Monthly subscription for imperihome?

[ninkasi]

I just tried paying for it and they wanted $4.99 per month.

Are there other similar options out there?

Imperihome is great, but the subscription is steep now. You can of course use the restricted free version, or the Vera app, or there are a few other options such as "Yeti". If I hadn't bought Imperihome before the subscription stuff became mandatory I'd probably stick with Vera and Google Home (or Amazon Alexa) and control most things with my voice (You use a tablet/phone to turn your lights off? How 2015.... LOL).

[techstyle]

Thanks, i wanted a nice wall mounted tablet as an alarm keypad and i am not sure you can get the vera app to demand a code?

[ninkasi]

Thanks, i wanted a nice wall mounted tablet as an alarm keypad and i am not sure you can get the vera app to demand a code?

Might be better off with something like http://www.smartliving.com.au/zipabox-z-wave-rfid-secuity-keypad-scene-controller.html?

[treetop777]

Thanks, i wanted a nice wall mounted tablet as an alarm keypad and i am not sure you can get the vera app to demand a code?

If you're like me, you waste 5.00/month on you-don't-know-what!  Imperihome is a very nice interface, don't deprive yourself from it over 5.00/month.

Like for example, if you bought the thing that was suggested by the other member, that would be around 2 years worth of Imperihome fees and it can't display a camera.

Imperihome has "home" and "away" so it would serve your purpose and much, much more.  You can also have multiple wall mounted units all over the place.

We sometimes get hung-up on "it's the principal" and don't get things that are useful and would enjoy.

I'm a long time user but if i had to pay (5.00/month), i would!  Especially knowing that Vivint charges 85.00/month and Honeywell is something like 35.00/month for remote access.

That is IMO.

[Drcashman]

I started using Imperihome years ago when it first showed up in the playstore and I purchased the pro version that I use it on tablets around the house.
The additional features that they are offering are useless for me being as most of them are not useful in the USA.
I think they are moving away from home automation and might change to much for me.
I also think charging $5 a month is crazy for what they offer.
Right now they don't charge me because I was/am a pro user before they changed but how long before they change that?
I been looking for alternatives and there are few but thehomeremote looks promising.

[Tillsy]

I've been looking at ImperiHome, seemed perfect for my needs but have been putting it off while focussing on other areas.  Began to set it up this weekend and realised it is now a subscription model - was $9.99 to purchase, now $5.00... every... single... month.  In fact much worse than that - needs multiplying for my currency.

I understand fans of every single product and service will say it's not much - but if you add up subscriptions for every app, music, movie, sport, television (which in itself is getting out of control now with everyone is pulling out of Netflix and starting up their own services so fast approaching needing 10+ subscriptions for that alone), even my darned doorbell wants a bloody subscription... it's totally and utterly unsustainable.

So it's not just "hey skip one coffee", if you actually consider all of the subscriptions everyone is demanding these days it's actually "hey skip your family's meals this week".

But in this case, it doesn't even make sense.  A product that costed outright $9.95 you'd expect maybe 80c per month (roughly $10 a year) - that's still a massive leap but kind of understandable as it now brings them in an annual income.  But recouping the outright purchase cost every two months, what the heck am I missing here?  What a shame after all the good word everyone has said about it

[tomtcom]

I've been looking at ImperiHome, seemed perfect for my needs but have been putting it off while focussing on other areas.  Began to set it up this weekend and realised it is now a subscription model - was $9.99 to purchase, now $5.00... every... single... month.  In fact much worse than that - needs multiplying for my currency.

I understand fans of every single product and service will say it's not much - but if you add up subscriptions for every app, music, movie, sport, television (which in itself is getting out of control now with everyone is pulling out of Netflix and starting up their own services so fast approaching needing 10+ subscriptions for that alone), even my darned doorbell wants a bloody subscription... it's totally and utterly unsustainable.

So it's not just "hey skip one coffee", if you actually consider all of the subscriptions everyone is demanding these days it's actually "hey skip your family's meals this week".

