Upcoming change to Roon subscription prices (January 1st, 2023)

Roon Software Discussion
1

On January 1st, 2023, our pricing will change as follows:

• $12.49/month, billed annually
• $14.99/month, billed monthly
• Lifetime billing for $829.99, one-time.

If you already have a subscription or trial, check your email! We sent you more details about how this change impacts you. If you were considering switching billing plans, now is the time!

If you have a lifetime subscription, this change doesn’t affect you. You’ll continue to get access to Roon for no additional charge.

We want to continue to build a better, more inspiring music player for everyone. This change ensures that we continue to give you a best-in-class listening experience.

When we raised the price of the lifetime subscription 3 years ago, we learned a lot about how people felt.

For example:

  • People who were in a trial expected to be able to upgrade at the old price even if the trial ended after the price increase
  • People who were in a subscription expected to be able to upgrade at the old price
  • People who let their subscription end, but were expecting to come back soon at old pricing
  • People who were on the fence about starting a trial, but had not done so yet, felt that they were not given any notice to act faster
  • People who had audio systems on order but their system had not yet arrived were waiting to sign up for Roon after the system was set up, and they were sad to have missed the old pricing
  • People who had ordered a Nucleus unit just a bit before the price increase expected to get old pricing
  • People who already had a lifetime expected to be able to buy another lifetime or a gift lifetime at old pricing

Some of the above expectations we found to be fair criticism (others not so much). Either way, we’ve tried to address all these cases by doing the following:

  • email notices for existing users giving them over 6 weeks of notice
  • email notices for new trials giving those users extra advance notice
  • notification to past subscribers that let trials and/or subscriptions lapse
  • website changes on the pricing page informing everyone, including non-subscribers
  • locking in pricing for trials that will start in the final days of 2022 (only for the first charge)
  • this community post, over 6 weeks in advance of the price increase

We’re making sure to address all of those concerns this time, giving everyone plenty of time to decide how they’d like to proceed.

If you have any questions, contact us at roonlabs.com/contact.

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3 posts were split to a new topic: Leaving Roon after price increase

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I’m all for paying more as Roon and the service provided in support posts is top notch.

@danny Have any thoughts been given to levels of service.

Such as;

Lower price for those not wanting Arc - Roon Lite
The planned price increase for Roon and Arc - Roon Full
ex armed forces, police, paramedic, fireman discount

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5

Hello,

I didn’t have seen the email, can you send it to me? I probably choose for the annual methode!

Greetings,
Sven

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We’re in the process of sending them now, you’ll get it shortly!

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7

That’s why it’s good to go lifetime :muscle:
Don’t care about any price changes in he future. It is all mine. :sunglasses:

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8

This makes my decision to go lifetime at a promotional price 6 1/2 years ago even better, in hindsight. No worries for existing lifers!

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Here’s the good news. A lifetime license before the end of 2022 is still $699.99. Compared to 2023 annual price, the payback is reduced to 4.67 years, and compared to 2023 monthly price, the payback is 3.89 years. Jump on it.

(It makes our $499 lifetime license look like a stroke of genius.)

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10

I understand the price increase but it will be tough for UK/EU given the recent 15% drop of € and £ against USD.

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11

Well raising prices are never good,

BUT

especially now with this insane inflation, even ROON as a company has problems. And I want that the service does not end abruptly and additionally I want that the people working at ROON get proper wages to stand these times.

So I will not change my subscrition.

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12

I was expecting this with everything basically going up. I will upgrade my monthly sub to an annual sub in December, I think. Still considering a lifetime.

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I started out at Sooloos more than a decade ago with some of you and, FWIW, I think you have a fantastic product and are doing a great job.

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14

What else have you had go up this year?

I’ve seen:

  • Hulu
  • Youtube Premium
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
  • Apple Music
  • Disney+
  • ESPN+
  • Quickbooks
  • My cellular MVNO – but they did add features
  • Amazon Prime
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My cellular subscription, healthcare, energy bill, fiber internet, the lot.

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17

Medicare Part B is going down in 2023. Our BCBS Supplement is staying the same as 2022. I get free Apple Music, ESPN+, and Disney+ from Verizon and the price has not gone up. Roon is now free (lifetime) and Audirvana Studio is still $70 for one year. I just renewed Tidal and Qobuz for another year with no increase. Property taxes are down.

For us, mostly just food, auto insurance, and U-Verse TV are up.

My pension is level, but Social Security is going up 8.7 percent. My previous employer sends us a chunk of tax free money every January to cover health insurance. That goes up 3 percent a year. All in all, we’re in good shape.

This year, I have almost completed my 12 year quest to convert all our IRA’s to Roth IRA’s. My wife and kids will inherit those tax free.

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18

Well @danny I think in the perception of users it’s not so much about the budget increase alone when deciding which route to go (as you already mentioned other brands / services are increasing too) but more about weighing what is the value received. And in that decision making process trust plays a crucial role.

I‘d recommend (and I am into brand building for over 25 years) not just communicating solely the price increase, rather than outlining in more detail where ROON is heading to and what promises the team around it is making.

This is so important especially as over time there have been some bugs and other really annoying usability problems (which are well known to the support team and got confirmed) out there for months and some even for over a year.
That’s something that doesn’t go hand in hand with calling out a price premium or „best-in-class listening experience“ unfortunately.

Really hope to see trust building commitment and a path into a successful future.

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19

While unwelcome, the price increases are not really a surprise (everything’s going up drastically)… and there have been hints. Take this as a golden opportunity to go for lifetime at the old price.

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Our weekly “mow and blow” company went up 58%. Based on that, Roon is still a steal.

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I’ve just paid for a lifetime subscription.

I’ve said it before, we pay lots of money on audio equipment and Roon is just an extension of this and a component that you’ll never need to upgrade as Roon do it for you with regular software updates.

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Congratulations, I’m sure you won’t regret it.

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