An update on Guy’s Tapering Tool — and why the free trial is ending

I need to be honest about something.

Since I released Guy’s Tapering Tool, hundreds of people have downloaded it in just a few months. I’m genuinely glad about that, because it tells me people need something like this - and if I saved just ONE person, it was worth it.

But the current free-trial model has not worked.

So far, despite hundreds of downloads, not a single person has purchased a licence.

I saw something similar with my original tapering spreadsheet, which was downloaded thousands of times through Benzo Warriors and other facebook groups without a single donation (not even $1) - despite having all the details to do so and any amount would have been welcomed.

I understand why this happens. Many people in withdrawal are scared, financially strained, and just trying to survive. I was in the same place. I built this tool from that same place of desperation - and GTT is not software from a large company with investors or institutional funding. It is one person turning the worst experience of his life into something practical that may help other people taper more safely, clearly, and calmly. That person needs to pay bills, buy food and pay a mortgage, like everyone.

I also think there may be another issue I was originally worried about but ignored: low price can sometimes be mistaken for low value, instead of genuine care.

The tool was priced low as an act of care, not because it is low quality. In reality, I believe it is one of the most practical taper-planning tools available: it allows people to calculate gradual reductions, compare approaches, save plans, adjust schedules, run a diary and create something more personalised than a simple percentage calculator.

But for GTT to keep existing, improving, and being supported, it cannot remain effectively free for everyone.

So, going forward:

The free trial is ending.

Anyone who books a consultation with me will still receive the tool for free as part of our work together.

For everyone else, Guy’s Tapering Tool will be available for $30 USD.

That is still intentionally accessible, and still far below the cost of most specialist support in this space. But it also reflects that this is a real tool, built from real experience, real work, and real time.

I’m also updating my consultation pricing.

My rate has been $60 USD/hour, which is, frankly, extremely low for the level of time, care, lived experience, technical taper-planning knowledge, and responsibility involved in this work.

From 1 July 2026, my standard consultation rate will increase to $120 USD/hour.

Even at that rate, I am still keeping the service accessible compared with many private clinics and well-known names in this space (at least 2-5 times cheaper). But I also need the work to be sustainable. I cannot keep offering specialist taper support, software, education, and lived-experience guidance at a level that does not allow me to continue, otherwise I will need to stop doing it all together.

At the same time, I know that even accessible pricing can still be impossible for some people.

For that reason, I am planning to set aside a limited number of reduced-rate hours each week.

First, I plan to offer up to 3 hours per week at $5 USD/hour for people in countries where even a modest USD fee may be higher than an average daily — or sometimes weekly — income. I receive quite a lot of those requests for help and it's important for me that money will not be a barrier for giving help to someone in rural India or Vietnam.

Second, I plan to offer up to 3 additional hours per week at a 50% reduced rate for people in developed countries who are experiencing serious financial hardship and genuinely cannot afford the standard fee.

These reduced-rate places will be limited, handled privately, and offered at my discretion. They are meant for people who truly could not access support otherwise — not as a general discount system.

In other words: I want to help people who genuinely cannot afford support. But I also need this work to be sustainable, and I need people who can pay the standard rate to do so.

I want to keep helping people. I want to keep improving the tool. I want to keep making tapering less confusing, less frightening, and less lonely.

But that can only happen if the people who are able to pay for this work actually support it.

Thank you to everyone who has used GTT, shared it, or encouraged this work. I hope this change allows me to keep building something genuinely useful for the withdrawal and tapering community.

— Guy