Open Source! The free edition should be released open source.

I don't understand why the pro version is a yearly charge, if nothing is stored on your servers. My servers are being used for the storage. I could see maybe $40 for the product itself, one time fee, but why do I continue to pay each year when my storage and bandwidth are being used? Then of course the negative of that fee is like Roman Starkov said, each device.

Also, what happens at the end of the year if you don't renew? The software stops working?

-- Robert R.

Robert, development still costs a lot, event if you use your own bandwidth. Look, it's pretty much the same as you're paying to Adobe to use the Photoshop app.

I'm absolutely fine with paid plans, if it guarantees cash flow to continue development of Free version.

Hi Robert. The price of $39.99 is per year, per user. What they are paying for is premium functionality, catered to individuals with large data needs and business workgroups. We’ve announced that this will include on-demand access to very large folders and folder permission/ownership controls (both shown by the screenshots), as well as auto synchronization across all the user’s devices. When a license expires, the product will continue to operate and just revert back the free edition. No additional configuration or re-installation of any software will be necessary.

I think your list of features is confusing because the current 1.4 does these things already, with a slightly different user interface. 1) I already sync very large folders... GBs and 1000s of files. Unless you mean something else by "very large". 2) I already control permission by giving out read or read/write keys. Granted, the screen shot does show more granular controls for permissions. 3) I already sync across all my devices -- including Windows PC, Windows laptop, Android phone, and Android tablet.

Agreed, accessing large folders? I'm pretty sure I can do that now, can't I? I also see permissioning. Why not update this post instead of linking to a forum post deep in the comments?

I've posted some additional info in the Sync forum, which you can find here: http://forum.bittorrent.com.... This should help clarify more. Thank you.

What is a "user"? Am I two users if I have a home computer and a work computer?

A Better definition of what you mean by "on-demand access" would help a lot. I already sync about 8TB in a single share for a backup would that quit working with the new version because it falls under "large data" or would just some of the new 2.0 features just be disabled?

A chart or some straight forward comparison on what will be disabled in the free version would help out a lot.

Hi there, thanks for the comment. There will not be any restrictions on performance or individual folder sizes for free users. For the on-demand feature, I've posted some additional info in the Sync forum, which you can find here: http://forum.bittorrent.com...

Awesome! Thank you for the response Erik. That expanded description that you posted in the forum was exactly what I was looking for.

So much text, so little information. $39.99 per year per what? User? Peer? Why is it an annual charge when there are no servers to maintain? What are the different feature sets? The list of features given for "Pro" already exist in the Beta. It doesn't inspire any confidence that you know what you're talking about when the "details" are so ambiguous.

Hi there. To clarify, it’s $39.99 per year, per user, for premium functionality (see response above for more details there). The pro features will not be existing ones in beta.

The real question is, $40 per year _for what_? Every device? That would be very expensive and far more than I pay for Dropbox. OneDrive with their unlimited storage sounds like a great deal compared to this.

Hi Roman. To clarify, it's $39.99 per year, per user - for all your devices.

Or at least publish the source. Restrict via license but do allow free code review and test builds.

What will be the features of FREE version? Will there be any free version?
You want people to pay - so there will be accounts? The first plus of Sync was 'no accounts'... Sounds strange...

Hi Robert. We’re committed to always having a quality free version. Sync 2.0 is one product, with premium functionality being enabled through a license. There are still no accounts, which is a foundational element of Sync. We’re working to improve the Sync 2.0 free version, from what currently exists with 1.4; more details to come on that front, so please stay tuned.

The real question is, $40 per year _for what_? -> me two

Also do you planed to manage file versions ?

Hi there. It’s $39.99 per year, per user. This is for the pro version of Sync 2.0, which includes premium functionality catered to individuals with large data needs and business workgroups (see response above for more details there). With regards to file versioning, this feature exists today and will remain in Sync 2.0 for free users. Details of how this feature works can be found in this article: http://help.getsync.com/cus...

wow nice !
does the old file is stored as is, or it's a diff of the actual file ?
because if i have a big file with little changes it could not be efficient

That is way to pricy. I am looking to use it at my NAS device. Image having to pay U$ 40 for each user of my team and another fee for the server itself.
I know development costs, but even apps like Spotify/Netflix which need lots of development, servers AND music/movies cost only a few dollars a month (and, like I said, have all those extra costs).
I would gladly pay 10-15 U$ per server, but not per each user connecting to the main server. Imagine if I want to use it to send files to customers. My customers will have to sign up and pay?

Rethink the price, or no one will buy it. Seriously.

Users in a company usually doesn't mean customers. Perhaps the customers can continue to use the Free version.

I would rather NOT pay per server or device, being the only user on my system - where the other devices are essentially backups.

Any link to clearly understand the difference between Pro and Free?

Hi there. I've posted some additional info on the pro features in the Sync forum, which you can find here: http://forum.bittorrent.com...

I'd also like to know what the yearly charge is for, since the whole point is that you don't have infrastructure to maintain. Is this simply software updates that are being paid for?

Hi Iain. The $39.99 per year, per user charge is for premium functionality (see response above for more details there).

So software as a service, then. This looks like the interaction of free and premium users, including when someone transitions between the states, is going to be rather tricky. Overall, considering there's no storage involved except our own disks and it's using our bandwidth, that seems steep.

