AppSumo Plus vs Briefcase – How to save over 30% on AppSumo?

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UPDATE – AppSumo has decided to discontinue the AppSumo Briefcase program since Mid-September. Members who have AppSumo Briefcase can continue accessing their account and get benefits until January 2022.

No New sign-ups are allowed.

All the tools in your Briefcase account are supposedly going to your Lifetime Deals forever, but its a question better asked to the Briefcase HQ Team.

AppSumo Plus is the only available membership program now to get 10% discount on all AppSumo Purchases and costs $99 per year.

Do you regularly buy tools from AppSumo?

Are you looking to get more discounts, benefits and save more money while shopping on AppSumo?

Are you considering joining AppSumo Plus?

DO NOT make that mistake.

I was exactly in your shoes and on the brink of joining AppSumo Plus until I did the maths.

I compared AppSumo Plus membership with Briefcase membership in terms of spending, benefits, and return.

And guess what? I was blown away by how the Briefcase membership is a much better deal compared to AppSumo Plus.

Yes, you heard it right.

AppSumo Plus looks like a lucrative deal at a quick glance – however, it might not be the best membership program for Sumolings.

Instead, Briefcase membership will save you more money, get you more deals and provide you better benefits than AppSumo Plus membership.

It is a no-brainer, and in this post I breakdown everything for you.

AppSumo Plus vs Briefcase Quick Comparison

Membership TypeAppSumo PlusBriefcase
Cost$99 per year$147 per quarter
AppSumo Credits0$196
Break-even$1,0291st purchase
Purchase Discount10%up to 30%
Buy Apps from the Last CallYesYes
Early Access PromotionsYesYes
All access to select dealsYesYes
Access to KingSumo Giveaway ProYesYes
Access to Briefcase AppsNoYes
Let us find out about the two different membership plans offered by AppSumo and how they’re different.
Some of you asked for a video – and guess what? I made a full breakdown and comparison videos with frequently asked questions.

AppSumo Plus

Appsumo Plus Features and Benefits
AppSumo Plus membership looks lucrative with its list of benefits

AppSumo Plus is a premium rewards membership program that offers perks like 10% off deal purchases, access to KingSumo Web Pro, and other surprise benefits!

AppSumo Plus cost

$99/year – you can cancel anytime.

Benefits of AppSumo Plus

The following are the benefits of AppSumo Plus –

  • 10% OFF on any AppSumo purchases
  • All the apps from LastCall promotions
  • All Early Access promotions
  • All access to select deals
  • Access to KingSumo Giveaway Pro

How does the 10% off work?

When making a purchase with your Plus membership, you’ll automatically receive 10% off the price of the product. The checkout process will be the same as always.

BriefcaseHQ

Briefcase Membership Features and Benefits
Briefcase membership provides all benefits of AppSumo Plus and extra credits

Briefcase is a quarterly membership program (under sumo group of companies) that can be linked to your AppSumo account. You get to access to a curated selection of top-tier software and a list of other benefits.

We have a full breakdown of AppSumo Briefcase in another article.

AppSumo Briefcase membership cost

The Briefcase Quarterly Plan costs $147 billed quarterly. You can cancel anytime.

Benefits ofAppSumo Briefcase membership

Briefcase includes pretty much all the benefits of AppSumo plus and $196 worth of credits for the price of $147. The following are some of the immediate benefits –

  • 10% OFF on any AppSumo purchases
  • All the apps from LastCall promotions
  • All Early Access promotions
  • All access to select deals
  • Featured softwares such as KingSumo Web Pro & Missinglettr
  • $196 worth of AppSumo Credits (each quarter). No more chips – its direct AppSumo credits from now on (May 13, 2021) which do not expire.

How doesAppSumo Briefcase membership work?

It is simple, first you create an account. Then you tie your briefcase account with your AppSumo account. Once your accounts are connected, you will see your credits under “my rewards” section. Next time you make a purchase, you can use your credits.

Briefcase vs Plus – Save up to 30%

Does AppSumo Plus really help me save money?

Appsumo Plus Return breakdown
AppSumo Plus breakeven starts on the 21st purchase

With AppSumo plus membership, there is a fixed cost of $99.

To start getting the benefits of AppSumo Plus – you’d have to make at least 21 purchases of $49 worth of deals which is equivalent of spending around $1029.

AppSumo Regular Price for 21 purchases:
21 purchases @ 49 each = $1029

AppSumo Plus membership price for 21 purchases:
21 purchases with 10% off + $99 (membership fee) = $1025.1

With your 21st purchase – you make a meager savings of $3.9!

Wow! Who would have known without calculating it?

This means – you’d have to have spend over $1,000 to make a savings of $3.9, the numbers do not lie.

For someone like me who buys around $245 worth of deals (5 deals in a quarter) or $980 per year, AppSumo Plus has no direct monetary benefits, instead I lose $1 overall.

Learn how we saved over 30%?

Appsumo Briefcase Returns breakdown
With Briefcase – you start saving from the day you sign up

Unlike AppSumo Plus which costs $99, with the briefcase membership, there is no membership cost. For a price of $147, you immediately receive $196 in credits.

Now, in my case, supposedly I buy tools worth $245 each quarter. I could use $196 credits and pay the rest with cash.

