Bubble.io

What is Bubble.io?

Bubble.io is a no-code platform that enables users to build web applications without writing any code. It provides a visual interface with drag-and-drop functionality for designing, developing, and deploying fully-functional web apps. The platform is ideal for both users with technical knowledge as well as non-developers. With its easy-to-use interface and powerful integrations, it is the perfect platform for launching a MVP in under a month & scaling the web app for a larger audience.

Features of Bubble.io

Bubble.io is one of the most powerful no-code platforms with over 2.5 million users. Some of the major features of bubble.io are:

1. Visual Development
   It allows users to build complex applications using visual interface, making building apps easy.
2. Database Management
   Bubble.io has built in support for designing & managing database, allowing front-end and backend within the same framework.
3. Hosting
   Bubble takes care of hosting and makes the deploying one-click task.
4. Workflows
   Bubble provides creation of complex app logic using workflows
5. Integration
   Bubble is easy to integrate with any external apps or tools to expand app functionality.
6. Templates & Plugins
   Bubble has a rich marketplace with ready-to-use templates for a easy start and helpful plugins by the community for easy integration

Core Value Proposition

ICPs

Monetization litmus test

Retention Graph

The industry has minimal data for retention. However, based on the user research, I was able to see a few patterns.

1. Steep learning Curve
   Bubble has lots of resources, however, due to the platform's huge range of features, it sometimes has a steep learning curve. Users who stuck till D30 and engaged with the community were more likely to continue on Bubble for a longer period.
2. First App Launch
   A lot of users who came to the platform, tried to build something. They either were successful or they could not create the first app. Out of the user that created & successfully launched first app remanied for at least D60, after which there was a decline due to less engagement on the app.
3. Community Engagement
   The users who engaged with the community through forum were more likely to retain as they felt supported and loved the large & helpful community

Based on this, the retention curve tends to decline within the first 7 days, plateaus at D30, falls a bit around D60 and plateaus.

Depth of Engagement

Though, there are no public numbers available, the speculations suggest that a large amount of apps created & launched (paid plans) using bubble comes from freelancers / agencies who create/maintain multiple apps. Startups with funding and good amount of active users often scale on bubble and become loyal customers. In-house teams who use bubble's enterprise plan for dedicated servers are also loyalists & Power Users.

This shows >50% of users are Core & Power.

Willingness to Pay

The Product is ready for monetization.

Current Monetization

The product is already monetizing

Key Areas to improve Monetization

Experiments

1. Free to Paid Conversion

2. Upsell the Core Users

3. Upsell Agency Account Users

First, Let's recall the CVP of Bubble.io

Core Value Proposition

What are the users paying for?

1. Ease of Use
   Bubble.io is a no-code platform that allows users to create full-fledged applications without using any coding languages.
2. Hosting & DevOps Maintenance
   Bubble takes care of hosting, devOps and Database all with one-click deploying of application and easy to manage DB structures with Privacy settings.
3. Scalibility
   Bubble.io allows users to build applications that can be scaled to handle a large userbase as well as handle a variety of custom features.\
4. Customization
   The applications built using bubble.io are extremely customization, giving users option to create apps that align with their brand

Where does your product stand out?

Substitute Pricing

Let's compare other no-code platforms to Bubble.

All right, we are ready to start designing the pricing now.

Monetization design

From our litmus test & user insights, we know the following:

Who to charge?

We will be charging the Loyalists, Champions. They are least likely to churn and have high price elasticity.

Champions
- Agencies
Reasoning: They use both a variety of features & contribute to the bubble ecosystem, they also have a high willingness to pay
- Inhouse-Teams
Reasoning: They create multiple apps for internal teams and have many features such as multiple editors, multiple branches etc. They also have a high willingness to pay, and have low churn.

Loyalists
- Freelancers
Reasoning: They use variety of features to fulfill client's apps, have good willingness to pay and are loyal users with low churn.
- Startups
Reasoning: They have a 1-5 apps with a large user base, and good community following. They have good willingness to pay and low churn rate.

When to charge?

Perceived Value

1. Increased Efficiency
   - Bubble.io makes the deployment a one-click feature
   - It provides frontend, backend, DevOps in one platform
   - Collaboration and Branching help in efficiency
2. Time Saved
   - Bubble.io allows faster development
   - It is scalable

Competitor Benchmarking

Map user's journey

For Entrepreneurs / Founders / Startups:

For Agencies, Freelancers:

What to charge for?

Recall CVP of Bubble.io:

For Entrepreneurs / Founders / Startups:

Access

• For them to access various features provided by Bubble.io
• Such as branches, API integrations, Database, server logs etc.
• Add-Ons for workflows used

Shareability

• No. of Editors that have permission to view/ edit the app

Time

• The subscription will be billed annually or monthly

Reasoning: Users can access more & better features to create faster. Users also need share feature to let the team access and work on app.

For Agency / Freelancers:

Access

• Access to pro features to build apps for others
• Access to the marketplace with Agency profile and lead generation
• More seats (for each developer) within the Agency

Time

• The subscription will be billed annually or monthly

Reasoning: Users can access better features to create apps for clients, get access to more clients via Agency profile and give dedicated seats to developers.

How much to charge?

Current Pricing

For Apps

Based on User Research, we found that though the current pricing is good for the users, but

1. The price jump between the pricing plans is huge. This makes users less interested in going for a higher plan. So we will try to bridge the gap and create a few plans that fit perfectly within the existing plans.
2. The conversion from free to paid plan is not good, despite running free trials.

Let the calculations begin

Creating a Plan that bridges between Free & starter - Lite

Value Add from Free Plan:

Total Value Added - $54

Price Point - $12 / month

Perceived Value > 9x Perceived Price

For Agencies & Freelancers

Based on user research, we found

1. The Freelancers are not subscribing to the agency plan, as they do not need all the features and the price ($85 / mont / seat) feels too high for the value it provides to them. The features they value are advanced building & collaboration
2. Agency Owners do not buy dedicated seats for all the developers, because the additional seat does not provide any added value other than collaboration. The feature they wish would get added is analytics & agency dashboard for the admin

Let the calculations begin

Right now, we only have one plan for agencies. Let's create multiple plans

Creating plan for Freelancer

Total Value Added - $253

Price Point - $50 / month

Perceived Value > 10x Perceived Price

Awesome! Let's Design the Pricing Page now.

Pricing Page

Current Discovery Routes

Pricing Page Design (Apps)

Current Pricing

What's good?

1. Free plan available to get the user started
2. Detailed inclusions & comparison
3. Shows value addition on higher plans
4. Recommended Plan for user (Middle Category choice Effect)

What can be improved?

1. Huge price jump between Starter to Growth & Growth to Team. Gap to introduce a mid-tier plans
2. Lack of Ownership Effect
3. Lack of Decoy Effect

New Pricing Page:

Pricing Page Design (Agency / Freelancers)

Current Pricing

What's good?

1. All Features listed
2. High Value generated with advanced features (comparable to highest plans)
3. Info icons to describe each feature in detail

What can be improved?

1. No tiers for the plans available
2. High per seat value and less additional value generated

New Pricing Page: