Standalone Native CAD import plugin?

[Gero 54]

Hello there.

So the Native CAD import plugin sounds really great and useful.

 

I believe I am not the only one who would like to use it, but is held off by the high subscription price.

 

May I suggest to offer another option for users to get access to this plugin?

Maybe the possibility to subscribe to this plugin alone?

 

 

[ctbeke 133]

Hi Gero,

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll pass it along to the people working on business models.

 

Chris

[aberickson 0]

Add me to the list also.   Home user who would like this but enterprise subscription for myself is difficult to justify for the amount I use it.   Thanks.

[ctbeke 133]

Out of curiosity, how much would you be willing to pay for access to this functionality? One time fee? Subscription?

[Gero 54]

As of right now, I have 3 Ultimaker printers. Maybe even more in the future. The only things I would like to have from a Ultimaker Professional subscription is the CAD plugin for cura and more space in the digital library as I would like to use it more. Since I am in a small startup I am the only one working with the printers. Therefore, all the team- and user-sharing functions are not needed for me.

 

If I buy the subscription for only one of my printer I would be at 500€ a year. If I wanted it for all 3 of my printers I would be at 1500€ a year.

 

But the given costs don't justify these features currently as I can totally work without them.

 

The CAD plugin would be handy as I would have to export all my design files only once in a .step file rather than in .stl and .step. Makes life a bit easier, but is not mandatory for work.

 

The Library is actually really great. I like how I can have a bigger project with all my prints in it prepared so I can hit "go" as soon as I need them. Works great with our current business model of selling those 3d prints.

 

Right now I am using Onedrive to store all my work files. I have to open cura to load projects and send them to the printer which requires a bit more time, but costs me currently around 200€ a year. Besides that I can save all kinds of files in there. The print-history every printer has also allowed me to start prints I need without even opening cura.

 

Again, the library is great and I would like to use it more, but it is not mandatory for work.

 

And because I have been using ultimaker printers since 2016 the ultimaker academy also isn't offering much to me which reflects in the "effectiveness" of the subscription price. 

 

Although I have left the state of a "hobbyist" and use my ultimaker printers more for work the current subscription options don't match our needs and offer additional features we don't need which puts the price too high for us.

 

 

Now to answer the price question: from my standpoint, I would choose a one time fee of course, but given ultimakers standpoint and the whole idea to get users into a subscription is understandable. So I wouldn't mind a subscription here as well, assuming it would offer the things I need/want and the price is matching.

 

Therefore, I would like to suggest a subscription option at maybe 200€ a year with features like the CAD plugin and more space in the digital library and another option with the CAD plugin only (because I cura seems to be used with all kinds of printers therefore the library is not needed in that case). 

 

It would give every user more flexibility to choose the best subscription for him and I believe more users would be interested in starting a subscription in the first place.

[ctbeke 133]

@Gero That's great feedback! To sum it up, you'd be fine with paying a subscription, but the current price bump from 500 to 1500 when you go from 1 to 2 (-5) printers is to steep. I'll pass on this information to our product management people.

[Quiche252 0]

@ctbeke I completely agree that I would be willing to pay for a subscription but the bump from 500 to 1500 when going from 1 to 2 printers is too steep.