But in this case, it doesn't even make sense.  A product that costed outright $9.95 you'd expect maybe 80c per month (roughly $10 a year) - that's still a massive leap but kind of understandable as it now brings them in an annual income.  But recouping the outright purchase cost every two months, what the heck am I missing here?  What a shame after all the good word everyone has said about it

Much agreed. I've used it for years and luckily grandfathered in. The current downside is users complained for years for more abilities to customize and it never materialized. The original company was bought out too one member pointed out. I will not pay for it if they change my grandfathered status later.

[treetop777]

It's true that "in principal" Imperihome feels to be ripping-your-head-off now, but guezz, to imply that your family would go hungry is a bit exaggerated! 

While the program might have some shortcomings, it is also full of features.  Don't deprive yourself, try it, you may conclude it's worth $5/mo.

@tomtcom

I know you're a major contributor in the Imperihome development group over at G+ (and here); i imagine you may have an elaborate set-up using Imperihome so i wonder, what would you switch-to if you had to pay? 





 

[tomtcom]

It's true that "in principal" Imperihome feels to be ripping-your-head-off now, but guezz, to imply that your family would go hungry is a bit exaggerated! 

While the program might have some shortcomings, it is also full of features.  Don't deprive yourself, try it, you may conclude it's worth $5/mo.

@tomtcom

I know you're a major contributor in the Imperihome development group over at G+ (and here); i imagine you may have an elaborate set-up using Imperihome so i wonder, what would you switch-to if you had to pay?

Thanks. It's probably not elaborate at all and I could do more if I had more tinker time.

Honestly I dabbled in the past with tasker and autovera widgets on the phone screen and it does work but limitations for those that are non Vera.

I further never found a true wall mount I wanted to utilize imperihome full time with a tablet.

I also posted that BlueStacks Android emulator version 3 on the PC works awesome with imperihome which opens more possibilities with a NUC as an example.

Beyond that there aren't much other choices for platform agnostic that best imperihome.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

[Tillsy]

It's true that "in principal" Imperihome feels to be ripping-your-head-off now, but guezz, to imply that your family would go hungry is a bit exaggerated! 

Sorry no, I wasn't saying $5 a month will kill anything... what I am saying is that every single thing in life wants to now charge us $5-$50 a month - even my darn doorbell, even things I DO subscribe to are now being split into many other products that you now need to individually subscribe to.

Yes yes yes, only $5 for ImperiHome.  Yes yes yes only $5 for my doorbell.  Yes yes yes only $5 for every different product.  Yes yes yes only $50 for the sport I used to follow on free-to-air TV now exclusively on PayTV.  Yes yes yes only $x for this, $x for that.  Every software product, even Photoshop, wants a subscription.  Every product wants a subscription - even the door lock on my holiday home has a darned monthly subscription, that's why I'm replacing it with a Z-Wave one now.  Music, movies, everything.  Add it all together... it's hundreds upon hundreds of dollars per month.

One thing, easy.  But everything wants to be subscription now.  Add it up and it's not viable.

Realistically priced though, sure.  So if ImperiHome and other products were say 50c-80c a month sure, if you do the math that works out to re-buying the product every year... okay not fantastic but probably fair to ensure continued development.  But being charged the full purchase price every month or two... add everything together, not just one product on its own, and I can't see how anyone can afford that.

Netflix is a great example - in a few years time you'll have your Netflix subscription for their own developed content, but you already need Stargate Command subscription with MGM for the content that was removed from there, you will soon need Disney Star Wars subscription for the Star Wars content in process of being removed, Disney subscription for all the rest of their content, MGM subscription, All Access subscription, everyone else who wants to charge for their own.  Each of these are $5-$20, each.  So now instead of $10 for Netflix (which has gone up to nearly $20) you're talking over a hundred bucks a month JUST for that content, not even counting anything else.

So it's not $5, which in itself is nuts, it's the overall concept that everything in life wants to charge subscriptions.  Not to mention that everything we already pay for annually (at least in Australia) such as private health is going through the absolute roof.

