See differently

[jean]

I must admit, I believe you’ve spent months creating packages that seem poorly designed to me. You appear to be striving to sell all your widgets at once, without real options for those who only want a few. Three quarters of the widgets are pointless with a good platform. I had considered subscribing for two or three widgets, but when I saw your exorbitant prices, I changed my mind. It seems like you’re selling a complete website building platform. At this price, one can get far more with providers like Wix.

Your packages are poorly thought out and focused on views, you lost me at that point! It feels rather exploitative. If Wix is successful, it’s because they don’t limit views. Your widgets are a supplement to a website and are tools that you rent, simple widgets to put on a platform, not to pay for as a complete platform with several functions already in place as you do. Frankly, continue in this direction and you will disappear with your views system. Thanks, but I prefer to turn to realistic providers and with access to the application without penny-pinching views.

[jean]

Don’t waste your time with these penny-pinching profiteers. The views are just a trap to take you hostage, get rid of them and go to complete platforms that offer all these services at a fraction of the price, like Wix. Their prices are unrealistic and this platform will die with their view system with exorbitantly priced plugins. Indeed, the robots are here and I sincerely believe that this company is no longer relevant in 2024, with plugins at unrealistic prices and with views, I predict the end of their professional format with poorly thought out and profiteering packages.

[Tender_S]

You know, I tried 2 widgets here: Calendar and Calculator.

I found a good free analogue of the Сalculator widget in WordPress as plugin - and I use it.

But the Calendar widget today does not have an analogue one. It is very comfortable and meets all my requirements. Yes, there are things that can be improved and I hope they will make it better.

Besides, Forum support always answers my questions and tries to solve problems.

So it’s a pity that you’re talking so words about Elfsight ((

[Phil]

I’ve been with Elfsight for a number of years with a main high traffic website that uses the apps extensively and also a number of customer websites using various apps and my experience is that we remain within the limits month on month with no issues.

Your post is off-kilter with actually using the service.

[Trainerw (Mike)]

Hi Jean, and thanks for your insight. I’ve been with Elfsight for two years. The first year I subscribed for the full package to try them out. But for the second year I went with their Basic Package because I found that for what I do, the Contact Widgets were most valuable for me. So I can’t comment on the others. But after visiting the Wix website, the comparison to Elfsight is apples and oranges. I use a Hosting Company that provides unlimited websites and storage. So for me, the Wix platform would not be cost-effective with the number of websites I have. What I need are the widgets that add value to my sites, and fills the gaps in areas I’m not proficient. That’s where a company like Elfsight comes in. They complete me

As for pricing. I don’t know what the Elfsight Business Structure is, and it’s really none of my business. Nor do I know how many employees that have to pay. The company has a business plan for fulfilling a need in the industry and it’s not my right to tell them how to run their business. If I don’t like their site, I can just go some where else, as it sounds like you will, which again is the way business works. I’m sure their are some subscription stipulations that Wix has the some don’t like. But their Core package is $29 per month for only one website. I’ve had as many as 12 sites I host. So Wix wouldn’t be a good fit for me. And like I stated previously, it’s apples and oranges.

But here’s what’s not figured into the decision - Customer Support. Elfsight Staff is always there when I need them. You don’t understand something, they explain it with images. You need their code altered for your needs, it’s immediate. Though I’m still waiting for several widgets on the Wish List, the Contact Forms I create are everything I need.

But again, thank you for your introspection. Companies don’t succeed by only hearing the good stuff.

[Ingrid_van_Waard]

Hi Jean,
you are absolutely right that a lot of things could be programmed directly into your website without using Elfsight widgets. After all, everything their devs can write, you probably could also write and code directly on your website. Especially in WordPress, there’s no limit to what you can do if you dare. And for example in Wix or Squarespace, there are things like a banner or popup already available to everyone in the original program. But what a difference Elfsight then makes! From struggling to get a popup looking halfway acceptable with some so-so typography on my Squarespace website, it jumped to limitless design options and settings options in Elfsight! And if anything is not adjustable to look just how you want it, Elfsight support or the community platform always provides some additional code to make it look even smarter! So that got me hooked on Elfsight.

