Workspace Limit of "Free" plan !?

[MartinFerenec]

Can someone please explain why is there a Workspace limit? And why only 2 (effectively 1 since "My Workspace" is not removable)?

How am I supposed to work normally and create a separation between my school assignments, private projects, open source projects, work stuff... !?

[koryphaee]

Yeah it's crazy. I am currently trying to find a Postman alternative and this artificial limitation rules out Bruno for me. I am not paying $6 a month to change a number from 2 to 10 (or however much I need).

[Rich-Hopkins]

I'm willing to bet that you would like to be paid for the code you write, though, no?

[VenancioFuentes]

I'm willing to bet that you would like to be paid for the code you write, though, no?

Yes, if I did it myself, not the community, and it's not open source.

[Rich-Hopkins]

Yes, if I did it myself, not the community, and it's not open source.

Well, you're in luck then! Outstanding! You can use the open-source part free.

[Rich-Hopkins]

Can someone please explain why is there a Workspace limit? And why only 2 (effectively 1 since "My Workspace" is not removable)?

How am I supposed to work normally and create a separation between my school assignments, private projects, open source projects, work stuff... !?

I find it quite hipocritical that developers using developer tools complain about limitations of free software. I'd be willing to bet you want to be paid for the code you write, don't you?

[stdttl]

Perhaps it could be worth exploring a shift toward a donations-based model, increasing the limit to something a bit less restrictive, allowing users to keep two active workspaces of their choice instead of always keeping the “default” workspace open.

There are many people currently looking for alternatives to Postman, so having an open discussion around this could be valuable and might even help strengthen the product and its community.

From a professional perspective, I completely agree with you; good free software deserves to be supported and funded. 🙂

[pkfox]

From a professional perspective, I completely agree with you; good free software deserves to be supported and funded. 🙂
@stdttl So do I but it is no longer free is it ( speaking as a Software Engineer of 40 yrs + experience )

[stdttl]

Well, this brings us to the well-known discussion about the meaning of "free" which can be interpreted in different ways:

• Free as in freedom → the right to use, modify, and distribute
• Free as in free beer → free of charge

As I mentioned in my previous reply, I hope that an open discussion with the community can bring valuable insights and benefit both the product and those of us who see its strong potential and would like to see it grow. 🙂

[MartinFerenec]

@Rich-Hopkins I understand your perspective and agree with it. As a software developer I would like to be financially compensatet for it yeah, but there are other aspects to consider. For example "will I even try to make some monetary value on this project or is ti just for personal user or learning and wont see "light of day"?"

As a student that has 10+ assignemtns to work on all requiring different ENVs and everything it's nice to keep things separated in different workspaces. Also another case would be if developer makes a simple app that he uses only for himself and has no monetary value for it, or he contributes to an open source project,... the list goes on.

So basically in these lets call them "gray area" cases for a developer it makes no sense to charge him 6$ for soemthing that he will make abosuletly no money from. In these cases as a developer that tried out Bruno will be like "yeah its great but people are complaning about Postman that pushes a lot of paid features, but Bruno wants me to pay up for having more than one custom workspace" and will move on back to Postman or something like Yaak whoch users will have no isses with not working if they use it personally or for open source.

Mentioning Yaak, they have just as postman or Insomnia, no limits on workspace numbers. Yaak has a simple licence that goes somewhat like "you use us comercially? Thank you very much but you need a licence for that, so pay up." and I dont see absolutely no problems with this approcah. Docker is also free to use, but not in all cases (check out their licensing for example).

TLDR; paying for licence? yes its normal, but there should be exceptions to the rule. Maybe rethinking the license agreement for it?

Making a hard limit on extra workspaces is definetely not the solution in my opinion, since people that were working with multiple workspaces try Bruno and see that they have only one effective workspace will move right back to where they were or somewhere else (e.g. Yaak). The point should be making a big user base and in that user base when they switch to comercial usage they pay up, which is perfectly understandable.

[Rich-Hopkins]

What you've described could easily be achieved with separate collections, at no cost. Another workspace isn't necessary for what you've given as an example.

[helloanoop]

Workspaces are simply a way to group collections, they’re a convenience feat
The limit applies to how many workspaces can be open at the same time, not how many you can create overall.

So this isn’t blocking you from using the product; it just limits a convenience feature.

Historically, we’ve actually moved many features from paid to the free tier: things like WebSockets, gRPC, Themes, working with JS files, File Mode, Visualiser, and importing OpenAPI via URL, among others.

Running an open-source business is nuanced. We care deeply about building tools that developers love, and about open source and its freedoms. At the same time, we need a sustainable financial model behind it.

There will always be friction points (where features get gated) when using a product that is mostly free. That friction is often what leads people to convert and pay, otherwise, no one would.

[JordanBettridge]

@helloanoop what's the difference between how many can be open and how many can be created?
Also, 2 is quite low, I feel a slightly higher number like 4 would be a bit easier to accept. A monthly subscription is also what makes it difficult, paying $6 a month as someone not in a Western Country adds up very quickly, historically things like this would be a once off purchase.

[pkfox]

@MartinFerenec just use separate collections instead of separate workspaces.

[hervekom37]

Can someone please explain why is there a Workspace limit? And why only 2 (effectively 1 since "My Workspace" is not removable)?

How am I supposed to work normally and create a separation between my school assignments, private projects, open source projects, work stuff... !?

Yeah, that limit gets annoying fast. We switched to Apidog to avoid that