Branded App by Wix: My Honest Opinion

Ask the community
, , ,
1

Before you read this post, please be aware that I might be wrong, and that the official launch for Branded App By Wix hasn’t taken place yet. This means the information I am sharing may not be entirely true, so please make a judgement for yourselves.

Anyway, here are my thoughts.

Since the two YouTube live videos were scheduled the other day, announcing the Branded App By Wix, I have been excited. This has clearly been shown in the forum posts, comments and Facebook Group comments I have contributed towards.

My thoughts and ideas about what this could be filled my head, and I was excited about what I was going to be able to do for my own business and for my clients. I knew that WIX was going to be the first mainstream provided to create websites and branded apps. This is obviously the launch of something new, so over time this will possibly evolve and develop.

Last night (at least for me), a post was put in the Facebook Group with an image containing the price for Branded App By Wix. US$100/month paid yearly. And this is half price. So full price would be US$200/month paid yearly. Thats US$2400.

I initially thought, well that’s quite a fair amount of money compared to the cost of a website. And admittedly, apps usually do cost more than a website. Especially when they are built from the ground up. I was willing to look past the price until I got my hands on it.

This morning, I was looking through my sites, and discovered that I was able to create my own Branded App for my own business. Great. This was the perfect opportunity to play around and see what it was like.

I then felt a little disappointed.

I don’t know whether it was because I was expecting something different, or the fact that I had experienced different no code custom app builders. I don’t know what it was, but I felt a little disappointed.

To make it easier for you to understand, I’ll explain what I was expecting.

Much like the Editor I was expecting a drag and drop system where I would be able to build an app from the ground up. I’ve used a smilier tool to do this before (Adalo). This would be have allowed me to actually Brand the app, with being able to customise button stroke widths, the fonts, literally everything, much like the Editor.

Adalo offers a plan for $50/month. Much cheaper than $200/month

And whilst the Desktop access to the branded app does say “More Customisation Features Coming Soon to Desktop”, an editor style app builder is not what I was faced with.

What I was faced with, is what feels like a one size fits all theme, where you can change the colours and slap your logo on top, oh, and remove anything accosted with WIX.

I can’t help but feel like this is the Spaces app by you can add your own branding.

I don’t think I will honestly be able to sell this to my clients. “Oh, so I can technically build you an app, but it has to be a set style, and I can add your colours and logo. And its going to cost £150/month if you go for the yearly plan, so that’s £1800/year. Or if you pay monthly, that’s £180/month so across the year that’s £2160.”

And I’m pretty sure that’s without adding VAT and is definitely without adding my markup for actually building it and everything like that.

I wouldn’t have so much of a problem if those prices were for something that I had built from the ground up in a drag and drop style, but for what it is, I think that is an extortionate price.

I understand that there are strict rules when it comes to the App Store and the Play store about the design of the app, they don’t want any old rubbish appearing. So some limits have to be put in place. But I think some of the problem comes from the fact that absolutely anyone will be able to build an app.

I think there has come a point, where random people who have built one website for a group they were part of, have enjoyed it, and then gone on to build more, not understanding how design actually works. This saturates the limits of being able to build an app, because they don’t understand design, and these limits have to be put in place.

I want to be told I am wrong, and that I have completely miss understood how the Branded App works and is going to work, but I feel that I might not be corrected.

Anyway, I think that is enough of a rambling for one post. And if you want me to expand on any of the points that I have made, then please just ask.

But before I end, I want to say a huge thanks to the team of people that have put this together. You’ve worked hard, and for a fair chunk of people I think that this might work for them. But for me, I don’t think this will work.

I think this feeling is all down to the fact that I was expecting more than we have received, and for what we have received, I feel that the cost is far too high.

5 Likes
2

Hi Noah, thank you for taking the time and sharing your thoughts. We love hearing honest feedback, after all that’s how we grow both professionally and creatively. I don’t have much to add at this moment, but as you already know, we have an upcoming Roundtable Discussion so expect lot of questions to be answered that day. Still, I will be forwarding this feedback to our team as you’ve raised some points that I believe they’d be interested in hearing more about. I’ll be in touch should I have any updates on the points you’ve raised. :slight_smile:

3

That’s great to hear. I will be at the roundtable because it’ll be great to see the product presented and to have some questions answered.

Thanks for forwarding this.

