|
|
From new data export options to SaaS-friendly tools and a fresh SDK, this release reinforces our commitment to helping you succeed with product development and business growth. Whether you’re re-engaging migrated customers, building AI SaaS solutions, or performing custom analyses to refine your product, there’s something here for every maker.
To kick things off, let’s dive into the most recent additions to our Data Liberation Project: new features that make it easier than ever to access, control, and leverage your data for smarter decisions and deeper insights.
Data Liberation Updates
Freemius continues to prioritize flexibility and freedom with the latest updates to our Data Liberation Project. From “one-click” license and site exports to enriched payment data insights, these updates give makers the tools and data they need to grow — on their own terms.
Export Licenses and Sites with Ease
With just a click, you can export your entire license table — or just the data currently displayed — and all your sites as a clean, well-structured CSV file. With greater control over your data, you can leverage practical applications like:
- Data insights: Perform custom analyses such as license distribution to identify customer trends, optimize pricing strategies, and tailor offerings to meet market demand. Or get a detailed breakdown of the sites using outdated plugin versions.
- Marketing automation: For example, makers can identify licenses nearing expiration and import that data into services like ConvertKit to send targeted “anti-churn” campaigns.
- Effortless migration: If Freemius isn’t right for you, exporting your users, sites, and license data is simple and you can seamlessly transition to another platform if needed.
These new capabilities join our existing Data Liberation export options for users, subscriptions, and payments, offering a near-complete suite of tools for accessing your data on demand. We say “near” because exporting affiliate payout records will be available soon 😉
Take your licenses wherever you need them, whenever you need them.
By eliminating barriers like vendor lock-in, we aim to make your experience with Freemius as flexible and future-proof as possible. It’s our way of saying, “You’re in control”.
Payments Export: Refund Reasons and Currency Now Included
We’ve made two key improvements to our payments export functionality:
Refund reasons entered during the refund process are now captured and included in exports, helping you identify trends, address customer pain points, and inform product development.
Payment exports now include the currency of each transaction, providing a complete, accurate record for financial reporting and simplifying the management of multi-currency transactions.
Enhanced Language Selector for a More Personalized Checkout Experience
Following our translation release, the Freemius Checkout is even more accessible and intuitive thanks to the following updates:
- Native script: Languages now appear in their native form (e.g., “Español” instead of “Spanish”), ensuring native speakers can quickly identify their preferred language.
- Flag icons for clarity: Each language is paired with its national flag, providing a visual cue for easier selection.
- Always accessible: The language selector is now prominently displayed in the footer, keeping it visible and accessible throughout the checkout process.
These updates ensure the checkout experience is both user-friendly and inclusive, designed to accommodate global users from diverse backgrounds.
We took it one step further by localizing the flag icons and personalizing them based on the buyer’s geolocation. So, for example, if a buyer opens the checkout from Argentina, we’ll show the Argentinian flag next to the Spanish translation.
Enhancements for Migrated Products
With this new batch of features, makers who’ve migrated to Freemius can turn it into an opportunity to strengthen customer loyalty and drive revenue growth.
Targeted Coupons for Migrated Customers
Transitioning to Freemius means more than moving data — it’s about ensuring your loyal customers continue to be part of your growth story. But what about those who’ve only made a one-time payment on marketplaces like CodeCanyon or ThemeForest and have thus not contributed to ongoing development?
This is where migrated customer coupons come in.
This feature helps makers re-engage customers who haven’t purchased a license or subscription through Freemius, offering exclusive discounts to give them a compelling reason to invest in your product’s future.
An example scenario: Suppose you’ve recently migrated your plugin from CodeCanyon to Freemius. To ease the transition, you offer existing customers a 3 to 6-month courtesy license for the latest version of your product.
With the new feature, you can now take it a step further by offering a targeted discount — say, 30% or 50% — as a thank-you for their loyalty, while encouraging them to subscribe for continued updates and support.
Note: The coupon only works for migrated customers who haven’t transacted through Freemius, guaranteeing exclusivity and safeguarding against misuse.
Checkout Calculation Updates Built for Migrated Makers
Whether fine-tuning discounts for initial payments versus renewals or displaying the exact breakdown of discounts and pro-rated amounts, the Checkout now offers a smoother, more transparent experience for migrated makers and their buyers.
