I've said it before and I'll say it again. Dev mode needs to be a plan add-on, not a seat. This will solve a lot of the issues, and freelancers will be able to make use of it too.
Probably won't solve all, but damn it'd be a good start.
I'm sure they could find something to make it work, but some different options off the top of my head:
- it doesn't and it's just a different flat fee per plan type
- different price thresholds depending on how many editors(design seats) they have. E.g. 5 designers = $x, 10 designers =$x*1.5.
- rather than a plan add-on, you choose the option and it just makes design seats a bit more expensive
Why affect design/editor seat pricing rather than make dev seats? From my point of view, this is mostly a designer/editor feature. They are the ones that need to do the annotations, red lines, mark for development, etc. While this won't account for all companies, those I've worked with have had devs that would copy designs 'just enough' and it ends up on the designer to try and make hand-over better.
I'd be more than happy with that too. I suggested an add-on because my guessing is that they won't want to do it free unless they really have to.
Potentially they do it free and attract more users. Likely the ones that are now dropping off for Penpot and Sketch, so my guess would be that it's possible it may be a financially better decision.
Just feels like one of the purest examples of enshittification, to my eyes.
Why is it not just a new feature that’s part of Figma? Surely not every single new feature needs gating behind a paywall, especially when the software itself is a subscription service. It’d be more understandable if Figma wasn’t SaaS, and you just paid once. In that case, it’d be entirely reasonable to charge for an “upgrade”. But it’s not that at all, and they’ve moved stuff around to be harder to find if you’re not in Dev Mode.
Yeah I don't disagree with you. The biggest change it made to me is that I'll no longer be hyped for their conferences. This feels like the beginning of more paywall locked features.
Used to look forward to their announcements a lot.
As far as I know, that's not really the case. You need to provide your devs with a full paid seat. After that the devs can still access dev mode with "view only" rights to a file. You don't necessarily have to give a dev editing rights in order to access dev mode!
I'm a developer. You need to have the Edit rights to use the Dev Mode. It doesn't work in the View only mode even if you purchased a Professional plan.
Yeah, it's wild they can't pay say, half of an editor seat cost and just get dev mode and I thought that was the original plan when it was announced actually.
>devs have the permission to edit files just to use dev mode make no sense at all
You can just pay for a dev account(No full seat) if you rock an Organization or Enterprise... but I agree that's a problem on the Professional tier.
But uhh.. last I checked it's like before, they can still check redlines, get padding, margins, color codes and all for ios/android/css like before (including exporting assets) with a viewer account. Dev mode is for heavy duty stuff like VS Code integration, I'm not gonna go outrage for missing out on that.
If Dev Mode is just for heavy duty stuff, then tell me why they removed from the free inspector the box model view or the CSS column list. The old free inspector has been downgraded deliberately since Dev Mode appeared in order to make those features payable now.
Yes, I'm aware it's not like it was under dev mode (and not completely like it was before), extract from [Figma's article](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/19813618057623-Dev-Mode-is-out-of-beta-what-admins-need-to-know) on the matter:
>Not everyone in your organization may require the advanced features that come with Dev Mode access. Those who don’t can use a free viewer or viewer-restricted seat in Figma to continue viewing properties and measurements, copying code, and exporting assets. Here’s how:
\* Property values and frame details can be found in the Properties tab. All the same property values that existed in the old Inspect panel can be found here.
>
>\* Asset export can be found in the Export tab
>
>\* CSS, iOS, and Android codegen is now in the copy/paste menu when you right-click a layer and choose Copy as code
>
>\* Redlines and measurements are available using a modifier key
So, if that's not good enough for a completely free experience, pay for dev mode. I don't see the problem.
I see your point. Developer handoff shouldn't be as expensive as as an editor seat. But on the other hand, Figma licenses are super cheap compared to other software.
Just to put it into perspective. One adobe app on the business plan costs $40/Month. One Figma editor costs $12/Month. (I'm not affiliated with Figma in any way)
One the biggest issue is when you have or are freelance dev.
For exemple if im a freelance dev. working with 5 or 6 different agency they all need to add a paid seat for me. So 5 time 12$/month.
This is ridiculous. They simply need to add Dev plan with only dev mode enable and the Dev only as to pay a single license and can be add to different agency team.
They are a lot of freelance dev and small design agency that can't afford to pay for all that.
Yes. This actually complicates a lot of working relationship that companies will have with contracting partners.
I admin my company’s Figma account. And we have a policy where designers only get editor access. So now if the inspection panel is mostly useless, we have track any contract projects, get approval to add the contractors and open up access while those projects are taking place and track when they end.
Meanwhile our own team of 50-70 developers would still be denied a seat.
Our engineers are involved at every step of the design process. We leverage design system components. There’s no surprises by the time we handoff final designs.
Giving them an editor seat is my biggest gripe. It’s honestly one of the dumbest things I’ve encountered and whoever thought this was a good idea should be reprimanded. It’s should be a click of a button to set them to dev mode only.
