Can't deploy from Icenium for VS any more without Ultimate Subscription? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!!

[Dave]

I have to hand it to you guys, this is a new low even for you.  Last week I scraped together enough money to purchase the Developer edition for a year.  Today, with your new release, Icenium extension for VS no longer allows deploying unless you purchase an ULTIMATE subscription for $119 per month???  What the hell is the use of developing something if you can't deploy it?  You guys really suck.  (Yes, I know I can use Graphite or Mist, but the whole idea for me was to be able to use VS.)  Bad move guys.  Again, you suck big time.

Thanks for ripping me off.  I will be sure to spread the word among the development community.

[Mark]

Think you speak for quite a number of us especially as it would appear you purchased a subscription and used the Beta VS Integration without any warning that it would become an Ultimate only option.

[Adam]

When I first read this posting I didn't understand what the problem was.  But my trial just ran out and I was expecting to subscribe at the "Developer" level.  Now, I see on the subscription comparison page that only the "Ultimate" subscription claims to include the VS Integration.  This feels like a bate and switch.... I am pretty sure that the video I watched that got me interested in Icenium (was it the keynote video) implied that it would cost as little as $16 a month.

[Dave]

That's exactly what it is - bait and switch.  And no one from Telerik even has the guts to respond.

[Michael]

$119 a month to use the VS extension? That's $1,428 a year.

[Brandon]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for sharing your feedback with us. It is very valuable and will help us find the right balance between features and price. Of course, we want to make Icenium available to as many people on as many platforms as we possibly can, which is why we continue to offer both the Mist Browser-based client and the Graphite Windows client, both of which are available with Icenium Developer and Professional licenses. Every feature you find in Visual Studio is available in Graphite.

We do appreciate your thoughts and feedback here, and even though we updated our pricing page after the September announcement to indicate that the VS Extension was an Ultimate feature, we've obviously caught many of you off guard by not doing a better job of communicating this change, and for that you have my apologies.

Regards,

Brandon
Telerik
You've missed the Icenium Visual Studio Integration keynote? It has been recorded and posted here.
Looking for tips & tricks directly from the Icenium team? Check out our blog!
Share feedback and vote for features on our Feedback Portal.

[Dave]

I find it incredibly difficult to imagine that no one at Telerik realized this ahead of time. This is the very definition of 'bait and switch'.  
We are all aware of the availability of Graphite and Mist.  But we purchased your product specifically because you told us we could use it with Visual Studio. 
Your apologies ring hollow.

[quote]Brandon said:Hi Everyone,

Thanks for sharing your feedback with us. It is very valuable and will help us find the right balance between features and price. Of course, we want to make Icenium available to as many people on as many platforms as we possibly can, which is why we continue to offer both the Mist Browser-based client and the Graphite Windows client, both of which are available with Icenium Developer and Professional licenses. Every feature you find in Visual Studio is available in Graphite.

We do appreciate your thoughts and feedback here, and even though we updated our pricing page after the September announcement to indicate that the VS Extension was an Ultimate feature, we've obviously caught many of you off guard by not doing a better job of communicating this change, and for that you have my apologies.

Regards,

Brandon
Telerik
You've missed the Icenium Visual Studio Integration keynote? It has been recorded and posted here.
Looking for tips & tricks directly from the Icenium team? Check out our blog!
Share feedback and vote for features on our Feedback Portal.[/quote]

[Mark]

I am also shcoked and surprised. You are charging approx a third of the cost of Visual Studio for a few templates, the simulators and deployment tools.
I was impressed by the Visual Studio integration, but it is too expensive.
Unfortunately while Graphite is nice and simple, intellisense is very poor vs dreammaker.
So we're left with the choice of $400 per year for a simulator + deployer in graphite and editing in notepad++ or $1500 for visual studio integration

[Brandon]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for that additional feedback and perspective. We'll definitely take it into account as we continue to discuss product pricing and features.

Regards,
Brandon
Telerik
You've missed the Icenium Visual Studio Integration keynote? It has been recorded and posted here.
Looking for tips & tricks directly from the Icenium team? Check out our blog!
Share feedback and vote for features on our Feedback Portal.

[moegal]

That is very discouraging. Not worth it for me. 

For that price I may consider xamarin.

Marty

[The Dev]

Yeah, got me too, hook line and sinker.....
I really wanted VS support but is way too expensive for a lone Dev

Xamarin now has VS support for $999, still $400 too much, but is looking more attractive.

D

[Alex]

I don't really care if you communicated it or not.  Quite frankly the SIGNIFICANT cost increase is crap either way.  I am a single developer doing small apps and even with the most recent price being slightly lower, 71$ per month, I still can't justify passing that cost on to my customers and I can't afford it so it officially means the Visual Studio Extension is completely useless for me.  It was my preferred way to develop and it was what I needed to use Team Foundation Server as my source control.  That cost is way to much for the amount of work involved.  The gigantic price increase means Icenium is off the table as a way to develop.  There are open source alternatives that I can work on in Visual Studio with and don't have to worry about Mist and Graphite like contraptions.  It was a good addition, now made useless by greed.  I could have lived with maybe a 10$ a month increase just for the extension, but I don't need all the support and the rest of the junk that goes with the ultimate license so it is just a waste of money to pay that much.  Thanks Telerik but no thanks. 

[Dave]

Well said. I'd be interested in knowing what alternatives you've found. Listing them here in this forum would serve these guys right.

[David]

It looks like the cheapest way for me to try AppBuilder with VisualStudio is with $150 a MONTH. I am playing around with the Starter Telerik Platform and am working on some apps purely for fun and my own experimenting. 

I guess I have to go back to Appgyver Steroids (free) or PhoneGap Build (free) as I definitely do not have $150 a month knocking about.

Why not make a pricing level aimed at hobbyist developers who need 5 projects and the basic tools. If I start making money then you can charge me!

[Brandon]

Hi Rodney,

Thanks for your post, and for sharing your perspective. As I mentioned before, we're very interested in ensuring that our Platform subscription levels provide the right mix of price and features. Our current Starter subscription is free and provides the ability to create two apps, but I'd love to hear more about your current requirements for more apps in the free subscription, as well as your needs around Visual Studio support. If you're interested in chatting more, feel free to reach out over email at [e-mail]

Thanks!

Brandon

[Brandon]

Hi Rodney,

Thanks for your post, and for sharing your perspective. As I mentioned before, we're very interested in ensuring that our Platform subscription levels provide the right mix of price and features. Our current Starter subscription is free and provides the ability to create two apps, but I'd love to hear more about your current requirements for more apps in the free subscription, as well as your needs around Visual Studio support. If you're interested in chatting more, feel free to reach out over email at [e-mail]

Thanks!

Brandon

[Victor]

I was ready to purchase this service at $16 a month.  I would be willing to pay maybe $10 more than that.  However, $79 a month is more than I am willing to pay at this time (I may come back when my App(s) start generating income).  I have used PhoneGap Build in the past and still have an account there at $10 a month.  IMO, the advantages of AppBuilder over PhoneGap Build are not worth an additional $69 per month.  So, I am going back to PhoneGap Build.

[Vladi]

Hello Everyone,

Just want to inform you that we heard our users' feedback and decided to act on it. As of last week (AppBuilder's 2.1 release) the AppBuilder Visual Studio Extension is available for all active Telerik Platform and AppBuilder Professional license holders. More info can be found in this blog post.

Kind regards,
Vladi
Telerik