediately after At that time premium content was quite rare not always great (some of the best articles were free) and I don't watch the daily videos… But then all of a sudden premium articles increased exponentially and the general quality improved a lot. That changed my perception completely and made me the happy premium subscriber I am now. And the new pricing makes it a no brainer, if things continue like this I'll definitely remain a longterm or even lifetime subscriber… :-)</p>

  • slbailey1

    02 May, 2018 - 10:30 am

    <p>$55 a year. That is just 4.60 a month. I forgot to renew when my initial subscription ran out. There are a lot of premium articles I like to read.</p>

  • Zoomout

    02 May, 2018 - 10:40 am

    <p>I subscribed to this for the first year thinking it was going to be a source of valuable information – thus the astronomically high price. I was completely mistaken. It's just the usual snarky opinion pieces headed by complete clikbait titles. $64/Yr? $55/yr? Surely you jest. These prices are insulting. Speculation and self indulging jokes aren't worth anything. </p>

    • Brockman

      02 May, 2018 - 11:41 am

      <blockquote><a href="#268662"><em>In reply to Zoomout:</em></a></blockquote><p>I wouldn't be quite that harsh, but I did hope to see Paul do more deeply researched work now that Brad and Mehedi are on board to cover the more prosaic stuff. </p><p>I think that's just not going to happen. Paul is who he is. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. </p>

    • George Rae

      02 May, 2018 - 6:00 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268662"><em>In reply to Zoomout:</em></a></blockquote><p>And yet here you are, puzzling that is…</p>

      • Zoomout

        03 May, 2018 - 9:51 am

        <blockquote><a href="#268924"><em>In reply to Sectime:</em></a><em> I'm here to read the free content. It can have valuable info in it. He puts the vast majority of the clikbait b.s. in the premium service then expects you to pay a lot for it. It's kind of an intelligence test – if you pay this exorbitant price for clikbait b.s., you fail the test. I let my subscription lapse long ago after realizing that he is doing this.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

    • Hoomgar

      27 June, 2018 - 1:09 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#268662"><em>In reply to Zoomout:</em></a>&nbsp; The product is positively WAY over priced.&nbsp; I looked at the discount price and chuckled.&nbsp; Seriously Paul?&nbsp; I would subscribe in a heartbeat if it was a reasonable price.&nbsp; Cut that price into about 1/3 of what it is and it would be considerable but still take a ponder to make a decision. </blockquote><p><br></p>

  • giskemo

    02 May, 2018 - 11:44 am

    <p>Hi there.. when i renewed my subscription for Thurrott.com I was thinking how much i enjoyed the podcasts and all the material they are producing. It was one thing that ticked me off and that was the products and companies advertizing (i understand they need to make a living), that almost made me not renew. My thoughts went then to, if I don't subscribe it is only going to get worse and I would potentially loose what I enjoy to listen and read every day.</p><p>MY take is that I actually instead of a price reduction would be willing to pay MORE for the site in order to allow the site not having ads. I have limited time during my day so I cant read 20 different sites, I enjoy this and a few others that's it.</p><p>Paul, for whatever it is worth – if you feel your product is worth 64 dollars charge it – I think it is! I bought a yoghurt in the cafeteria this morning at work… it cost almost a months subscription… it was my sloppiness that led to me not eating at home… so people can afford it… </p>

  • DocPaul

    02 May, 2018 - 1:38 pm

    <p>I'm curious, what prompted this?</p><p><br></p><p>And still kicking myself about not getting in on the alpha membership. I misremembered the deadline and came a day late…</p>

  • Chriscom

    02 May, 2018 - 3:19 pm

    <p>I don't know if this will tip the scales enough to buy a premium subscription–strictly a budgeting decision–but I want to see this site and other sites like it succeed, so I appreciate the price reduction and value the content I've been able to read for free. So thanks.</p>

  • davidD

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 6:36 pm

    <p>$42 really is an excellent price – $3.50 a month for all the work you put in is such good value. Like others, it's the only site I pay for, so well done!</p>

  • bryan1up

    Premium Member
    02 May, 2018 - 8:45 pm

    <p>Great news for alpha members also!</p>

  • wosully

    Premium Member
    04 May, 2018 - 8:36 am

    <p>Thanks Paul! NOTHING ever goes down, so this is a positive change!</p>

  • cawoodstock

    05 May, 2018 - 3:41 pm

    <p>Thanks Paul and team. Love the work, keep it up!</p>

  • Joe R

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2018 - 10:33 pm

    <p>Nice!</p>

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