Yeah I'm going completely off topic, just very frustrated where things are headed LOL

[treetop777]

I hear you!  In fact, just last night i discovered that to view this particular movie that is "on DVD only" I have to pay for an additional fee!  WHAT!  I though i got unlimited movies!!!

Indeed frustrating!

[Priest]

I work in a field where a lot of things are beginning to be pushed toward the subscription model.  I know a lot of it seems to stem from the reports that the younger generation would prefer to rent anything rather than own it. They want to lease cars or hire an Uber, they want to rent a home, they want to pay for streaming services rather than buy a movie, etc.  It has gotten to the point of ridiculous what is being pushed toward subscription for the purposes of recurring revenue though.

I have a manufacturer that wants me to sell an access control system that is subscription based.  So, you own your own building, you purchased the hardware for electronic locks, card readers, power supplies, etc... and someone wants you to have to pay them monthly to be allowed into your building.  I've seen the same with intercom systems, alarm systems, surveillance VMS and storage, etc. 

I bought Vera for the simple fact that nothing is processed in the web and I have the choice of if I want to install updates and upgrades.  I want nothing about my home to require monthly payments for it to work other than my mortgage/taxes/insurance, and my utilities. My utilities are paid based on me buying a product in a certain quantity....not just some nebulous fee for access to it.  I want to own what I pay for.

If they ever revoke the grandfathering for Imperihome and move us to subscription I will cancel, uninstall, and not look back even though I use it heavily now.

[drawbars]

I'm going to chime in here, in the odd chance that the folks at ImperiHome read these forums ...

I came to the party kinda late, far to late to get a grandfathered copy of IH Pro.  So, I'm stuck with Free or Premium:

• The free version arguably handles 75-80% of what I want the app to do -- i.e., provide a uniform UI for my phone, tablet, and PC that doesn't waste ridiculous amounts of blank space like UI7.  I'm limping along with the Favorites in the free version's flat devices list, and other than the questionable choice of 30% of the screen containing a gigantic yellow star, it shows me all the items I might care about on a vacation or a day trip clearly and concisely.  I'd love to have the configurable UI, but it's not worth a lot of extra cash.  I wish they wouldn't have crippled the dashboard so completely in this version.
• The integration aspects are not extremely compelling for me.  I've already spent $$$ getting my home up to snuff with Z-Wave, and the TV is fine with the Gen 1 Logitech Harmony remotes.  I don't think I'll be adding a Nest thermostat, a set of Philips Hue bulbs, or a Harmony Hub anytime soon.  Maybe a door camera?  And I live in a town of about 3,500 people 75+ min. from Boston, where the 'Smart City' is never gonna catch on.  I don't really need 50-60% of what the Premium version provides today, let alone any wonderful new features supported by subscriptions.
• Unless I'm misunderstanding the app's capabilities -- it wouldn't be the first time  -- neither version is going to eliminate the 'brain dead' aspects of UI7 -- i.e., the need to create Scenes from scratch (no cut-and-paste), and to validate every single task of every Scene with multiple swipes and clicks.  (Do I really have to choose the Thermostat in one place, then set the temperature on a different page?)  ImperiHome isn't going to automate that process, right?

So even if I get past the subscription model (which isn't my preference), I'm subscribing to the equivalent of MLB Extra Innings, when all I want is to see the Red Sox games.  What I need/want isn't worth $60/year for as long as I plan to stay with the app.  I wonder if there is ever going to be a ImperiHome Lite, or the option to buy the old Pro version for a one-time fee?  Probably not.

Regards,
-BW

[save]

Hello.  We have dozens of customers using the old Imperihome Pro system. Now we are looking for another app, because the monthly payment system is not interesting for our customers. We know they prefer to make a bigger payment (for instance 50 -100 euros) than a monthly way.

[Sender]

+1 here.

Today I used the app icon to open imperihome. Username password? For what? To know what for? Luckily I still have the pro license. I would instantly ditch imperihome ifI wouldnt have that pro license anymore. 60 bucks a year and 300 for 5 years? For what? To switch my vera devices?!

AUCH!