An Update to Workload, Plus More Transparent Calculations

@josh @emmanuel You need to at-least push back may 1st WU pricing update for already existing users to June. Its going to take me at least a month to reconfigure my app to see how WU will effect it. I’d imagine the same for many others

8 Likes

Their fear in enabling export of code can only be one of three things in my mind:

  1. They’re afraid that if we’re able to see the code, we will realize what type of spaghetti it actually is
  2. They don’t want to put in the dev time to make code exporting possible
  3. They worry that people will build in Bubble, export code, and leave early.

If they’re thinking #3, they’re getting something wrong. People who use Bubble solely to build a quick MVP then switch to traditional development are not the target audience of Bubble. You can’t make much money off of that. So allowing them to export just makes that option more tantalizing and opens up that market a bit more.

But for the core user base that tries to build functioning businesses off of Bubble and scale with it, the option to export is a nice fail-safe and nothing more. I’m in that camp with many of my client’s apps, where switching to traditional development makes no sense. Those are where the money’s at.

TL;DR: If Bubble is afraid that code export would reduce their income, they don’t know their value and why people pay them. At all.

9 Likes

I still can’t figure out how I am being charged or how to control how much I get charged. For that reason I need to leave.

I’ll be spending the next 18 months learning a new system lol.

6 Likes

Anyone else have the issue in their “App Metrics” tab where the bar chart shows yesterdays date? Today is the 13th of April, but my bar chart is currently at April 12th. Is this because of server location?

I’ll put my hand up and say I don’t want code export.

I don’t see the point and would never use it.

But it if stops future price increases then sure, we can all take our code and walk.

Except it probably wouldn’t work. But hey.

15 Likes

Server log now shows WU.

7 Likes

I agree - @josh @Emmanuel pushing back the May 1st deadline is needed to give some additional time to see how the new WU calculations will affect apps.

2 Likes

Same, honestly. Most of us, including me, wouldn’t know what to do with the code anyway.

We are visual developers. Whether it is Bubble or another company we will always have to rely on a platform to facilitate our ability to build.

That’s okay and I think we need to acknowledge that.

14 Likes

That’s about it…

3 Likes

Can someone answer this for me already?
When am I expected to see the change in workload usage??

A week ago I was on 3 million and today I am on 3 million as well…
Should this change at all?! I did not understand the change they made in the calculation that they are talking about a 30-99 percent change… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Updates have definitely taken affect.


While this might stave off the problem of cost, it doesn’t do much for how to determine my own pricing model.

3 Likes

He explains it here, you wont see that number just change, but it will overtime as you use the application.

2 Likes

@bubble @josh @emmanuel @somebodywhoserepliesfrombubble

What is going on with this?

Screen Shot 2023-04-13 at 10.27.15 PM

Deleted pages, pages by the way I never created in my app to begin with, are taking up WFU in my live app?

8 Likes

Hi @josh ,

I have a few questions, which other bubblers / plugin devs might have as well. It would be great to have responses to these here:

Plans and Releases:

  1. When you introduce new features or improvements to Bubble, will there be instances where they are exclusively available to apps that have transitioned to the Workload Unit (WU) plans, while the current plans become legacy?
    • Some examples of these features include the ones mentioned in your announcement: low latency, super-fast page load, bulk data operations, and geography-specific hosting.

Technical:

  1. Will client-side actions consume Workload Units (WUs) even though they do not incur any costs for the Bubble servers?
    • In Bubble client-side actions (e.g., setting the state of an element or running JavaScript)
    • In Bubble plugins (e.g., instance.publishState, instance.triggerEvent)
    • In API calls made via the browser instead of Bubble servers
  2. How does the WU system affect auto-binding? Since each keystroke attempts to save data to the server, will it be billed per keystroke per field?
  3. Many Bubble users employ page URL parameters to switch groups and manage UI navigation.
    • Since page loads are now billed, will such a navigation system incur charges per URL parameter change?
    • If I understand correctly, Bubble also tends to run page load workflows on URL updates. Will these be billed as well?
  4. How does the WU system interact with Bubble’s geographic position data type?
    • When attempting to display location data from, for example, a plugin element, Bubble seems to automatically retrieve the relevant geographic field from Google.
    • Since this involves an API call, will it be billed?
  5. If the source list or numerous markers on Google Maps update when the map is moved (e.g., a search with constraint of specific items within a 10-mile radius of the current position), will each location change be billed, no matter how minor? And if 1,000 users are moving within an app, would this result in cumulative billing?
  6. To the best of my knowledge, Bubble retrieves complete records for any given search, while SQL typically allows for the selection of specific fields. How does the new billing system account for this?
    • For example, if I have a data type (e.g., user) with 40 fields and display the user’s name in a repeating group cell (with 30 rows), will I actually be billed for 30 full user record data pulls (i.e., 30 * 40 = 1,200) instead of 30 field data pulls

Forward-Looking / Based on rumors:

  1. Can you explicitly confirm that the introduction of the WU system is not a strategic move to position Bubble for pivoting to cater to $2,000/month enterprise customers or for a potential acquisition?
    • I am not questioning the decision, but it would be the right thing to do if the 18-month period is intended as a grace period rather than a migration period.
  2. Bubble has pledged to make its code open if the platform shuts down. Does this commitment also apply in the event of a scenario where a large technology company acquires a majority stake in Bubble?

Best,
Gaurav
thebdk.com

58 Likes

I see a noticeable reduction. Something that took 600 WU now takes 20.

@boston85719 those are 404s from internet bots. They have removed those from usage. Check your page load usage from 9am est to see if they are still there.

3 Likes

With all due respect, to summarize that there are two key changes to this model that needed review is understating the problem. To those two topics the following still need a resolution.

  • How does an app cap it’s exposure for a monthly bill? I’m guessing it is still the mindset that Bubble gets to send an outrageous bill that 5 times more expensive than last month yet has no proof that it actually consumed that amount of resource time because the “weights” are fungible and could be stacked forever in your favor or against.
  • The change in “weights” proves that the model was completely contrived from the beginning and only after intense pressure has been forced to reassign “weights” (an imaginary multiplication factor designed to achieve a specific revenue outcome). We do not know if these equate to actual computing time. Hence, transparency is still lacking.
  • What is the ongoing expectation of the cost of a WU? In every SaaS model there is a right to increase the cost, but it is usually capped. Is Bubble going to cap its greed on how the weights are applied in the future?
  • Why are Dev and Live environments treated the same? I don’t think I’ve encountered this on ANY SaaS platform in history.

As per most of Bubble, there is an attempt to use childish toys to solve big kid problems.

3 Likes

Awesome feedback and questions! Can’t wait for the Bubble team’s reply, so we can make things even better and decide what’s best for optimization.

3 Likes

I had 130M WU last week, and still have 130M now so I don’t see any changes

2 Likes

The changes are not retroactive.

2 Likes

I looked through what was using the majority of my WU’s and removed those functions. I will still need over 1m WU’s even after the changes which means I will pay DOUBLE (minimum) what I am paying now. This is insane.

This is not sustainable. I will be using the 18 months to learn another system. Great job Bubble :roll_eyes:

1 Like