Figma, stop taking my money

My Story

First of all, I`d like to tell you that I really love Figma and I`ve been a pro user with a paid plan for quite a while. I use it not only for working with my customers, but also for collaboration with my fellow designers, as we often share some things and, in this respect, Figma offers a lot.

I`m open to tell you that I've even made my own Figma templates, which help me to optimize the working process and enhance my cooperation with the customers.

Let's say the truth - I do sometimes click "approve" a bit hurriedly, just to get the users edit access to the files, but don`t we all do it occasionally? In our hurrying world we are in a hurry. 

However, the matter is that I`ve already made a certain payment for the seat. Since I make payments on a yearly basis, I`m supposed to get access to all the platform features without any trouble, aren`t I?

Looks like I`m wrong as I`m being charged for a growing number of seats every single month. If it were just a few dollars, I wouldn't make a fuss. But it's a considerable amount of money. 

The Problem

Now, what's the matter? Why does it happen?

The thing is, Figma uses an unfair billing pattern. What they do is charge money for every user that goes to my files, even when they are paying for their membership.

Figma sees any company as a huge corporation with a lot of people working on it, but I`m actually the only person working in my company!

Let's have a look at the way this policy impacts me:

• First, I share my file with my customer who is already a paid Figma user.
• Then, this person accesses this file and, seeing this, Figma charges me for the seat it considers to be extra. 
• And the result is that I`ve paid for my seat and now I have to pay for their seats, too. The question is why???

A Better Way

And from the examples of other big players we can see that there is a way out.

Let's take Adobe. Their customers need to get their own license to get access to files. If they`ve done it, why can't Figma? There actually is a number of possible ways out:

• Altering the default file sharing. Figma can make it a subscription feature which will dismiss the automatic charging for extra seats.
• Creating special pricing plans with additional features for those who are either small businesses or freelancers. It'd be more fair as we aren't huge corporations that can afford big costs for a lot of employees.

The Future of Figma

There`s no doubt that nowadays, Figma is at the forefront, it offers multiple innovative features no one else does, it is truly user-friendly, which makes it the first-choice platform for numerous users. But it's important to know that such a detail as its billing model may affect its futures as a leader in the market.

Just some figures: it's 2024 and Figma can boast to have 10 million users worldwide, which include more that 100,000 businesses that regularly use the platform, which amounts to over $20 billion.

Thus, by 2025, Figma is sure to have 15 million users worldwide.
And by 2026, Figma will outclass Adobe being the most popular design platform for businesses.

Let's be honest: Figma shows considerable growth, but considerable growth brings huge responsibility. It includes care for its users, both big and small. So, it's high time to present this care in a practical way and change the billing model so that it is fair for different users.

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I`d like to conclude by saying that the billing model of the Figma platform is not fair and is not practical for small businesses and the time for a change has come.

I`m asking Figma to listen to its customers and consider the possible solutions I`ve given above. And I`m not the only one.

We, Figma users, both small businesses and freelancers, just need a fair and clear model to work with this platform, which we love and see as a great designer tool. As creative people, we only want to concentrate on creating and sharing Figma templates with our fellow designers around the world.

By finding a solution to this issue, Figma will be able to encourage its users to work without any worries about the costs they may have and to share their results with people around, thus making the platform an even more popular design tool.

So, Figma, let's keep on working together to improve the platform and make it better for everyone!