TL;DR: 4TheWords is changing it’s pricing model on August 1st, 2024, but you can lock in the current prices for years in advance for less than the cost of a single year at the new plan if you act quick and take advantage of trading in your crystals
As we’ve discussed a few times on here, I’m a big fan of 4TheWords, the RPG style writing game that gameifies the writing process and helps keep you motivated. I’ve been using it for over 6 year now and it’s become an integral part of my writing process and essential for keeping myself motivated. Can I write without 4TheWords? Sure! But it’s a lot more fun with quests and rewards to keep myself motivated.
My oldest also plays and my youngest recently signed up as well to take advantage of the new free account.
Which brings me to the point of this post: after 10 years at a flat $4 a month, 4TheWords is changing its pricing structure to three levels: Free, Basic and Pro.
- Free: $0/month
- Member: $8/month paid yearly or $10/month paid monthly
- Pro: $12/month paid yearly or $14/month paid monthly
While Pro gives players extras over what the current free plan offers, Basic limits some of the features and both are an increase over the old subscription cost. But 4TheWords also never had a Free plan at all anymore so that’s a huge gamechanger for casual writers and people who can’t afford the higher tier plans AND both of the new paid plans give you more than the original paid plan did, so there’s a lot to like.
If you’re interested in my longer thoughts on the price changes and the different levels, I went more in depth on those on my other blog. But I want to take a moment in this post to make sure you know about an limited time exploit that lets you lock in subscription time at the new Pro level for the cost of the existing subscription cost.
Money Saving Hack: How to lock in the new Pro level of 4TheWords at the old price
If you’re balking at the new prices, there are two easy ways to continue paying the old rate, but you gotta act quick if you want to take advantage!
Before August 1st, 2024, convert any remaining crystals you have in your account to subscription time.
You’ve already paid for these at the old price and, after July, you won’t be able to exchange them for subscription time anymore. Any existing subscription time will automatically become time at the top tier, Pro level, which includes an allotment of crystals every month so there is literally no reason not to immediately cash in all your crystals for subscription time right now before you lose your chance.
Purchase crystal packs now and lock in subscription time at the old prices.
Let’s talk math.
Under the new plan, a year of pro will cost $144 dollars. At the moment I write this, there is a crystal bundle in the store that costs $150 for 2250 crystals. At the current rate of exchange, you can cash those in before August 1st for 51 months and change. Just about four and a quarter years.
Let me say that again. Right now, you can lock in 4+ years for the price of a single year at Pro.Â
Why wouldn’t you want to take that deal? Come August, you’d be paying the same amount for a single year anyway.
I’ll do you one better. There’s another crystal pack for $200 that gives you 3350 or 76 months. Only $56 more than a single year at the new plan and it gives you Pro for over SIX YEARS. That’s at 1/3 of the price of Lifetime and six years is a long time!
But I get it, it’s a big chunk of change to shell out all at once.
Or if you just want to dip your toe in? Well, enough crystals to cover just the entire next year at Pro will run you just $40 right now. Not to mention that there are a variety of other crystal packs to choose from.
The only catch to all these great deals is you have to exchange the crystals for subscription time before August 1st when the new subscription model takes over and this deal expires.
If you need help mathing it out, a helpful dust warrior made a spreadsheet you can use for help figuring out which crystal pack is best for your budget.
Don’t forget about the community pool!
One of the best things about 4TheWords is they generously offer a community pool, where other users can donate time to those who can’t afford a membership on their own. 4TheWords has specifically said they plan continue this program under the new pricing models, coupled with the new Free plan, even if you can’t afford a membership right now, that doesn’t mean you’ll be left out.
Lifetime plan? Buy crystals now to lock in the old price? What should I do????
My advice? There’s absolutely no harm in creating a 4TheWords account right now just to try it out and there’s really never been a better time to do so. The free trial is long enough to give you plenty of time to experience all the features of the site and the Free plan will be available by the time your trial runs out so you’ll transition right to that if you decide not to pay. And if realize you love the site and do want to lock in the old prices as outlined above, you’ve still got some time to do that before prices go up.
I’ll do you one better: Sign up with my referral code (AOZSY71632) and, in addition to the extra crystals they’ll give you on sign up, I’ll send you a welcome pack of some extra goodies to help get you started. Just DM me once you’re on the site to let me know you came from this blog post and I’ll send you some extra game items including coins and battle gear. Unfortunately, I can only do this if I referred you so you make sure you input it either during sign up or under My Account > Settings if you want to take advantage. (Pro tip: you can also do this after that fact so if you forgot to put your referral code in during sign up, you can go do it now… though I have found it sometimes requires multiple clicks before the site accepts it. And if that doesn’t work, email the devs with the referral code you want to add to your account and they will do it manually.)
Do you recommend 4TheWords?
At this point, I can only say an emphatic YES. I will be honest that sometimes they introduce random bugs that make me cranky but every software on the planet does that. But there is also nothing else out there like 4TheWords and the uniqueness of the service and the way it keeps me writing and motivated cannot possibly be overstated.
At the same time, I know I’ve had friends for which it simply didn’t work for their brains and that’s fine too. Which is why I think one of the best ways to see if it’s for you is to actually try it out. Between the free trial (which gives you a taste of everything) and then upcoming Free plan (which is limited but at least lets you play for free) the simplest way to see if it’s for you is to just try it out.
For me, I struggle a lot with focus with everything else going on in my life and having the quests and little bells and whistles of a game to keep me writing just a little bit more than I would on my own is well worth the cost. I have definitely written more since I started 4TheWords and so has my daughter, to the point where it’s become an essential part of our daily writing process.
So give it a shot and sign up before August. If it’s not for you, no harm done! But if you like it, you have the chance to lock in the old prices for years before they go up for everyone else and that’s nothing to sniff at!
Here’s 4TheWords official graphic on the new pricing changes for a full breakdown of the different plans…
And more about the new changes with the expansive FAQ, here’s the official news post.
Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction writer who loves writing of all kinds except for writing bios like this.
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