It has been a hard decision for Imgur users to whether or not upgrade to Imgur Pro by paying a monthly or an annual fee. But, it looks like the company made the decision for its users by making Imgur Pro free for all users.
On Imgur's sixth birthday, the company is offering all of its paid features and tools free for its users. This way, users can save $3 a month or $24 per year, based on users' subscription model.
By removing its paid model completely, Imgur is not ditching on its revenue source. For while all paid features and tools are available for free, Imgur users will continue to see ads just as it was with the free model previously. Imgur Pro eliminated ads from the site but now there is no way you can pay anything at all to get rid of ads on the site.
"Today, we celebrate Imgur's sixth year, and we've decided that you're the one who deserves a gift. We're phasing out Pro subscriptions...and making the Pro features completely free for every Imgur user!" the company wrote in a blog.
Despite that, Imgur's generous decision serves as an advantage for its users. Here are the top features that Imgur users will get without paying:
- Unlimited number of images can be stored on Imgur, which was previously limited to 225 images at a time.
- Access to Imgur's analytics tools, which shows the number of views for an image and the source.
- Multiple thumbnail options on all uploads.
- Manage, edit or delete any uploaded photo anytime.
There are some downsides to the free upgrade, which paid users will miss overtime (viaTechCrunch).
- Imgur Pro was ad-free, but Imgur is not.
- Upload limit capped at 5MB for all users unlike Imgur Pro, which allowed users to upload files up to 10MB.
But at least Imgur is making a serious effort to reach out to its consumers. Also, those who purchased a pro account in the last 30 days will get a refund. The company is sending emails to those who recently paid for a subscription to avail a refund.
If you think the new features outshine the downgrades from Pro, it is a win-win situation for all. Imgur gets to make money from advertisers while users can enjoy free tools and features to continue using the site.
The news of Imgur Pro going free comes shortly after the company launched its all-new GIF creator, where users can convert short videos into infinite looping animation.
