Squashing the Boom out of Boom Cards

I met with a director of Boom Cards™ last evening, and unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in stopping the planned roll out of a large watermark for free users. The change is still on its way.

Here are the details I know: Per the “Important Product Update” email I received on 5-12-24 and their response to my questions about it: Subscription prices will be changing to starting at $6.99 a month or $49.99 a year. Currently when you open cards in your library while you are signed in as a teacher, they are opened in what is called “Preview mode”. This is going to be changed to “Prep Mode” with a large watermark. To access the cards without the watermark you will need to use “Presentation Mode”. Free users will only be able to try this out 10 times (ever). The fastpasses (fastpins) for free users will also be limited to 10 uses a month. Basically, free users (who have often chosen to invest in purchasing large numbers of decks instead of paid subscriptions) are now going to be forced to deal with a large watermark or pay for a subscription.

Basically the reasoning behind this was to increase revenue for the company so they can continue to improve and support their employees. I told her that I didn’t think this was the best way to do this. For that subscription price I felt I could go elsewhere and get more, not having to pay for a membership plus materials. I compared it to Netflix telling their customers that they needed to pay for a subscription, so they could buy movies to watch while they had a subscription. In retrospect it is more like Amazon telling their customers that all the movies they bought can only be accessed through a subscription. 

Boom Cards has been my go to platform for many years. I loved the tons of free therapy and homeschooling materials I have been able to find, along with the excellent materials I have been able to purchase. The knowledge that I wouldn’t be forced into another yearly subscription to use these resources has kept me coming back and building my library.  Unfortunately now this is no longer true. Even if I were to purchase a subscription, I wouldn’t want to continue to build my library. From my point of view the company is choosing to squash the Boom out of Boom Cards.  

Fortunately, there are many other great places to go for materials.  FreeSLP.com is a great resource for SLPs and other educators. Whoever does this site is truly a saint. I plan on using this site more. If I subscribe to any platform for next school year it will probably be Pink Cat Games.  At least the materials I find there, I will be able to continue to use without a subscription, even if it is with a very limited game selection. $50 a year there now makes more sense than spending it in Boom Cards. 

If you are as upset and sad as I am with BoomLearning.com’s decision, please spread the word and let the company know. Posting a comment here or on Facebook isn’t going to have the same impact as emailing help@boomlearning.com or calling (833)-969-2666. Maybe if enough of us complain they might change their minds. I don’t think they grasp how much this change is going to disrupt their business.

You can view my original post about this change here: https://rwslp.wordpress.com/2024/05/20/big-perhaps-not-so-good-changes-are-coming-to-boom-cards/