And they do offer a cheaper (or free) subscription for people who do not need that many apps and do not yet have high traffic numbers. I believe you can choose 3 apps with each up to 5K visitors a month in a starter package (@Helga: correct me if I’m wrong).

Indeed, if you go only just “over” the view limit and use it on only one website, it can feel like a heavy investment, but even then: having all apps together is still a lot cheaper than buying one widget here and one plugin there! I recently discovered that we no longer need the specialised chat app from a CRM company (saving us £22/month) because one of the Elfsight apps does the same. And that’s costing me nothing because I have the subscription anyway. I actually like that I can explore and take any app ad lib without having to think about costs-per-app. To me, it feels as if all the extra apps are free, once I’ve paid for the apps that are essential.

And then I didn’t even mention the support! Once you know the way and even get to know someone who will regularly help you, support is unrivalled (@Renata). They get to understand your level of expertise, so they can help you to target that last little fine-tuning every time! Or if you mess up, they come to the rescue! I recently spoke to someone who messed up her Wix website, probably a mistake she made herself, and the whole website was down for a week!!! When I totally messed up an Elfsight app with some wrongly placed self-made custom coding, and the app would no longer open because it was completely f**cked, I got help within hours. And that was just one popup not showing, nothing as dramatic as a website that’s down!

So all in all, I think it’s money very well spent. I’ve been using Elfsight for nearly 2 years, and I am now reaching out in web design for 3rd parties (after doing websites for our own businesses for 6 years). I’m sure my future clients will have a lot of advantages from the clever apps from Elfsight! The apps are well-written (which makes them customisable and predictable) and do not harm your loading speed. It’s about a year now that they added the lazy-load instruction (that they would previously give you on request) as a default to the installation code of any app, so you don’t even have to think about that kind of technical requirement. So it’s serving people who can’t do anything technical, as well as the intermediates and the experts!

Kind regards,
Ingrid

(Recently retired as manager of Riverdale Rural Holidays in the UK,
now owner/creative director of Reflections Web Design & Marketing)

[Helga]

Hi Jean, I’m truly sorry that you’ve had such an unfavorable impression of our company. I was typing the explanation of how our services work and the reasoning behind our approach, but it seems the comments above have already made a strong point. Thank you so much, guys, for your support

You’re right in noting that we’ve put really a lot of time and efforts into providing our customers with a wide range of different solutions that not only work good, but look nice and in tune. We’ve conducted several pricing-wise experiments before settling on a model that benefits both our customers and us. After much discussion about our Pack plans, we opted to price them at the cost of 3 apps, allowing you to explore all 80+ widgets at a consistent price and choose those that best meet your needs.

While you certainly can use solutions built into your CMS, they may not be as attractive or flexible as you might wish. We also understand that decent support is another huge factor, and you can check out what our customers say about our Support Team on our G2 page.

It’s true that we have to stick to a views model as we, in our turn, rely on other services to keep all our widgets and services up and running. It’s safe to say that we’ve also spent a fair share of time to establish reasonable limits, including for our Free plan.

That being said, I really hope you might consider giving our service another try. Our free plans are unlimited in terms of time and features, so you’re very welcome to start there. And we’re always here in case of any questions or difficulties

[jean]

Frankly, I think most of the responses are arranged with the views guy. Let’s see, we can’t adhere to this philosophy that is outdated in 2024. Robots can generate 10,000 views in just a few minutes. I tested it, and in just one hour, and if I’m not available that day, why this old thinking model?

No thank you, I gave them a chance but their way of being is disturbing, disproportionate, intrusive and they will not hold me hostage once subscribed. These are simple plugins and not a complete system at this price, it’s too expensive and with their view system. Using the image of a bomb about to explode is not a way to motivate and reassure customers. “If I subscribe to Netflix, I can watch as many movies as I want, that’s the business model of 2024!”

