Free vs Pro: A Simpler PhotoWeather Pricing Model

I am removing the Plus tier and committing to two straightforward choices: Free as a dependable everyday tool, and Pro as the full photographer’s weather toolkit. Paying for a partial set of features never felt right, and as a solo developer I would rather ship better forecasting than spend time slicing features into ever-finer tiers.

Why Plus is going away

Plus was a half-step that still blocked features, so it was hard to justify paying while knowing capabilities were missing.
Every extra tier adds overhead and slows product decisions. I want to spend that time building, not debating what goes where.
Two tiers makes the promise clear: Free lets you experience PhotoWeather daily, Pro unlocks everything now and in the future.
If you’re on an old Plus test account, nothing changes for you today—it’s no longer purchasable and won’t receive new features, but you keep what you already have.

Two tiers, clear promises

Free: Focused on the essentials—temperature, humidity, wind, cloud layers, visibility, precipitation, sunshine duration, and aurora Kp. Forecasts refresh every 6 hours using the best-available model for your location, so what you see keeps up with how fast weather changes.
All astronomical and time data (sunrise/sunset, twilight, golden/blue hour, moon, Milky Way visibility, time window) stays available to every user, Free included.
Pro: Everything PhotoWeather offers, refreshed hourly. That includes the full advanced field stack (showers, shortwave radiation, UV, CAPE, lifted index, snow depth, freezing level), directional weather intelligence probes, ensemble and dynamics layers, marine where applicable, aurora enrichments, plus power-user features like trend rules, multi-model confidence checks, advanced notification scheduling, and location-specific calendar feeds. Nothing is being cut back for Pro.
This still bumps my API cost for Free users by roughly 3x, but I think a trustworthy Free experience is worth it.
Quick view: Free keeps the essentials; advanced fields, probes, ensembles, dynamics, marine, OVATION aurora, and all future additions remain Pro-only.

TL;DR: purpose fit

Free — Good for fog at your home spot, basic cloud/light planning, and simple opportunities in the next few days. Limits: 1 location, 3 active rule assignments. Basic aurora based on Kp only.
Pro — Pro engine + advanced jobs: more atmosphere depth (storm/light dynamics), marine forecasts for seascapes, aerosols for haze/fiery skies, ensemble/agreement for confidence, and aurora enhanced by OVATION. 15 locations, 100 active rules, directional weather intelligence, and tighter alerts.

Faster, more useful Free experience

I originally tried giving Free users nearly all fields while fetching only once every 24 hours to keep costs low. Forecasts change too quickly for that to work. Moving Free to a leaner dataset with 6-hour refreshes keeps the data honest. It also removes silent degradation, like rainbow detection that used to check a single point and miss almost everything. Directional weather intelligence remains Pro-only, so instead of a crippled rainbow probability on Free, it lives fully powered on Pro while Free stays reliable on the essentials. If you want a coarse Free workaround, you can make a rule like “rain > 1 mm AND sunshine_duration > 900 sec,” but we won’t present that as serious rainbow detection—and even that rough approach benefits from the 4× faster refresh versus the old 24h cadence.

Handling rules that rely on Pro data

If you have rules built on fields that are now Pro-only, they may pause. To make the transition smoother, all current Free users are getting 30 days of Pro automatically. Use the month to see what the complete toolkit feels like and to adjust any rules.

Paused rules will show a warning label on the Rules page; swap to a Free-friendly field or keep it and move to Pro if you want it to continue firing.
The 30-day Pro credit is automatic, no card needed, no need to cancel; after 30 days accounts return to Free unless you choose Pro.

What’s coming next

Upper air dynamics, atmospheric aerosols, and seascape features are in testing. With a simpler tier model I can focus on shipping these faster instead of designing more pricing grids.

What this means for you

Free users: expect more timely updates and a tighter set of dependable fields. Check your rules during the 30-day Pro window if you rely on advanced data.
Pro users: no reductions—hourly refreshes and every capability remain, with new features landing here first.
Pro pricing stays the same; the lineup is just simpler.

Have questions or need help tuning rules? Email support@photoweather.app. I know this is a significant change, but I believe it creates a clearer product: Free that is useful every day, and Pro that unlocks everything. I’d love your feedback on how the new Free cadence feels and what you’d like to see next—just reply and let me know.