Bringing down the barriers: Pachube service goes free!

We’re making the Pachube service free for all users.

As of today there will only be one type of account. Every user will have unlimited datastreams, datapoint uploads and history as well as the option to create private feeds. We are setting a limit on the API request rate at 100 requests/minute. Current PRO users will see their rate limit go up from 40/minute to 100/minute. Current PREMIUM users will keep their current rate limit of 250 requests/minute. Any user can request an increased rate limit by contacting support@pachube.com.

We will be upgrading everyone’s account in the next few hours. Anyone who has paid for a yearly subscription in the last 60 days will get an automatic refund via PayPal. We made this decision simply because that’s how far back PayPal allows us to go. If you disagree with this decision, please contact us. We’re making this change to make Pachube more accessible to new and existing users, and we want to make sure no one feels treated unfairly.

So, why go free? No, we haven’t decided to become a non-profit. No, we’re not just super-nice. What we are is ambitious. And having worked with and talked with many people in the Pachube community, we know that they’re ambitious too.

The “Internet of Things” is a big idea (though secretly many of us don’t actually like that term), and we want our community to lead the effort to define it. As devices continue to find their way onto the Internet, we want them to be able to take advantage of everything the Web has to offer. We want Pachube users to control their own data, build applications that we would never envision, and share with others as they see fit. This idea, as obviously correct as it sounds to us, is not inevitable. There are significant business and technical barriers to this vision.

By making the Pachube service free, we’re removing a small barrier today, and we’re committed to removing more barriers in the coming months. The Pachube service is not as easy to use as we want it to be. It still doesn’t do everything we want it to do. This is, of course, okay. That’s why our engineers come to work every day, sit at too-small IKEA desks and code their asses off. Pachube will continue to get simpler, better and more capable. Our intention is that many of these new capabilities will be free. Some of them won’t. We hope that you’ll want to pay for the stuff we decide to charge for.

In the meantime, continue to let us know what you need from us, how we can help you build a device-friendly Internet that lives up to your aspirations, adheres to our own lofty ideals, and helps you build the next generation of Internet applications.