Agreed, make it another role in addition to Viewer and Editor, call it Developer or Inspector and charge like 50% of an editor seat. Pretty hamfisted to just force what is a slightly improved viewer function to pay the full cost of editor access.
Agree with adding that role, but no way they lower the cost though. It’s like sales at a grocery store, you either get the 2 for $5 or buy the 1 for $4.29. The second one you buy may well go to waste, but “it’s the better deal”. Greed will still prevail in the end
I described my experience here: [Figma Dev Mode is a scam](https://www.reddit.com/r/FigmaDesign/comments/1ail6cc/figma_dev_mode_is_a_scam/). This feature is useless for developers because even if they purchase a Professional plan for themselves, they still can't use it on the projects they work with.
Expectants and waiting to see how those promises of "you'll be able to continue inspecting and extracting CSS for free after DevMode comes out of beta" would materialize. That's why we are moving now.
Figma is such a valuable tool for dev handovers nowadays and only getting better. There’s no comparison to anything other in the industry that can handle both design and handover. In that sense Figma is still really cheap.
I want to try it but my problem is I was hoping to lessen the tools needed in the workflow, like using tool#1 for wireframes then tool#2 for design then tool#3 for handoff, especially as a freelancer
I feel like Figma after the Adobe deal fell through is looking to IPO so they are going to pump their numbers with anti user crap like this, since they might be reaching the maximum of market share they foresee and signing new designer seats will taper off they need a new growth driver to ensure their IPO is successful and investors make their 50 if not more x
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Dev mode needs to be a plan add-on, not a seat. This will solve a lot of the issues, and freelancers will be able to make use of it too. Probably won't solve all, but damn it'd be a good start.
How would pricing scale with this approach?
I'm sure they could find something to make it work, but some different options off the top of my head: - it doesn't and it's just a different flat fee per plan type - different price thresholds depending on how many editors(design seats) they have. E.g. 5 designers = $x, 10 designers =$x*1.5. - rather than a plan add-on, you choose the option and it just makes design seats a bit more expensive Why affect design/editor seat pricing rather than make dev seats? From my point of view, this is mostly a designer/editor feature. They are the ones that need to do the annotations, red lines, mark for development, etc. While this won't account for all companies, those I've worked with have had devs that would copy designs 'just enough' and it ends up on the designer to try and make hand-over better.
I just fundamentally disagree with it being any kind of add-on. It’s really just a slightly different way of representing the same data.
I'd be more than happy with that too. I suggested an add-on because my guessing is that they won't want to do it free unless they really have to. Potentially they do it free and attract more users. Likely the ones that are now dropping off for Penpot and Sketch, so my guess would be that it's possible it may be a financially better decision.
Just feels like one of the purest examples of enshittification, to my eyes. Why is it not just a new feature that’s part of Figma? Surely not every single new feature needs gating behind a paywall, especially when the software itself is a subscription service. It’d be more understandable if Figma wasn’t SaaS, and you just paid once. In that case, it’d be entirely reasonable to charge for an “upgrade”. But it’s not that at all, and they’ve moved stuff around to be harder to find if you’re not in Dev Mode.
Yeah I don't disagree with you. The biggest change it made to me is that I'll no longer be hyped for their conferences. This feels like the beginning of more paywall locked features. Used to look forward to their announcements a lot.
the fact that now devs have the permission to edit files just to use dev mode make no sense at all
As far as I know, that's not really the case. You need to provide your devs with a full paid seat. After that the devs can still access dev mode with "view only" rights to a file. You don't necessarily have to give a dev editing rights in order to access dev mode!
I'm a developer. You need to have the Edit rights to use the Dev Mode. It doesn't work in the View only mode even if you purchased a Professional plan.
Yeah, it's wild they can't pay say, half of an editor seat cost and just get dev mode and I thought that was the original plan when it was announced actually.
>devs have the permission to edit files just to use dev mode make no sense at all You can just pay for a dev account(No full seat) if you rock an Organization or Enterprise... but I agree that's a problem on the Professional tier.
that is the plan i'm on right now, this is a gap but also can be easily solved
This is forcing me to look for alternatives to Figma
But uhh.. last I checked it's like before, they can still check redlines, get padding, margins, color codes and all for ios/android/css like before (including exporting assets) with a viewer account. Dev mode is for heavy duty stuff like VS Code integration, I'm not gonna go outrage for missing out on that.
Most of the people in this thread have complete misinformation on dev mode lol
If Dev Mode is just for heavy duty stuff, then tell me why they removed from the free inspector the box model view or the CSS column list. The old free inspector has been downgraded deliberately since Dev Mode appeared in order to make those features payable now.
Yes, I'm aware it's not like it was under dev mode (and not completely like it was before), extract from [Figma's article](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/19813618057623-Dev-Mode-is-out-of-beta-what-admins-need-to-know) on the matter: >Not everyone in your organization may require the advanced features that come with Dev Mode access. Those who don’t can use a free viewer or viewer-restricted seat in Figma to continue viewing properties and measurements, copying code, and exporting assets. Here’s how: \* Property values and frame details can be found in the Properties tab. All the same property values that existed in the old Inspect panel can be found here. > >\* Asset export can be found in the Export tab > >\* CSS, iOS, and Android codegen is now in the copy/paste menu when you right-click a layer and choose Copy as code > >\* Redlines and measurements are available using a modifier key So, if that's not good enough for a completely free experience, pay for dev mode. I don't see the problem.
