For almost a decade, I used Cleartax for filing my IT returns. I found it to be an effortless process until the service changed from being free to paid. So I decided to try out the new Income Tax ePortal to assess whether it was worth paying for ClearTax’s service or not.

To my surprise, the new ePortal was an absolute breeze to use. I was able to complete the process in almost the same time as I would have using ClearTax. This year, the process was even faster as most of the data was already filled in, only needing me to confirm and make minor adjustments.

Despite being a long-time user of Cleartax, I found myself switching to an alternate free solution when it became a paid service. Upon further contemplation, I realised that I rarely pay for software, except for a few exceptions, such as Zoho Books and Google Workspace. I contemplated paid solutions only when the free solutions were highly limited by nature.

My experience is likely similar to that of my peers, and I am sure that many would have shifted to alternate free solutions when existing options become paid or costlier. It’s only when free tools fall short that we evaluate a paid option

Based on my personal experience, I feel Indian customers are a tough sell for paid software services.