Frequently Asked Questions
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Why are you releasing your tools for free?
We would happily make use of the tools already available on the web. Unfortunately the costs implications are just too much to have all the tools we need readily available at our finger tips. We decided instead to begin building our own tools.
It only makes sense to release the tools to the public as well, so we thought about adopting a generic price plan, offering all our tools under a single, more affordable price scheme. And then it occured to us, why not go one better and really stand out from the crowd by simply make it free. Not just free to begin with or for a basic account, but free forever, never charging a penny for our creations not matter how much you use them.
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Why should I use your tools instead of others?
The most obvious answer of course is our tools are free. However, we can't try and claim we're the only ones offering free services, as other options do exist. What we can say is that we are focused on making professional, comprehensible tools that will make life easier, removing all the stresses that come with poorly designed and built utilities. You can think of them as a tool for helping your work (like they should be) and not as an extra burden (like a bad tool you have no choice but to use). Remember, we want to use the tools we make as well so we'll be constantly improving them to ensure they are as good as can be.
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Won't you eventually want to make some money?
Absolutely not. That's our mindset going into this and we plan to stick to it. If we never make a penny but see our tools being used then we'll be happy, a compliment here and there is payment enough for us. It may be that further down the line we hit some obstacles which involve paying out, in which case if we can't fund entirely ourselves we may have to consider methods of raising money. Before you worry, we garuntee that the methods we choose will never be forced costs on our users, the tools will always remain free.
While we haven't put much thought into it yet, some possibilities might be optional donations or a money raising event like a design contest with small entry fee. If the time comes, we'll be sure to discuss with our community the best ways we can raise the funds needed.
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Who are you?
We are two freelance web developers from Southampton, UK. We met at university and have very similar passions, particularly towards great design and usability. That's not to say we don't get into the odd "heated" debate when working but we eventually come to an agreement.
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If you're form the UK, why zero dollar tools?
We just thought it sounded better than Zero Pound Tools! It doesn't really matter because free is free no matter what the currency is.
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Are the two characters on the hill you two?
We never planned them to be, originally there was only a single character, but we figured why not turn them into representations (albeit crude) of ourselves.