Following is the breakdown of my purchase for tools worth $245 –

appsumo add to cart sendfox briefcase discount appsumo briefcase
If my cart value is $245, the checkout process already shows the 10% discount

$245 after a direct 10% discount becomes $220.5

appsumo checkout using briefcase discount and appsumo credits appsumo briefcase
After applying chips (credits), i am paying next to nothing

Then I can use my AppSumo credits to pay off $220.5 – since I had rollover credits from before.

If you have AppSumo credits of $196, then you will end up paying $24.5 cash.

For $245 worth of deal, I literally paid only $171.5 ($147 + $24.5 meaning a savings of around 30%).

Now that is a steal!

The briefcase membership model is designed to make everyone win.

Sumo-lings win because of the benefits and savings. AppSumo wins because of the stability membership revenue brings to the business.

Sign up to AppSumo

Appsumo Home Page
AppSumo is the #1 marketplace for entrepreneurs

Follow the steps below to create a new AppSumo account:

  1. Head over to AppSumo Sign Up page
  2. You can either login with your gmail/gsuite email or enter your email
  3. Enter your password
  4. Click on “Create Your Account”
  5. Enter your personal details in the following pages
  6. Verify your email

Sign up to BriefcaseHQ

Briefcase membership get started
It is easy to get started with Briefcase membership

Follow the steps below to sign up to briefcase:

  1. Head over to Briefcase Sign Up page
  2. You can either login with your gmail/g-suite email or enter your email
  3. Enter your password
  4. Click on “Create Your Account”
  5. Enter your personal details in the following pages
  6. Enter payment information
  7. Verify your email

Sync AppSumo Account to Briefcase

Sync Appsumo Account to Briefcase
Syncing your AppSumo account to Briefcase membership is easy. Source: AppSumo

Follow the steps below to sync your AppSumo and Briefcase accounts:

  1. Make sure you are logged into your Briefcase account
  2. Then head over to your AppSumo Account page
  3. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page
  4. Click the blue “Sync with Briefcase” button
  5. Once your accounts are linked, to access your Chips, head over to the “My Rewards” tile of your AppSumo account

Check my AppSumo credits

Follow the steps below to check your Briefcase Chips or Appsumo credits:

Appsumo Chips under "My Rewards" section
The image shows Chips. After June, Chips are going to be completely replaced by credits that do not expire.
  1. Make sure you are logged into your Appsumo account
  2. Then head over to your My Rewards and Credits Page
  3. You’ll see all your credits under the My Credits section
  4. You’ll see all your chips under the My Chips section

AppSumo Black Friday Deals

appsumo black friday deals

If you already did not know – AppSumo is the #1 digital marketplace for entrepreneurs. Black Friday is the best time to get all your AppSumo Deals with best selling apps making a comeback topped with more discounts.

Check out all the AppSumo Black Friday Deals.

Conclusion

There are more than few ways to save money in your next AppSumo purchase with the membership options. AppSumo Plus looks like a lucrative deal at a quick glance – however, it might not be the best membership program for sumolings.

Instead, as we saw – Briefcase membership will save you around 20% immediately, get you more deals and provide you better benefits than AppSumo Plus membership.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! Once you sync your AppSumo and Briefcase HQ accounts, you can use the credits immediately.

If you have AppSumo Plus membership or Briefcase membership, when making a purchase, you’ll automatically receive 10% off of the price of the product. The checkout process will be the same as always.

Yes you can refund your existing purchase in AppSumo, sign up to briefcase, sync and activate account and buy it with the credits and discount again.

As of right now, Briefcase can only be purchased with a credit/debit card. This might most possible be because of the recurring subscription model.

AppSumo credits do not have an expiration date or a time limit. The credit works exactly the same way as any other payment method. Most importantly it follows the usual refund conditions of 60 days.

It works the same way for standalone, stackable or Tiered deals. The credits and the discount can be used at checkout.

If you bought your tools on AppSumo using cash or credits then the tools are yours forever. However, if you activate the tools available under Briefcase (KingSumo Web Pro & Missinglettr), then you will lose access to these two tools if you cancel Briefcase.

Due to the subscription nature of the business, there is no refunds on briefcase. However, the credits you have received in AppSumo are yours to utilize and purchase the tools of your choice.

It is not refundable if the rewards have been used. Because the membership is billed annually, you can cancel any time and not be charged the following year. However, cancellations requested after purchasing any deals using the membership discount will not result in any partial refunds.

The ability to pause your Briefcase subscription is not currently available.  If you choose to cancel your Briefcase subscription, but want to come back at a later date, you’ll need to create a new Briefcase account using a different email address.

An AppSumo account can only be synced with one Briefcase membership account at one time. If you remove the sync, the AppSumo account can only be re-synced once in 3 months. You would need to create multiple AppSumo and Briefcase membership accounts if you want to utilize the benefits of AppSumo and Briefcase membership multiple times.

Ankit S J B Rana

Ankit S J B Rana

Ankit S J B Rana is a marketing enthusiast originally from the Himalayas of Nepal and currently based out of Bangkok, Thailand.

He is currently the Marketing Director at Mbrella Films and Filma.io

Marketing With WP is Ankit's blog full of marketing insights to turn your website into a 24 hour marketing machine.

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