I guess you’ve seen a lot of the feedback in the Facebook group, saying the price is to high. Ultimately, what it feels like is not Branded App by Wix, but Remove Wix Branding on Spaces. I know it’s more than that, but from a clients point of view, that’s all it is.

But like I said, thanks for everything and keep up the good work

4

@noahlovell I just noticed this post and you articulated exactly what my thoughts and disappointment are as well. Not to take away from the hard work the team has put in to make it easy for non coders to create great websites and now the process to convert it to a branded app, as this is amazing. But your post is spot on. I look were Wix has come from since the beginning and have no doubt this will eventually be awesome but it should be priced for its limitations first. Like the web side of wix priced on levels of functionality required.

5

Hey @shane thanks for taking some time to read my post! As you are aware I wrote this post before the official Wix launch. This was a summary of my initial reaction.

While some of the points I make are still true, my opinion has changed slightly since watching the launch.

The Branded App is an excellent step forward and allows us as Partners to distinguish ourselves from our competitors.

My initial reaction was that the price was far too high for what were were getting, because it simply felt like the Spaces app without branding. However, I realise now that with the future development of features the price will end up being reasonable. It is much easier for Wix to set a price that may feel a little high and then develop more features, than set a price, develop more features and have to change it in the future.

Ultimately, as Partners we have to help our clients decide if they actually have a NEED for a branded app or are just using it for the novelty. If they truly NEED it then they will be able to afford it.

It’s all about how we frame it to the client, if we are negative, they will have the same feeling, if we are positive and explain the benefits they will also see those benefits.

Consider framing it like this:

‘Traditional development of native apps cost thousands of £ and have a high expense for the upkeep and development, along with bug fixes and a couple of months to develop etc. I however, can create a Branded App experience completely native, that syncs with your site. The development cost, publishing updates etc are all covered in this monthly price and it will be up and running in under 72hrs. All for x amount a month’

It sounds like a no brainer to the client.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions, just ask :facepunch:

6

I totally agree and have no problem up-selling as I already do with ascend. My feedback is feedback it is not right or wrong. I am just offering the feedback I receive and remember I am in Australia so $ and attitudes are different. I am not confident in up-selling at this price without testing the functionality is fit for the purpose. Yes, the price is cheap for a custom-made branded app. But it is not for a branded app version of the website/spaces yes future features will be great and can see the benefits. But based off feedback from the partner community that I have read, it might be beneficial for Wix to offer a cheaper option for people to try test then those that are reluctant will spread the word at the same time help with testing and develop into a better product. Nobody is saying that what they have created isn’t amazing or is not going to be a game-changer. But as this is a first let at least offer partners a 12-month trial to create one and use as the sales tool or something like that.

7

Nah I definitely see where your coming from. Was just letting you know that my thoughts have changed slightly since writing this post :facepunch:

8

I appreciate the discussion and totally respect you views. This is the whole reason for a forum we don’t all have to agree on everything. It’s to share ideas and thoughts to make things better. I learn something new every time I check out the partners forum. I have been a member for year’s but never really participated. But an enjoying the benefits. Thank you.

9

No problem. I’m loving being part of it and learning from everyone. It’s very refreshing to learn from other people, how they view things and how they work. If you ever have any questions, pop me a message :+1:

10

I have to say I agree. While what is being offered is a great feature for everyday Wix users, there’s not much for partners to do, and selling this will be difficult.

There are rules that need to be followed with the app stores as Noah mentioned however I think this would be much better if we could have a drag and drop style editor similar to the mobile builder for Classic/Editor X. The biggest issue I see with this is that every app that gets created will be nearly identical. There is no real identity a brand can put into their app aside from the colors, logo, and banner image but that will be the exact same settings for all Wix users.

The one main benefit to this it integrates directly with Wix apps and the website but honestly, I don’t think that is enough. I have tried selling this to a few of my clients and so far no one is biting. I also think it’s a bit of a shame that the discount is only for a limited time. I think there needs to be more incentive for a Wix user to use a partner and it would be great if a discount was always available for partners. In reality, with the current price and the fact we don’t need to do too much configuration or any real maintenance, we cant up-charge the $200. If we had a discount it could help get sales and allow partners flexibility with the price.

11

You have shared my thoughts.

12

You have brought about the right points for discussion. Hope the Branded app team is all ears.

13

branded app is disappointing to say the least, really. i have been waiting for 6 weeks to get my IOS app approved, and wix cannot give me any answer. Plus i cant write any code, or add any functionality to the app.

1 Like