Sprout Builder shutting down (unless you have $3k)
Monday, February 15th, 2010
The do-it-yourself widget maker so many nonprofits grew to know and love, Sprout Builder, announced today that they are shutting down all subscription service to concentrate on their enterprise ($3000 a year +) offerings. This is sad news for nonprofits using the service and if you are one of them you’ll want to read the Sprout FAQ right away. You’ll have a little lead time to find a solution though - until the end of March to be precise.
Just about a year ago the service went from free to fee and although there are probably more alternatives now, my post about what else is out there may come in handy again.
[Update: I posted more on this topic at Idealware's blog and am hoping that post becomes a place for sharing alternatives and what's to do for those losing their Sprouts - please check it out and contribute your solutions and ideas]
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10 Responses to “Sprout Builder shutting down (unless you have $3k)”
February 15th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I am really annoyed about this. I appreciate the sincere apology and need for them to make money, they lured an awful lot of NPO’s in (Best Friends included) and had us basically promote the crap out of their service. We did take on a pay plan when it came around to that, and now we are out in the cold.
Oh well, there are alternatives, many with much better functionality than Sprout anyway. I just stayed with Sprout out of loyalty, see where that got me?
February 15th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Hello Jon - could you refer me to “other” alternatives to SPROUT BUILDER that have “better functionality?” Thanks - I am now in a serious bind as is everyone else…. I am also one who went from “free” to “Monthly Pay Program” trusting Sprout Builder to not do me harm….. I wonder if they are worried about “law suits?”
February 15th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
I’m very, *very* unhappy about this. I think those of us who had sprouts built and in operation should have been grandfathered in at the very least. And if they were really wanting to play with the big boys, why work so hard to lure in the smbs and non-profits and then leave us in the lurch? It looks as if they brought in us little guys to help get a product established and better known so they could reach their real target market. And that’s just crummy.
I’ll certainly beware of sites or services any of the sprout management have anything to do with from here on out, given the decision-making on display here. Don’t want to have the rug pulled out from under me or my clients again, thankyouverymuch.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:39 am
I am completely screwed because of Sprout. I have countdown widgets running for the 2010 World Cup that are now going to suddenly disappear with a month to go.
Terrible management on Sprout’s part - how difficult is it to leave the widgets on their CDN for at least another year. My clients are going to kill me.
February 16th, 2010 at 10:36 am
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February 16th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Thanks for the comments, and I hear the frustration. I can’t fault the company for needing to make money, but this does put lots of folks into a scramble they hadn’t planned on.
I started a thread at the Idealware blog to get more input on what options are out there for Sprout users - please check it out and contribute your solutions if you have any.
http://www.idealware.org/blog/2010/02/just-about-year-ago-i-posted-about.html
February 16th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Sprout Inc’s new mission statement:
“Attract. Engage. Deceive”
This also spells disaster for me as well. I started with Sprout when they were in beat free period, went on the payment plan, trumpeted their fantastic service to all and everyone, based a good deal of my web dev around the use of their widgets (I build websites for musicians, artists, artist management co’s, etc). The time it would take to replicate all of this work (which I can not charge for a 2nd time)and at the same time keep up with my new work load is a mission impossible. In short, it spells disaster.
I’m wondering, is this a case for the Better Business Bureau? It can’t be legal to issue a blackmail email saying pay 1000% more or sink. Does anyone have any experience in this.
In the meantime, I’ve started a FaceBook group called, Spurned Sprout Builders Unite for those who are impacted to gather and share info as we move forward in trying to reverse or augment this terrible decision by Sprout Inc.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=309525392366
If you haven’t already joined the FaceBook Sprout Fan Page, then do so. I do believe that Sprout folks read the comments there.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?profile=1&id=11236963668
February 16th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
I, too, am left in a lurch, but fortunately, not as big as some and I have the resources to remake what needs to be done in time. I can’t imagine the horror stories of those smaller folks or those who have everything relying on them.
However, it’s going to cost us a lot of time in labor (and time is money) and I probably should of never used the service with the money I’m losing. You just can’t trust a service where you can’t take the assets with you.
February 17th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Yeah, they have to make money, but as Richard says, would it kill them to leave current sprouts up for a few more months? This is *ridiculously* short notice. I’m going to be left scrambling for alternatives to last for month and a half of a marketing campaign. This really stinks. I feel like they’ve pulled the rug out from under me and my clients.
June 16th, 2010 at 7:07 am
check out http://www.wix.com ya’ll. Just like sprout.
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