While the technical details of these coupon, proration, and discount calculation updates are nuanced and complex, the message is simple:
Freemius continues to build and refine tools specifically designed to support makers migrating their businesses to our platform.
For those considering a migration, know that Freemius has your back. With years of experience and a powerful set of capabilities tailored for migrated businesses, we’re committed to making the process painless to set you up for success.
You can unpack the specifics of the coupon, proration, and discount calculation improvements here.
New SaaS Capabilities
Building SaaS solutions and fine-tuning the customer experience just got easier for software makers…
Comprehensive API Documentation (in Progress)
We’re making significant strides in our API documentation project, with around 50 endpoints already compiled.
This effort is a stepping stone in our expansion to SaaS and Apps and an invaluable resource for makers looking to build advanced solutions, programmatically access data, automate processes, and create tailored workflows.
With full API coverage planned within the next two months, we’re committed to maintaining and updating this resource as we grow.
After-Purchase Dialog Customization
Post-purchase steps are often straightforward for plugins, themes, and templates: download the product, upload it, and activate the license. However, SaaS products need more flexibility, as the next steps can vary widely depending on the service.
Software makers can now personalize the above dialog by customizing:
- The title: Set an engaging heading that reflects the next steps
- The message: Provide clear instructions or additional context
- The button label: Tailor the call-to-action text to match your intent
- The button link: Direct customers to a URL of your choice
For example, SaaS makers can guide customers to an account page, the app itself, or even a community Discord server.
This flexibility creates a friction-free, personalized customer experience, ensuring the messaging aligns perfectly with the software maker’s unique product and audience needs.
Introducing Terms of Sale for SaaS Products
To support and protect SaaS makers, we’ve introduced Terms of Sale for SaaS — a set of legal terms governing the relationship between the buyer, Freemius as the merchant of record, and the SaaS provider (the maker).
These terms are displayed at checkout, ensuring buyers confirm the agreement before purchasing. While this protects Freemius as the merchant of record, it also provides an additional layer of legal protection for SaaS creators.
As a SaaS creator, you must still have your own legal documents. Make sure to update the Terms & Conditions in the store settings with the link to your terms, as they are referred to in the Terms of Sale:
As part of this initiative, we’ve refreshed the design of all customer-facing agreements, including:
These documents now feature a clean, modern design aligned with our updated brand colors and styles, ensuring a consistent, professional look that matches the quality of the Freemius platform.
It’s important to note that these Terms of Sale are not a substitute for a SaaS provider’s own Terms of Service, which should still be hosted on their website.
Freshly Deployed: Freemius WP SDK 2.9.0
Packed with key updates to improve functionality and align with the latest WordPress standards — here’s what’s new in our WP SDK 2.9.0:
1. Default pricing page 2.0:
- The new pricing page, previously in beta, is now bundled as default in the SDK
- Built on React, it offers open-source flexibility and supports more use cases, giving makers full control over customization. Learn more about the benefits and use cases on GitHub
Call for pricing page feedback: While the new pricing page was successfully used in production during its two-year beta phase, we’ve identified edge-case bugs and areas for improvement now that it’s been pushed to default.
Over the next eight weeks, we’re dedicating resources to address these issues and make refinements based on maker feedback.
If you have suggestions, concerns, or feature requests, we’d love to hear from you! Join our Slack community, contact support, or contribute to our feature requests board to share your feedback.
2. Full-screen Checkout:
- Previously displayed within the WP Admin dashboard, the Checkout now redirects to a full-screen experience, reducing distractions while preserving the seamless flow makers and buyers expect from Freemius
- After purchase, buyers are redirected to the WP Admin with licenses automatically activated and secure download links to paid versions provided
3. Compliance with WordPress.org guidelines:
- The SDK no longer uses iframes for free plugins and themes hosted on WordPress.org, ensuring alignment with the latest platform guidelines.
Shaping What’s Next, Together
This release reflects what we can accomplish through close collaboration, mutual respect, and a healthy feedback loop.
Your input is vital to shaping the future of the platform and guiding the development of features and improvements that address your unique needs and help your business thrive. Visit our feature suggestion board to share your ideas, vote on requests, and help us prioritize what matters most to you. For more details on these enhancements, read our changelog.
As always, we’re here to support you every step of the way — don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or feedback.
