In 2013 LogMeIn was free for individuals.
In 2018 the exact same service from LogMeIn costs $349.99/year.
That is so outlandish, so absurd, that it seems like it must be a joke.
No joke.
LogMeIn is a publicly traded company that offers a number of services for collaboration, IT support, and remote access to computers. For many years its remote access program, the eponymous LogMeIn, was offered for free to individuals and small businesses, which enthusiastically embraced it until January 2014 when the company unexpectedly yanked the rug out and discontinued the free product. Although many people complained, the company did not suffer because its core business came from large enterprises and IT support companies willing to pay for enterprise-class security and sophisticated tools for managing large groups of computers and IT technicians. For a while, it continued to be chosen by small businesses and individuals because its name was well known and alternatives were hard to come by.
So in January 2014, the price for LogMeIn went from free to $99.99/year.
The price has been jacked up every year since then. The 2018 price is a 40% price increase from last year.
LogMeIn bought its best known competitor last year. GoToMyPC was owned by Citrix for more than ten years before it was sold to LogMeIn in 2016.
In 2018 the price of GoToMyPC has suddenly doubled to $240/year.
LogMeIn has abused its customers for a long time. Its standard business practice – which appears to continue today – is to quietly increase its subscription prices, then process credit card renewals at the higher price without any notice. I had it happen to me – no email notice before or after the renewal, nothing that might call attention to the gouging. Oh, and no refunds, of course. LogMeIn disputes this and claims that it sends company executives to each subscriber’s house for prayer meetings and counseling about the price increases. And yet there are hundreds of stories online about price increases without any notice, going back for years and continuing today. I think the company is telling a little fib.
There is no way to set a LogMeIn subscription not to renew. There is no way to cancel a LogMeIn subscription online. The only way to cancel is to call the support line and wait on hold. This forum thread was started by someone to pass the time while she was on hold. She must have gotten through eventually; her last comment came when she’d been on hold for 112 minutes.
LogMeIn runs services for IT professionals – LogMeIn Central, for centralized management of remote access, and LogMeIn Rescue, for remote support. The prices of those services have also sharply increased in 2018, as well, just as they have increased each year for quite some time.
If you look for complaints online, you will conclude that LogMeIn has a death wish and is being deserted in droves. Here are some threads in just one forum online where people are complaining.
There are articles in the tech press and blog posts about LogMeIn’s abusive business practices like this one, or this one, or my article from 2015.
We live in a complicated world. Small IT shops, small businesses and casual users just don’t matter very much to LogMeIn. LogMeIn is attractive to large enterprises because it is a known quantity and has robust tools for large IT departments. The blue line in the chart below shows LogMeIn’s revenue for the last few years.
Now, granted, earnings have not increased very significantly (the flat red line) and for that reason an analyst might have some second thoughts about buying LogMeIn stock. But that line for revenue makes it very clear that the price increases are not driving away the enterprise customers that are at the heart of LogMeIn’s real business.
$350/year (LogMeIn) is way too much to pay for remote access to a computer.
$240/year (GoToMyPC) is way too much to pay for remote access to a computer.
Just say no.
Splashtop is the best alternative to LogMeIn and GoToMyPC. I’ve been a happy Splashtop customer for a couple of years. There are many options for remote access but Splashtop has worked hard to gain trust in the IT community and many IT pros are using it now. An individual user can set up Splashtop on one computer for as little as $17/year, but their Business product has extra features and is a much better value – $60/year for up to ten computers. Here’s some info about Splashtop from an article I wrote in 2016. (Splashtop prices haven’t changed in the last five years.)
You might not know the name Splashtop yet but it’s time for it to become the familiar name in remote access. Maybe then we can wash away the bitter memories of LogMeIn.
$350! Wow.
Very pleased with Splashtop – it’s been getting better and better all the time. I have a “legacy” subscription that’s somewhat less than today’s pricing (you get a few more bells and whistles today too; I don’t need them), but Splashtop is still lots less expensive then Logmein. I am totally free of Logmein subscriptions, and good riddance – service good, pricing astronomical.
Another alternative is (still FREE and open-source) gwservice.net. Works on many platforms, quite reliable, not as polished as the subscription services, but remote access is still pretty easy to use. But it’s free, and will coexist with most other services. Check it out! And DONATE to them if you’re happy and want them to stay otherwise free.
Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with any of the services mentioned.
I’ll have to take a look at GWService – not familiar with it. Splashtop has been rock-solid during the pandemic – outside of a few printer glitches, it’s been in the same position as Zoom where it just works.
