LogMeIn cuts off free remote access

Remote access staple LogMeIn has angered users of its free service by giving them seven days to move onto a new paid-only product — or find an alternative.

Vice president of strategic product operations Tara Haas said in a blog post that LogMeIn Free "is going away" after being offered for the past decade.

The company is also axing the paid Ignition apps for iOS and Android devices.

The move is expected to impact "a large percentage" of the company's user base. The company did not put a number on how many customers are affected.

LogMeIn wants all affected Free and Ignition users to migrate to a new "single offering" called LogMeIn Pro that effectively charges $50 a device a year, with a small discount for users with up to 10 machines.

The minimum spend is $99 a year, which covers up to two computers, though the first year is presently being offered for $49 to existing users, according to TUAW.

Users of LogMeIn Free are greeted with a screen giving them a week to decide what they want to do.

TeamViewer is emerging as one of the early alternatives favoured by LogMeIn Free users. The company offers a free product "for private use". Its Twitter and Facebook accounts show the number of users switching over to the service.

A community page set up by LogMeIn to support affected users had racked up 73 pages of comments from systems administrators in a little over 10 hours.

Many were irked at the lack of notice given, as well as the level of the subscription prices.

Haas said LogMeIn would be "especially attentive" to Ignition users on the iOS and Android platforms, given they had been paying customers.

Ignition users would "receive significant discounts, as well as generous terms to ease the transition", Haas said.

The company has set up a FAQ on the changes here.