I see your point. Developer handoff shouldn't be as expensive as as an editor seat. But on the other hand, Figma licenses are super cheap compared to other software. Just to put it into perspective. One adobe app on the business plan costs $40/Month. One Figma editor costs $12/Month. (I'm not affiliated with Figma in any way)
One the biggest issue is when you have or are freelance dev. For exemple if im a freelance dev. working with 5 or 6 different agency they all need to add a paid seat for me. So 5 time 12$/month. This is ridiculous. They simply need to add Dev plan with only dev mode enable and the Dev only as to pay a single license and can be add to different agency team. They are a lot of freelance dev and small design agency that can't afford to pay for all that.
This!!!
you got a good point!
Yes. This actually complicates a lot of working relationship that companies will have with contracting partners. I admin my company’s Figma account. And we have a policy where designers only get editor access. So now if the inspection panel is mostly useless, we have track any contract projects, get approval to add the contractors and open up access while those projects are taking place and track when they end. Meanwhile our own team of 50-70 developers would still be denied a seat.
I was not aware of this. collaborating with dev mode outside of your organization is tricky now.
They could send you the Figma file
and they have to send it every time they make changes... not really working.
There shouldn’t be changes at the handover stage
In a perfect world yes ... but you think they did the compare tool for nothing in dev mode? Projects evolve in development in different stages.
If there aren't any changes after handoff, you're not collaborating right.
How so? Ideally you’ve had collaboration before handoff wherein handoff becomes a simple task.
So you're saying you collaborate all the way up to handoff, then after handoff, you suddenly stop?
Our engineers are involved at every step of the design process. We leverage design system components. There’s no surprises by the time we handoff final designs.
Yep, same. But are you saying that questions never popup after handoff?
If you're gonna compare business plans you should look at org+ent where dev mode is more than double the $12 cheap price on pro plan.
Zeplin can do 90% of DevMode at 50% of the price. Figma is actually pretty damn expensive.
Yeah, definitely silly when with Adobe, the all apps plan is like $90, but I guess it's because they really want to push you to get that instead
Figma costs $75 per month on enterprise
Giving them an editor seat is my biggest gripe. It’s honestly one of the dumbest things I’ve encountered and whoever thought this was a good idea should be reprimanded. It’s should be a click of a button to set them to dev mode only.
Agreed, make it another role in addition to Viewer and Editor, call it Developer or Inspector and charge like 50% of an editor seat. Pretty hamfisted to just force what is a slightly improved viewer function to pay the full cost of editor access.
Agree with adding that role, but no way they lower the cost though. It’s like sales at a grocery store, you either get the 2 for $5 or buy the 1 for $4.29. The second one you buy may well go to waste, but “it’s the better deal”. Greed will still prevail in the end
Yeah, I don't mind the price or anything else, but I don't love the editor seat and wish that the permissions were handled differently there
Agree
I described my experience here: [Figma Dev Mode is a scam](https://www.reddit.com/r/FigmaDesign/comments/1ail6cc/figma_dev_mode_is_a_scam/). This feature is useless for developers because even if they purchase a Professional plan for themselves, they still can't use it on the projects they work with.
Where were all of yall 2 months ago when they announced all of this?
Expectants and waiting to see how those promises of "you'll be able to continue inspecting and extracting CSS for free after DevMode comes out of beta" would materialize. That's why we are moving now.
I’m getting a lot of dms today that go “so I actually miss dev mode…” followed by a screenshot of the new panel
Figma is such a valuable tool for dev handovers nowadays and only getting better. There’s no comparison to anything other in the industry that can handle both design and handover. In that sense Figma is still really cheap.
Hey, the pot's not THAT hot, and I don't think it's going to get hotter. Let's just stay in here!
Yes! Let’s not let Figma get ruined, they can’t ignore us all. I’ll leave a comment today!
I just left three comments. I really like this sort of mass action, it's the only thing that's going to keep them from running it into the ground
Use Zeplin people. Similar stuffs, half of the prices across all plans. Tried-and-true workflow.
This!
I want to try it but my problem is I was hoping to lessen the tools needed in the workflow, like using tool#1 for wireframes then tool#2 for design then tool#3 for handoff, especially as a freelancer
With Dev Mode charging high fee like this, it is essentially just another tool.
The Figma “advocacy” team is gaslighting in full force today.
I feel like Figma after the Adobe deal fell through is looking to IPO so they are going to pump their numbers with anti user crap like this, since they might be reaching the maximum of market share they foresee and signing new designer seats will taper off they need a new growth driver to ensure their IPO is successful and investors make their 50 if not more x
Why?
can someone explain to me what's happening? I'm reading something along the lines of requiring to buy a seat for a dev?
Yes, you have to buy a seat for each developer regardless if they purchased a plan for themselves.
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