They kept charging me after I cancelled. Terrible Company
My rates doubled from $200 to $400 last year for one PC. No notice. And now it’s stopped working because it’s not compatible with my computer. Customer service said the only way to get it up and running is to get a new computer but it’s only 4 years old. And of course no refund.
And in 2020 central logmein tripled the bill.
In 2019 for a control of 1000 computers the price was € 3000.
And now to continue with the service they send us an invoice of more than € 8000.
It seems an abusive rise and even more without warning, we have been unable to support more than 600 computers distributed throughout Spain, which may have canceled the service for not paying that price increase.
We have changed to teamviewer.
Wow! GoToMyPC last year for 2 computers: 199.00 . This year, 840.00 (after the discount from 1056.00). Thank you for the advice! Suffice it to say, I switched!!!
Wow! is right. That’s over the top by any measure.
Teamviewer.com is also free for non-commercial use, so is handy if I need help my elderly father with his PC if he is having issues.
We used to use Logmein which you used to be able to get relatively cheaper using coupon codes etc but their current pricing is a farce. Shameful practices with the inability to cancel your subscription online and taking of renewals even at increased prices without any warning.
I’m sure in the UK companies, certainly insurance companies, have to give you notice of a renewal and inform of your current and any future subscription prices.
I hate the way companies, software and gaming industries in particular are trying to turn everything into a service with an annual / regular fee rather than being able to buy the product outright. Microsoft are just as guilty in this respect.
Teamviewer can be frustrating because it occasionally decides that you’re using it for “commercial” purposes and turns itself off – for arbitrary reasons that are never explained. It’s great when it works, annoying when it stops.
Everything is being turned into a subscription! It’s almost funny, except when you add up the bills at the end of the month.
Hi All,
Its a disgrace on the price increases that logmein somehow think that their loyal customers will suffer. I work for a managed service provider based in the UK, and our bill was tripling from around 1.5k to just under 5k(pounds),
so I went looking for other products and discovered remote utilities. Perfect for our needs, a one-off price based on the no of technicians(managed endpoints are unlimited).
For free you can access up to 10 machines. I am that positive about the product, that our company became a reseller. So if you are interested in obtaining the paid-for product(or scripts to mass deploy). just let me know.
Cheers
Ray
The average price rise since they started charging in 2008 is a little over 20% a year. Outrageous.
They don’t tell you about the price rises.
They don’t tell you when they are about to charge you.
They don’t tell you when they have charged you.
You can’t enter incorrect credit card details as they check.
they got me too…
last payment $900 a year..
this month $1600
they dont even ask you way you closing the account, they just say
“sorry, we issue refund, thank you for been customer”
looks like the ratio of customers leaving logmein for the subscription is not big impact…
the customers that stay pay for all the ones that close the account like me…
Just had the Same Thing happend May 5 2019
Double the price from 899 to 1699. I’m done getting ready to change to splashtop
I just experienced this exact same thing today! – 4/19/2019
Went from using the free version until 2014..
2015 – $799
2016 – $999
2017 – $1299
2018 – $1299
2019 – $3499 – Can you believe this sh*! No invoice, no email, no notice things. Called credit card company and disputed the charge as it was unauthorized.
I am a LogMeIn Central user. In 2013 I paid $299 for 250 users, in 2014 it went up to $799 for 500 users, in 2015 it was $1149 (44%), in 2016 it was $1499 (30%) , in 2017 it was $2000 (33%), in 2018 it stayed at $2000, in 2019 I got a price increase to $5200 – that 160%! We use about 2500 hours a year of remote support. With the new pricing, that over $2 an hour. I guess we will set up VPN’s where possible and use RDP over the VPN instead. That or migrate out clients over to another solution.
Can’t wait for these bastards to go belly up. Been using them since 2010…
upto 2012: Free
2013 – $214.92
2014 – $538.92
2015 – $800.90
2016 – $1,603.93
2017 – $2,139.00
2018 – $2,850.00
2019 – Billed my Amex for $5,585.39!!!!
I immediately called them as I had no warning, no emails, no notice of any kind! I spoke to them for 30 minutes and they basically said – “looks like this is not a product for you”. Wouldn’t even give me a day to use the product to connect and install another product. I even offered them $200 for one week of access – as you would think a long time customer should be given some sort of assistance or leeway…even willing to pay for it. NOPE! They said GOOD BYE! I would never use this company again – I will rightfully speak ill of them from this point forward. Do not do business with this company!!!
