To start off on a morbid note, I’d like to recall a tradition long lost but still fresh in memory.
As opposed to my dad’s side of the family, my mother’s side are devout non-vegetarians. They enjoy their meat! Eating, cooking; it’s a social affair.
Holi was an occasion of a grand celebration at my Nani’s house. One reason I loved visiting every year on Holi was that, though only for a very few days, I got to have my very own pet: a goat my nana would get from the market, after haggling and choosing for hours. I remember I went with him once for the purchase. The stench made me leave within a few minutes.
Once the goat was brought home, my nana would take care of it as if it were his own, feeding it, bathing it, and making sure it’s warm and sheltered. It received its own rug to sleep on and another one as a blanket. March is when the brutal winters started to fade away, leaving early morning dews that made everything damp. The rugs would protect the goat from it. Collecting leaves and twigs all day and bringing them back to the goat in the evening was a ritual for us cousins every day, until one morning, while the children were still asleep, the goat was taken to the backyard and got done to it what you do to a goat before making mutton curry.
A VIP treatment first. Death later. Nothing comes free. A realization that came too late. If the goat had the facility of human reason, it would’ve questioned: if everything is free and I am so well fed, why am I tied to a pole, not able to leave?
On an unrelated note, here’s me trying to delete my account on a well-known fintech app.
It’s not that the people making these free services and apps are unethical or evil. It’s how the market responds to consumer behaviour. Neither are users and consumers foolish for not paying for the services; it’s that builders of these products fail to show users a tangible value beyond cashbacks and rewards. In the end, the whole ecosystem pays the price of free software.
Money is a store of value. Money flows where value exchange happens. If the value exchange is happening between the app and advertisers or lenders, the users end up becoming a product, a means to an end. Someone you feed convenience to before extracting your due.
In an ideal world, value exchange should happen only between the app and its users.
We take a lot of pride in what we’ve built, and the value we’ve been able to add to our users’ lives. We agonize endlessly over every sentence, pixel and feature. It’ll be a shame if we did that only as deceptive VIP treatment. Today, we’re starting a phased rollout of our paid plan called Fold Plus. Here’s how things may change in the future for Plus subscribers vs. free ones.
All new sign ups get 15 days of Fold Plus on us, excluding one feature which I’ll talk about later.
1. Priority support
We’re currently a small team of 7, but we’re in the inboxes & DMs of thousands of people. We consider quality customer support as the most important pillar of building a great product and a great company. But being there always as humans, as opposed to plugging in an AI has been growing to be more and more difficult, going forward we’ll only provide priority assistance to people on Fold Plus, while considering AI help for free subscribers.
2. Ads
We’re not fans of ads either, but they keep the light on. Slowly, as we begin rolling out Fold Plus more aggressively, free plans will start seeing ads, from companies we have personally used and vetted. If you’re building something that you think our audience will find interesting, drop a line at [email protected].
3. Fold merch
We’ve had some requests of buying our merch. Which right now is a set of 4 diaries, of course we have much more planned. Anyone who’s on the Plus plan will get access to Fold merch at cost + shipping, we’ll add no margins. If you’re already on Plus, just email us for more info.
4. Secondary bank accounts
The ability to connect bank accounts linked to numbers other than the one you signed up with is moving to the Plus plan. Many of you have told us how valuable this feature is, from spotting fraudulent transactions in elderly parents’ accounts to keeping an eye on loved ones’ finances when they’re in need but hesitant to ask. One user even shared how it helps them keep their grandparents updated on balances, since ATMs and banking apps feel cumbersome as they near 80.
If you already have secondary accounts connected, you won't lose them even if you don't upgrade.
This is the only feature that won't be available in the 15 days of free Fold Plus trial for new users.
5. Feature comparison
| Feature | Free | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Connect primary Bank accounts, Mutual Funds, Stocks, Credit cards, and other instruments | As many you want | As many you want |
| Connect bank accounts linked to other phone numbers | No | Up to 5 |
| Web app access | No | Yes |
| Ad hoc refreshes | 5 every month | 15 every month |
| Intelligent tagging | Available during testing | Always available |
| Ads | Yes | No |
| Priority Support | No | Yes |
| Change automatic refresh time | No | Yes (with 7 days cooldown) |
| Mutual Funds Refresh | 1 every month | 5 every month |
| Premium tags & icons | No | Yes |
| Radar (AI Chat access, available Christmas 2025) | No | Yes |
| Export filtered transactions | No | Yes |
Depending on how we can deliver more value to Fold Plus subscribers while keeping us running, certain existing features may be available only with the Plus plan. We wanted to be transparent about it even if such restrictions never see the light of the day.
| Feature | Available only on Plus |
|---|---|
| AI based accurate intelligent tagging | Likely |
| EPF | Likely |
| US stocks tracking | Likely |
| Real time credit card transaction notification | Less likely |
| Mutual Funds Insights & Reports | Less likely |
| Unlimited transaction groups | Less likely |
| Unlimited recurring expenses | Less likely |
Pricing
During our initial months of launch we received a feedback saying: "Fold has the potential to become the portal to finances for every Indian". And since then it seems we're moving more and more in that very direction. We also understand that introducing pricing constrains the "every Indian" part of the goal. Therefore, we have kept the free plan generous enough for everyday users and the paid plans affordable enough for more involved users.
We're launching Fold Plus with two plans:
- Fold Plus Annual
- Lifetime Believer License (One time payment, limited seats)
| Tier | Regular | After Early Bird Discount | Effective Monthly Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly | ₹2,999 | Phase 1: ₹1,499 Phase 2: ₹1,799 Phase 3: ₹2,009 | Phase 1: ₹125 per month Phase 2: ₹150 per month Phase 3: ₹168 per month |
| Believer | ₹49,999 | Phase 1: ₹24,999 Phase 2: ₹29,999 Phase 3: ₹33,499 | N/A |
We have a no-questions-asked refund policy. The refund window is 15 days for the Plus plan and 30 days for the Believer plan. Beyond that, if you’re on an annual plan and any of your connected instruments fail continuously for 10 days, we’ll refund you for the remaining days in your subscription. If you choose to cancel within the applicable refund window, approved refunds will be issued minus a 5% fee to cover payment processing and gateway costs.
What's next
The Plus plan will roll out in phases. Currently, if you're interested in upgrading drop us a line at [email protected] with your Fold username. Someone from our team will talk to you, get some feedback and guide you with the upgrade process.
We'll continue shipping like we've always done. It's a privilege for all of us to work on something that's so loved and helpful. This is what our Roadmap looks like for the next few months.
We read all the emails, reviews and DMs we receive. If you have any thoughts about anything in this post, or in the Roadmap, or outside of those please tell us, we're at [email protected].