Since 2011, thousands of people have discovered that Glassboard is the best way to communicate, collaborate, and coordinate privately and securely. Families around the world use Glassboard to keep in touch. Teams of developers build apps. Restaurants share announcements with employees. Groups of gamers strategize. Conference attendees plan post-panel meetups.

Since Second Gear acquired Glassboard, we’ve added new features and fixed bugs, but really we’ve been laying the foundation for the future for Glassboard. Our vision is built from the time we spent talking to you and understanding how and where you use Glassboard. We’ve been busy improving the iOS and Android apps, and today we’re excited to introduce new features and pricing to begin on September 1, 2014.

New Membership Plan

Our new Membership plan is for users who want more flexibility with Glassboard. You get message notifications via email and can respond via email. In addition to images, you’ll get to upload videos and add your location to messages. We also have plenty of other great new features on the way, including bookmarks, Foursquare integration and customizable user profiles.

The best part is that the Membership plan and all this greatness can be had for just $1 a month.

Premium Memberships, now with more premium

Premium Memberships are getting better too. Premium Members will still have the same great features you’ve always enjoyed and all of the new membership features too.

We’re also adding Professional Memberships for our heavier users who’ve been asking for power features like extremely large boards, custom board artwork and other features for managing a big group, such as the ability to pin specific announcement messages to the top of boards (coming this fall).

Changes for free users, and why

After September 1, boards run by free users will be limited to small groups (5 or fewer users). For just $1 a month, you can become a Member and increase your board’s size to 25 members. Membership will also give you access to the new features we’re announcing today and many more great ones that we have planned.

We understand that some free users will be bummed about the new memberships, but please hear us out and look on the bright side. As Glassboard has grown in popularity, it’s been losing money. No app, service, or human being can last long without making money, especially not with the thousands of awesome customers like we have.

We’re introducing these new plans to make Glassboard healthy and sustainable. We want to run a fantastic service, build even more useful stuff for you, and do it all without using things like ads or all the other annoyances you see getting in the way of making great apps and services. We’ll always offer the core of Glassboard for free to everyone while introducing premium features for power users and people who just love the service.

How to get the new hotness

Existing premium members don’t need to do anything. We’ll migrate you to the new plans automatically. If you’re a free user who wants join one of our Membership plans before the September 1 rollout, we’ll be offering a new account panel in the coming weeks that will allow you to get a head start. We’ll announce its availability through both Twitter and this blog.

Thank you for supporting Glassboard these last few years. Our team looks forward to building a new and better Glassboard together.

FAQ

What is happening?

We are adjusting our pricing plans and adding new features to make Glassboard a better service today and a healthy business going forward.

When is it happening?

September 1.

What happens to existing boards that are over the cap?

Boards that are over the new caps as of September 1 will be marked as read only until they are upgraded to the appropriate pricing plan. Boards that don’t upgrade by November 1 will be deleted from Glassboard’s servers.

Why are you doing this?

Glassboard has operated at a loss for its entire existence. We don’t have any outside funding, we don’t use creepy advertising, or sell your data. By paying for a Membership, you will be directly supporting our efforts to continue offering and improving Glassboard for a long time.

So…what are you doing exactly?

We’re adjusting the free plan while adding new features for paid memberships based on how you use Glassboard

• Free users: Free as in… smiles!
• Membership: $1 a month, or $10 a year.
• Premium Membership: $3 a month, or $25 a year.
• Professional Membership: $10 a month, or $100 a year.

What if I’m already a premium member? Is stuff changing?

The existing Premium Membership stays the same. Same price. Same premium features. You shouldn’t notice a thing except for all the new features as they roll out.

Can I still be on someone else’s board if I am a free user and they’re a member?

Yep.

So, what’s with the 99c charge on the iOS App Store then?

We’re trying to slow growth before we roll all of this out. The 99c barrier has proven extremely effective at thwarting some unwanted growth of mega boards. Not only that, it’s brought in a small, but steady stream of revenue to help offset some of our losses.

We’re likely removing it once the new plans are out this fall. We want anyone to be able to try the new, sustainable Glassboard and decide if it’s right for them before committing to a membership plan.

Are there any member limits on paid accounts?

A few. Boards owned by Member accounts are limited to 25 people while boards owned by Premium members are limited at 100 people. Professional Members will max out at 200 members. Fun fact: less than 1% of boards ever created are above the 200 user limit.

Then why put in the limit? We are the 99%!

Currently, the small percentage of boards going over the limit put serious stress on the Glassboard infrastructure and have been responsible for recent service slowdowns. We’re working on fixing bottlenecks behind the scenes, but we want to ensure an enjoyable experience for all of our users.

But I need more than 200 people on my board!

If you have a need for a larger board, get in touch. We’ll work with you on our business and enterprise offerings.

OK, how do I sign up then?

We will be updating the account pane on the web site in the coming weeks to make signing up for the new membership tiers easy. We’ll make sure everyone gets notice of its availability both through the apps and through social media.

I have another question!

Get in touch. We’re standing by waiting to talk to you.