My GoToMyPC price for 2-PC personal plan:
2016 $227
2017 $227
2018 $459
2019 $840
Thank you LogMeIn for the ream. No thanks. Jumping to Splashtop.
Wow. Really? A 4x increase in two years? That’s pretty abusive even for these guys.
It’s a real shame.
I paid € 109,– for my logmein pro account in 2014. And they subsequently raised to € 209 in 2015; € 349,– in 2016; € 599 in 2017; € 839 in 2018 and yet they probably decided that this must be the right pricing and invoices me with the same amount in 2019.
Ton
From 109 to 839 in four years? Wow. That’s amazing. I just found out they’ve pushed up the price for LastPass Premium – three times what it was before LMI bought it. It’s an interesting business model.
They tripled my bill for 3 Computers. I cancelled service and got remotepc.
They charge $69.50 year for up to 10 computers with a 90% discount the first year.
I spent $6.95 and have more computers online and the best part is the program works MUCH BETTER than gotomypc.
Gotomypc can take their service and shove it where the sun don’t shine!!
My credit card date had expired AND number had been changed, but somehow a renewal was allowed anyway. I blame the Card company. But just a heads-up that an expired card is not necessarily a guarantee. I ended up phoning to cancel, though only a couple minutes onhold. Now using RemotePC by iDrive – great so far!
My Subscription price in November 2017 was $140 for two systems. Last month, I’m going through my credit card bill, and notice a $840 charge for Logmein. I didn’t know what the heck logmein was, and thought my card had been compromised so immediately called my card provider and reported it as fraud. A few day later when I was on the road I attempted a remote login using GoTOMyPC which I had been using for 10 years. DOH!! It dawns on me tha t
THIS was the $840 charge, not realizing that they had been bought by logmein. Good riddance Logmein, what the heck were you thinking…
GoToMyPC is now $420/year for a single user!!!! They just doubled again less than a year after doubling, which was one year after doubling the first time (after they were bought by LogMeIn). Wow. Splashtop here I come.
No kidding! Wow. Splashtop just reorganized its offerings and the result was a price increase – but lightly disguised with additional features. It’s still like night and day compared to Logmein and GotomyPC. Good luck!
The only way to stop your subscription is to change your credit card number
Just a thought for those of you who want to kill the upcoming auto-renew–we put in a credit card that will expire in a couple of months and made sure they had no other numbers to pull from. Voila! Auto-renew STUMPED.
I recall mentioning something here in 2016, and Bruce was gracious enough to post it. We were a tech company that started RemoteToPC in 2014 when LogMeIn first began to charge. We built it for our own in-house use, but started offering it as a product in late 2015. Since then, customers from all over the world who are fed up with LogMeIn’s price increases have selected RemoteToPC as a much more affordable LogMeIn alternative. You can check us out here: https://remotetopc.com/logmein-alternative-2018-logmein-pro-pricing/
Yep, me too. Sent me an email on April 13, 2018 stating my three (3) computer annual fee of $209 would be renewed on May 3, 2018 (Same rate since 2007). On May 4, 2018 my credit card was billed $689.76!!! Have now cancelled my service and will look into SplashTop.
PS – Check out Chrome Remote Desktop, works great and its free.
Chrome Remote Desktop is really interesting! I wrote an article about it at some point. Definitely worth checking out – it might be just right for many people.
Yeah after that hike in prices it’ll be stupid to keep doing business with them. I’ve been using SplashTop and I’m happier than what logmein offered. Cant complaint, splashtop’s $60 for 10pcs to logmein’s $840 for 5pcs. Smoother and faster interface.
I just learned about the increase. I had been paying $269 a year for 4 computers since I started using Gotomypc about 10 years ago. Logmein was about to raise the rate to over $1000. They are out of their minds. I canceled the service and will look for an alternative.
I just begged and pleaded for a refund after trying to cancel. With no warning, my price more than doubled! Of course, no refund was given. Switched to SplashTop. Still out a lot of money.
+ LiteManager is great alternative (with free version), like Splashtop.
It’s not only about silently charging your customers, it’s also about taking advantage of your name. Apple does that too. They charge extremely high prices for products and services and few people bat an eye because, well, it’s Apple. You know what I mean right?
Is Martin Shkreli on the LogMeIn board?
Thanks for the Splashtop recommendation.
(laughing) Its’a bit of the same technique, isn’t it?