It should be considered to offer a sandbox on the Cwicly website so people could jump in and test the tool.
I find this very important and don’t know a direct competitor that does not offer a live demo, also there is no free version (which is totally fine) to test things out.
I often find myself skipping a tool in case I am not able to get a hand on before.
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That would be a splendid idea, showcasing the possibilites and features before purchasing.
Might boost sales and spreading the word.
I really think if many of the users in the space tried Cwicly, they’d realize right away just how powerful it is. I often laugh at some of the questions and requests I see in some other builder groups, of which plugin to do this or that, or when a certain feature will be available in the builder. Many of them things that Cwicly has long since implemented in the most elegant fashion imaginable. No extra plugins, no hacky workarounds.
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Great suggestions.
Indeed, a way to test Cwicly out is definitely something that is necessary. There has been an important surge of interest lately and this would go a long way as you say.
We have been pondering the possibility of providing a free version of the plugin which could benefit everyone, but we want to make sure we have the resources and structure to support that part of things.
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Great news tbh, you are thinking about a free version, and I completely agree that it could benefit everyone.
I hope it will be a standalone version which doesn’t force Cwicly users to install the free and the paid version to have the complete plugin in the end.
This is the actual only thing I am a bit concerned.
Offering a free version would definitely be something interesting. From a marketing standpoint, it will bring a lot of new users. (how many will convert to paid users, I don’t know). And also just by having it listed in the wordpress repository, it would instantly make it more “trustworthy”. (plus would benefit from a lot more free PR)
In the long term, more users → (a lot of things in between) → better product.
Apart from having to deal with a lot of customer support (free users are more entitled, so who will be responsible with this needs to be very Zen 
) I see just benefits.
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This definitely will be a pain point, especially with a tool like Cwicly.
Agree! And since there are already a decent amount of Cwicly users out there which would be happy to write some amazing reviews, it would have some initial impact I think.
Not sure about WP’s repository guidelines but don’t they force devs to offer a standalone plugin for their platform, so you would end up with 2 plugins when switching to the paid version?
Could be totally wrong here but that would be a downside for me at least.
I guess it depends on what will be free and what not. Recommended is to have a separate plugin for the extra functionality. (but practically the entire plugin could be deployed to wordpress).
If for example just the library part (which acts as a service) is part of paid, that for sure can be restricted in free, but enabled it in pro. (in the same plugin)
I personally wouldn’t mind to much having to install two. (as in effort & performance there isn’t much difference )
Might be another case with Cwicly since ACF Pro is part of it.
I have the feeling that, when deploying to the WP repository, it will come down to 2 plugins.
Not sure which approach would be easier to maintain for the developer.
I personally do avoid “helper plugins” that comes in 2 parts when buying the pro version.
If I need 5 plugins for a project, it potentially doubles the amount instantly.
Of course, Cwicly is an entirely different story and if it ends up with 2 plugins, so it is.
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Yep, that’s right regarding ACF (forgot about it)
In this case you could just think that with the free plugin you install Cwicly and with the pro one you install ACF (so it’s the same amount of plugins anyways )