I agree that 39.99$ is too high a price. LastPass charges $12 a year which everybody is happy to pay.
After all we are using our own hard disk space and use our own energy.

Great news!

I preffer ads on pro than paying monthly...

Good afternoon Sync Bloggers and Deveopers,

I appreciate the discussion regarding the future of BT Sync, and the fact that BitTorrent, Inc. is dedicated to the product. I've been using Sync for about a year now, and think it's an EXCELLENT product that really solves the major "get files from one person to another" problem very well. Because of this, I'm perfectly alright, in broad theory, chipping in to help development of the product.However, the way this blog was written leaves a handful of questions in my mind that I'm hoping can be clarified...

1.) Some of the features listed as "pro" features seem existent already with the current releases of Sync. For example, the "large folders" functionality. One of the reasons I found Sync to work better than OwnCloud in many situations was because of precisely this - while OwnCloud would choke on folders with more than a few hundred files, BT Sync would happily index and synchronize every folder I have, regardless of size. This leads me to one of a few conclusions:
a.) "large folders" would refer to folders so large (i.e. close to a terabyte, or hundreds of thousands of files) as to only apply to a small subset of users,
b.) an artificial limitation will soon be imposed so that "large folders" would apply to people who are already served by the existing functionality, or
c.) it's simply reiterating what will be in that specific module as a part of the split, and is specifying the functionality of that module, but is already in place with the current offering.

2.) The annual pricing model. I'm not sure whether version-release pricing or annual-release pricing worries me more. Annual pricing can yield complacency, and version releases can be pushed out the door "because revenue", and I've seen great examples and terrible examples of both. What is the practical possibility of some sort of perpetual license, either as a "first 5,000 subscribers" situation, or "$149 perpetual licensing" option? I think there's a market for people like me who are willing to buy, but sketchy on 'another bill'.

3.) In the comment responses below, you note that it's "40/year/user, no matter how many devices". Will this be an 'honor system' situation, or will there be some sort of technological enforcement? The reason I'm concerned about the latter is because the nature of Sync makes defining terms a bit blurry. Case in point, I own a FreeNAS. It's a beautiful FreeNAS. It runs BT Sync. BT Sync (along with ZFS versioning, RAID6, and off-site dataset replication) happily ensure that my laptop is backed up in case of disaster. This is just fine. My FreeNAS also backs up my dad's desktop, my dad's laptop, my friend Becky's laptop, my friend Tony's desktop and laptop, and I've got one or two other friends who will be set up to do the same in short order. Who does the FreeNAS "belong to"? Well me, strictly speaking, but does that mean that I can't sync my friends to it? Does one $40 license cover us all? Does each human need their own $40 license, and if they do, will they be able to sync disparate devices from my NAS (eg. Becky's phone to her laptop in an isolated share that I'm otherwise uninvolved with)? If a hardware fingerprint is involved, how does it deal with a new cell phone? These implementation questions caused me to scratch my head.

4.) If a Sync Pro subscription lapses, what are the consequences? How will that affect the other machines in the mesh?

Thanks!
Joey

Hi Joey, thanks for the comments. When Sync 2.0 is released, a very detailed feature list and pricing info will be made available. Please stay tuned. In the meantime, I've posted some additional info in the Sync forum, which you can find here: http://forum.bittorrent.com...

Good to know you will be making money on this product so the free version will stick around and then you'll be able to invest in other products also. Looking forward to the chat client going prime time (or at least working on linux) when more bugs are worked out.

Will Sync 2.0 run on Surface RT or Surface2?

One problem I have with BitTorrent Sync is FILE DELETION. If I delete a file on my sync folder, the other computers replicate the file. That is nuts.

---

$40 a year per user is somewhat reasonable.

Microsoft charges $99 a year PER USER for Office 365 for Business with unlimited OneDrive Storage - plus the use of Office 365 Suite including Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook, etc.

In comparison, does BitTorrent Sync compare to this feature set?

When are we going to be able to manually select which sub-folders to sync inside a master folder?
I want to have a master secret for the master folder and then have manual/automatic sync option for each sub-folder.

Hi. It is very good news :)
Could you talk more about selective sync? How it will be work?

Hi Artem, thanks for the comment. I've posted some additional info on the pro features in the Sync forum, which you can find here: http://forum.bittorrent.com...

I will pay for the pro edition only if I can run my own server(s) so my peers won't even talk to btsync's official servers.

There is going to be a non pro edition? And for example if I've 5 servers using pro edition I'll have to pay for each one or only one license for all of them?

Thanks in advance,
DL

Hi David. Yes, there will be a quality free edition; we're committed to that. To clarify, it's $39.99 per year, per user - for all your devices.

So are the Betas no longer functioning has of last night?

Hi there. Nothing has happened to Sync 1.4 Beta. When we get to Sync 2.0, it'll be one product, with premium functionality being enabled through a license. We’re committed to always having a quality free version. We’re working to improve the Sync 2.0 free version, from what currently exists with 1.4; more details to come on that front, so please stay tuned.

Evaluating file replication options, but this cost: is this for a hosted Sync service, or would I be able to benefit from using Sync 2.0 on-premise without a license?

Hi there. The charge is for premium functionality, catered to individuals with large data needs and business workgroups. I've posted some additional info on the pro features in the Sync forum, which you can find here: http://forum.bittorrent.com...

Thank you for this!