@GodlessGlen Feature vs service is semantics in this situation. You want something for free but are planning to charge your client regardless? And charging your customers is not irrelevant, you are trying to make money by charging for a feature the same thing that the Webflow team is trying to do.
Adobe Muse has it’s place but the development process is slower and CMS/blog integration being a little cumbersome so I’m not sure it’s the best comparison to Webflow but I do understand what you are saying.
Being upfront with your client is the only way to go ever…in my opinion and your contract should cover the use of “tools” and what moving a site later or adding additional functionality could potentially mean or cost a client. It makes for better long-term clients and helps them understand features/benefits cost and what value they are receiving, You don’t have to provide existing customers with every new feature if it’s a cost related change or takes your time…just like you wouldn’t change a client’s site for free just because there is a new cool functionality or conversion strategy moving through the web and they want it added to their site - you don’t have to White Label if you haven’t charged for it.
Hmmm…if you are losing money on building with Webflow that’s an issue for certain and I could see why any change in pricing makes you upset and anxious about future features! From my perspective it’s just as easy or even slightly easier to make a decent profit when designing custom sites with Webflow because Webflow is a time saver and it’s certainly easier to respond to client’s custom design requests, the ease of the CMS also seems to be a hit with clients moving from Wordpress. I understand that every designer/developer approaches contracts differently and maybe you are locked in somehow with the client at a fixed price and that’s a difficult situation. The Webflow pro plan is $420/year (annual billing) or $504/year plus the domain or CMS hosting. It’s pretty easy to spread that annual overhead across even just a few projects and then setup a maintenance plan that includes the monthly domain or CMS hosting or give clients the option to just pay for the hosting.
I’m completely confident and comfortable with the direction Webflow seems to be headed. I much prefer the buy as you need plan over a large hike in the base monthly plan fee.