I turned to Nicepage, which is an incredible tool for creating unlimited websites in multiple languages. It has several built-in widgets and the list is really long. Slider, calendar, portfolio, integrated store, blog, protection system… I fell off my chair and said WOW for a fraction of the price, I have almost everything! $150 per year

For me, a widget is a small complement. However, I don’t like their approach and their point of view. They don’t seem to understand that the level of prices and offers is outdated, and their alarming emails are scary. In my opinion, with its philosophy and its confusing messages, this company is on the path to failure. Their pricing system is exorbitant for simple additions to a complete system!

[jean]

Thank you for your morals. You don’t talk about views and robots, but when you’re doing web design and your own site isn’t working, it doesn’t look very professional… No, it’s quite revealing that there’s something wrong with your comments. [https://reflections-webdesign.co.uk] Thank you, Squarespace mysql

[jean]

Thank you for your post. You have a lot of credibility in your comments. I don’t doubt their product, I’m obviously talking about their business model which doesn’t seem very 2024 with the current explosion of robots. But I like the way you elaborate on the subject.

[jean]

I’m very happy for you that you’ve found your solution with a widget and 5000 views. I imagine, hoping that you won’t get the bad surprise of receiving a message from them with a “boom mesh” image and several emails in the same day to take you hostage! I don’t think Spotify would do such a thing, of course, it’s just an example. But I’m glad for you if it suits you. TK

[Ingrid_van_Waard]

Hi Jean,
You are correct that it’s not yet possible to see the website of Reflections Web Design. But great that you could already find an online link, even before I made any effort to get found!​ Because the website is not yet public!

I only recently decided to start offering my web-building services to 3rd parties​ as Reflections Web Design & Marketing (in the nineties, I already ran a business Reflections Communications, so it was reviving the old business name). We have gathered a ​w​health of experience in the past 10 years marketing​ our businesses and building a successful company in the holiday rental industry and retired from that​ only a few weeks ago. We will now offer specialised know-how to other property owners, who rent out their villa, cottage, or 2nd home​, and need a website with all the integrated marketing.

But Reflections, or its website, doesn’t need to be ready​ until after the summer, because that’s the time to launch. No property owner will change their website mid-season.​

I have claimed the URL reflections-webdesign.com and .co.uk (which will only be a redirect, safekeeping the name for the UK, where we are based), and so far, I have only prepared a homepage for Reflections. This is a link ​IngridFacebook to see a preview in a 2-minute video (with comment).

Please note, this was recorded before the lovely people at Elfsight @Max (Community) and Renata at the support desk helped me with custom code (written just for me) to get the buttons fully identical. That can be seen in another thread​ here (All-in-One Chat bubble customization - #8 by Ingrid_van_Waard)

Kind regards,
Ingrid

PS. Regarding your worry about robots massively escalating the views:​ that can only happen if your website is a victim of that kind of robot intrusion to distort your visitor numbers​.​ And in that case, the security of your website seems a much bigger worry than the view numbers of a plugin on your website.

[Helga]

Thank you for your reply, @jean!

Absolutely, I doubt it’s even possible to find a one-size-fits-all solution, and your desire to stick with the one that covers at least the most crucial aspects for you is understandable.

I wanted to note that a views-based model is standard for many SaaS services, and as far as I can see the service you mentioned is using the same approach. That service goes with other restrictions and limitations (number of modal popups, number of live sites, monthly visits per site, form submissions per site, etc.), which might be a dealbreaker for users with a substantial clientele.

It seems we’re discussing different needs. If you’re building a website from scratch, then a website-builder with built-in solutions would be just a thing. But if you’re looking to enhance an existing website, this is where services like Elfsight come into play, as our widgets are compatible with any website supporting HTML.

Also, rest assured that we do not count robot interactions in our views statistics. If anything seems off or you have concerns, our development team is ready to investigate and provide the best possible solution