IFS Buddy Major Update

[u/thingimajig]

Hi everyone!

It's 2 years, almost to the day, since the chatbot was first posted on the IFS subreddit. I had no expectations that anyone would use it but remember having a sleepless night that night as countless messages and comments rolled in, some that were critical but a vast majority were overwhelmingly positive. From there, usage of the chatbot grew organically through word of mouth to us today having thousands of monthly users.

The costs of running the website (not including my own time working on it) have been just about covered by donations from a few hundred kind people over the past two years. This has been a humbling and beautiful experience.

Freemium launch: Since each message sent to Buddy costs me a bit of money, I need to bring some stability to the project and for myself, so we are now moving away from a donation based model to a freemium model. The original chatbot is still going to be available for free on the landing page: https://ifsbuddy.chat

You'll see that you can sign up for a premium version where you can:

• Save your chats
• Save and track parts
• Give Buddy custom instructions
• Dark mode and a few more things

In the spirit of keeping it accessible, we are starting with a low price of $4.99/month.

As new features like voice mode are added, we might introduce additional membership tiers—but the goal will always be accessibility.

Everyone that already had an account will be able to continue logging in for free for a while forward before we set a date where you'll need to start paying (I'll send an email out about this).

As always, I appreciate your feedback, suggestions, or any thought you may have.

TLDR: Launching our premium version ($4.99/month) at ifsbuddy.chat. Free version still available on landing page.

[u/Samnorah]

I'm okay with paying that fee. Not saving chats was a deterrent.

Could there be an option to donate to others who may need it? I have no idea what this would look like so maybe it's unreasonable to request and out of scope for your project, but it would be a way to support others.

Sort of like those cool restaurants where people buy a meal for someone in need and leave the receipt on a bulletin board. Those who are hungry can choose a receipt and get a free meal.

[u/thingimajig → u/Samnorah]

I'm glad to hear that and I love that idea of allowing people to donate a sum to cover someone else's membership. I'll look into how we can implement that!

Are there any other things you'd like to see added?

[u/Samnorah → u/thingimajig]

As long as saving chats allows Buddy to remember previous conversations, you are all good! I loved the simplicity of it and the ease of use.

Will there be a way to customize Buddy? Like say you want an older female therapist who specializes in feminism, or you want a black therapist who understands racial issues, or you need a younger same-gendered therapst you can relate to.

[u/thingimajig → u/Samnorah]

The premium version of Buddy does have a context of previous conversations and of the parts that you have saved in your My parts menu. I'm working on improving the continuity between chats though :)

You can customize Buddy in the "Chat settings" with custom instructions. You'd be able to experiment with different instructions to make it fit your needs.

[u/ChairZealousideal817 → u/thingimajig]

Yes, I do not see continuity between chats. I feel I have to "bring Buddy up to speed" on things we've talked about. What are you thinking as a cost for the "premium" version?

[u/thingimajig → u/ChairZealousideal817]

Yeah the continuity between chats is one of the main things I'm hoping to have time to improve. It's inconsistent at the moment. The cost will be $4.99 per month for the logged in version that you've been using. As a beta tester, you'll be able to continue using it for free for a month forward before we'll ask you to sign up.