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Ninja v3 Is Live — Where We Are and What Comes Next

· AL Object ID Ninja

This past weekend marked an important milestone for AL Object ID Ninja.

Backend version 3 is now live, running in production on:

  • brand-new endpoints,
  • the latest supported Node runtime,
  • and fully covered by more than 1,300 automated tests.

So far, it’s been running smoothly and reliably, exactly as intended.

At the same time, version 3 of the VS Code extension was published to the Visual Studio Code Marketplace earlier today and has already started being used in real production environments.

This post is a short status update: what’s live, what changed, what to expect next, and how billing and pricing work going forward.

A Note for Teams Running Their Own Backend

There was a backend update during the weekend, and if you’re running Ninja on your own infrastructure, you should update your backend as soon as possible.

I want to be very clear here:
this was not intentional, and I genuinely apologize for the inconvenience. I’m doing my best to keep these kinds of updates to an absolute minimum — but in the coming months, I can’t realistically guarantee that there won’t be more.

Ninja is entering a phase where:

  • a large number of new features are being added,
  • many of them involve backend changes,
  • and some of those changes will require updates on self-hosted deployments.

This phase won’t last forever. Once the new foundation settles, things should calm down significantly. But for a while, teams running their own backend should expect a bit more maintenance effort than before.

Billing: What Happens Until January 1st

Until January 1st, there is:

  • no usage counting
  • no billing
  • no invoices

You can subscribe, set things up, and start using Ninja v3, get the feel for the platform, set up your team (apps and users), without worrying about billing during this period.

Billing starts on January 1st.

About Pricing and the Early Bird Commitments

If you signed up during the early bird period and received a discount voucher, that voucher is fully valid.

That said, the pricing model has evolved since the early bird phase — intentionally.

Then (Early Bird Phase)

  • Pricing was elastic
  • Prices went down with the number of users and apps
  • Starting prices were higher

Now (Current Model)

  • Flat price per user
  • Flat price per app
  • Pre-packaged tiers that offer savings of up to 40% over flat pricing
  • A pay-per-use model that charges only for:
    • users who were active during the month
    • apps that were actually used during the month

I don’t have hard data yet, but my strong hunch is that pay-per-use will be the most meaningful option for most customers.

For most teams, the final price will end up being roughly the same as what they expected before — usually within half a euro difference.

  • Some customers (especially smaller teams) will see lower prices
  • Some customers may see slightly higher prices

And this is the most important part — please read this carefully:

If you signed up for Early Bird, entered your exact number of users and apps, and received a custom price, you can keep that price forever — as long as you stay within the limits you originally specified.

At the same time:

  • You can switch at any time to any other subscription tier
  • Including pay-per-use
  • And your Early Bird discount still applies

You are never locked in.

Helping You Choose the Best Option

The subscription page is designed to do something very deliberate:

When you enter your numbers and your voucher, it:

  • evaluates all available pricing models,
  • calculates the total cost for each,
  • and automatically selects the cheapest option that gives you the maximum number of users and apps.

You can override it if you want — but the default choice is always the most cost-effective one.

Thank You — Truly

Thank you for your patience during this transition.
Thank you for your feedback, your trust, and your support.

Seeing so many of you move to the commercial model means more than just covering infrastructure costs. It directly funds:

  • my time,
  • my focus,
  • and the care I put into building Ninja properly.

A lot more is coming — including several new features before the New Year.

Stay tuned.
See you around.
And well… A BIG THANK YOU! 😊

P.S.

If you are experiencing any troubles, shout out. Here, on GitHub, mail, I’ll be keeping a close eye on everything to make sure everyone has a smooth ride.

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