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Pushbullet Announces Pro: $4.99 a Month for “Features Worth Paying For”

Pushbullet Pro launched as an optional subscription, but its 2015 pricing change also restricted previously free features. Here’s what users got, what changed, and why it mattered.
From TheFinanceBase Team4 min to read
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Pushbullet announced its optional Pro subscription on November 17, 2015, at $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year. The free tier remained, but the change was more than an add-on: some capabilities that users already had, including universal copy and paste and actions on mirrored notifications, were set to become Pro-only. Pushbullet said billing and the new restrictions would begin December 1, 2015.

What Pushbullet Pro was

Pro was a paid account tier for Pushbullet, not a replacement app or a requirement to pay for every use of the service. The free account continued with lower limits and fewer capabilities. In practical terms, the launch combined premium additions—such as more storage and larger file transfers—with restrictions on parts of the existing free experience. Pushbullet’s announcement described Pro as a way to fund continued development while retaining a free option.

Price and timing

Plan Announcement-era price Payment terms
Monthly $4.99 per month Billed monthly
Annual $39.99 per year Paid upfront; equivalent to about $3.33 per month

The annual option cost about $20 less than 12 monthly payments at the announced monthly rate, but required paying the full year in advance. Users could sign up when Pro was announced on November 17, 2015; Pushbullet scheduled the first billing and feature changes for December 1, 2015. Droid Life’s launch report also gave the two prices.

What free and Pro accounts included at launch

The announcement-era comparison reported these limits and features. Messaging availability and notification functions depended on the supported service and device combination; the figures describe Pushbullet’s plan comparison, not carrier SMS allowances or every platform’s capabilities.

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Capability Free at announcement Pro at announcement
Maximum file size 25 MB 1 GB
Storage 2 GB 100 GB
SMS, WhatsApp, Kik and similar messaging 100 messages per month Unlimited under the plan’s stated allowance
Notification mirroring Available Available
Actions on mirrored notifications Not included after the change Included
Universal copy and paste Not included after the change Included
Priority support Not included Included

“Unlimited” referred to the Pro plan’s stated messaging allowance compared with the free monthly cap. It should not be read as a promise of unlimited carrier texts, API requests, recipients, or use across every service.

What changed for existing users

The sharpest distinction was between features added for subscribers and features removed from, or limited in, the free tier. Universal copy and paste had previously been offered free; actions on mirrored notifications were also among the capabilities moved into Pro. Larger transfers and less restricted messaging likewise favored paid accounts. Contemporary reports highlighted that users were being asked to pay not only for new capacity, but also to retain parts of a familiar workflow. VentureBeat and Engadget focused on this change.

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That did not mean all Pushbullet use became paid. Someone sending occasional links or small files could remain on free, subject to the lower caps and missing premium functions. The impact was greater for people who relied on clipboard syncing or notification actions as part of daily cross-device use.

Why Pushbullet introduced a subscription

Pushbullet said operating the service cost money and that it preferred charging customers to showing ads or selling user data. It presented subscriptions as a way to support continued improvements without relying on those alternatives. That was the company’s stated rationale, not independent proof that a subscription was its only viable business model. The announcement also pointed to goals such as better reliability, broader platform support, deeper integrations, more API support, and additional privacy options; those were described as ongoing or future aims, not as a list of benefits all delivered immediately.

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Why the announcement drew criticism

Contemporary criticism focused on the value exchange and the timing. Users objected to losing access to features they had used for free, and some considered the annual price high for a utility app. Others questioned whether the additions justified the fee when the change also reduced the free tier. Coverage from 9to5Google and visible discussion in the Android community reflected these concerns; they do not constitute a measured survey of all Pushbullet users.

The disagreement was therefore not simply over whether subscriptions are acceptable. For existing users, the launch could feel like paying to preserve a workflow rather than buying an entirely new one. For Pushbullet, charging subscribers was framed as preferable to advertising or selling data. Those positions explain why the announcement generated a stronger response than a conventional premium tier that only adds new features.

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Who was Pro aimed at?

Users most likely to benefit

  • People who regularly transferred files larger than the 25 MB free limit or needed the plan’s higher storage cap.
  • Users who relied on universal copy and paste or actionable mirrored notifications across supported devices.
  • People whose messaging use exceeded the free allowance, subject to the platforms and services Pushbullet supported.
  • Users who valued priority support or wanted to support Pushbullet’s stated subscription-funded approach.

Users who could stay free

  • People who mainly sent links, occasional small files, or basic notifications.
  • Casual users for whom the monthly messaging allowance and free storage were sufficient.
  • Anyone who did not rely on the capabilities moved behind Pro and preferred to avoid another subscription.

The practical choice was to pay for higher limits and advanced functions, accept a more limited free service, or use another tool. Price alone does not settle that choice: the relevant question is whether a person depended on the particular Pushbullet features affected.

How the announced price compares with the current listing

Pushbullet’s official Pro page, checked August 16, 2026, still displayed $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year: Pushbullet Pro pricing. That is a current listing, separate from the historical announcement. Prices can vary with geography, taxes, payment channel, or promotions, and a present-day feature comparison should not be assumed to match the 2015 table. Platform features have also varied across Android, iPhone, browsers, Windows, and other clients; consult Pushbullet’s platform overview for current compatibility.

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