Wave just paywalled bank feeds — I wrote a migration guide for the refugees

What's really interesting is how a change in price can trigger a specific moment when people start to think about their options. ~

For instance, people who were happy with Wave might now feel like they need to look around and see what else is out there.

I believe that having the option to import data from a CSV file is crucial. Many small businesses are more concerned about being able to switch to a new system without losing their existing data or disrupting their entire workflow, rather than just looking for a free solution. The ability to easily import their data can be a major factor in their decision to choose one system over another, as it allows them to make a gradual transition without having to start from scratch.

The comparison between paying, going manual, and switching is a useful way to frame it too. Different users will have very different thresholds for each option.

It would be interesting to see whether people mostly switch because of the recurring cost itself, or because the change makes them feel they can’t rely on the product’s pricing model anymore.

This is a real pain point — bank feed access is the backbone of so many financial tools, and losing it overnight forces a scramble. Curious what you’re recommending people migrate to for reliability, since that’s usually the harder question than just “which one is cheapest.” Clean, consistent bank data underneath everything else matters more than people realize until it’s gone.

The useful signal here might be less the anger itself and more the migration friction people mention: bank feeds, collaborators, receipt capture, and historical data. If your guide can tag which pain sent each visitor there, you'll learn pretty quickly whether this is search traffic or real switching intent.

Bank feeds are almost always the killer feature in free bookkeeping tools, so this paywall change was going to sting no matter how it was rolled out. Good instinct writing the migration guide right when people are actively looking.

The backlash is a strong signal of dissatisfaction, but switching accounting tools is a much bigger behavior than complaining about a price change.

Are you seeing evidence that these Wave users are actually migrating to alternatives, or is that the main assumption you're testing with this guide?