Verified purchaser
Great Tool, but New Paywall Breaks the LTD Promise
I purchased three codes and have really enjoyed using Supermachine — the platform is fast, the UI is clean, and the image quality has been consistently good. I was genuinely impressed with the value at first.
However, the recent shift to locking all new image models behind a separate “Premium” paywall feels unfair to lifetime-deal buyers. The original AppSumo offer clearly stated that LTD users would receive future updates to the plan, and it highlighted ongoing model additions as part of the product’s evolution.
I fully understand charging extra for big new features like video or specialised tools — that makes sense. But placing every new image model behind a new tier effectively reduces the value of the lifetime deal we paid for, and it doesn’t align with the expectations set at purchase.
Supermachine is a great product, and I still want to support it. I just hope Stuart and the team revisits this decision or provides clearer guidance on what future access LTD users should expect. A bit more transparency here would go a long way.
Rexxar
Dec 3, 2025I thank you for the review, and the question and the email with all the same text. I will paste my response here to your email like I will also for the question so others can see it; I am not sure why a question, a review and an email were completely necessary but alas here we are;
Hey Richard,
Check out Supermachine NextGen which was added recently, outperforms a ton of models and is available for credits.
Why did we introduce the gem system? A lot of the closed AI labs have made models requiring licensing, this is different to how things were a few years ago. This licensing means that for every generation made, money is sent to those license holders. I’m sure you can understand that under such a system an LTD would not make sense and quickly close so it was a business decision. Gems are not part of any plans, they are an add-on for everyone both LTD and subscription users so there is no better or worse treatment, we did this in a fair manner.
Video was outside the scope of the initial product so also is on gem system due to the higher compute costs and licensing involved with it.
Are we putting every new model under the gem system? No. Supermachine NextGen is a good example of this. What do we see the future holding? I see a future of more closed lab model releases which we will support and put under the gem system. I also see a future of open-source models which get the community excited and a renaissance of custom models, fine-tunes and Loras so there will be the option of using either, we’ll always aim to support the best of the open models and continue to provide a good experience for everyone.
It was this future or run an unsustainable business, shut it down and annoy everyone who bought and put staff out of a job. I’m a businessman, I want my products to last for a long time. I’m sure you can understand my thoughts here.
Thanks,