Verified purchaser
$12,000 spent later...
1. AS has declined significantly as a brand over the last three years and its sad to see. More than 50% of the tools I have bought have shut down or no longer work as expected due to bugs and errors.
2. There is so much AI tool slop, and the same repeated tools keep coming back. Three years ago, they offered better unique and useful tools. Now, it is more about sales than quality, and any random tool seems to get through.
3. Many tools lose support once they leave AS. These tools illegally change features, reduce lifetime deal benefits, making the tools useless, or lock features behind a paywall, forcing lifetime deal users to pay to use it. This goes against AS’s original deal terms, but once tools leave AS, no legal contracts are enforced, and companies have free rein over lifetime deal users.
4. Several tools have ended with owners taking money and shutting down, such as stockbroker.studio, which closed in less than a year, citing lack of funding while still happily taking customers’ money.
5. There is no real benefit to being a Plus member. You might expect extra protection, but it does not exist. When I complained about tools shutting down or stopping working, I was met with indifference and no accountability from AS. It feels like it is my problem to deal with, even though I paid for the tools on their platform, which earns them money. Every deal splits revenue 50% for them, even for tools that later shut down, so they do not really care what happens as long as sales grow for them.
6. AppSumo auto-renews Plus memberships without clear consent or disclosure, charges customers $99 without warning, and revokes all paid benefits upon cancellation, even if many months remain. I never even got notified by email that my membership is coming up for renewal except after the money was deducted from my card by AS.
7. I will never use Plus again, and I am likely done using AS as a customer. I feel taken advantage of. We spend our hard-earned money and generate sales for AS, yet when we complain, we are met with indifference and no accountability. What happened to putting the customer first or being a customer first business?
Ariadne_AppSumo
May 28, 2026Hey Wonka, thank you for taking the time to write all of this out, we appreciate your honest feedback.
I’m really sorry you’ve had experiences with tools shutting down and other frustrating issues over time. I completely understand how that can damage trust, especially as a longtime Plus member.
Cases like Stockbroker are also exactly why we’ve continued investing more heavily into programs like Select and our We Got Your Back guarantee. This way we can offer additional protection on deals we fully stand behind. We know that doesn’t undo your experience, but the goal is absolutely to improve long-term trust and sustainability for Sumo-lings.
We’ve also been continuing to evolve how we vet partners and review deals before launch. If you’re interested, we shared a bit more about that process here: https://appsumo.com/blog/how-we-vet-select-partners
On the Plus side specifically, feedback like yours is being taken seriously internally. A lot of the recent changes and conversations happening around Plus protections, coupon improvements (they are now refundable!), communication, and overall member value are directly influenced by community feedback like this. And while we can’t prevent every company from struggling or making poor decisions after leaving the marketplace, Support absolutely does advocate for customers and escalates these situations directly with partners whenever possible. We also do send email reminders before Plus renewals process, though I’m really sorry to hear that didn’t feel clear or noticeable in your experience.
Really appreciate you being honest about your experience, I'll make sure to share it with the rest of the team!