Xmarks, the bookmarking and synchronisation service, has been saved from almost certain demise after LastPass, creators of a similar cross-platform password management service have swooped in and acquired the company.
As Mozilla Firefox and Google’s Chrome browsers started to offer their own synchronisation services, Xmarks found it difficult to continue offering its services for free, considering a freemium business model to help fund server costs and salaries before deciding to announce that it would be stopping its service and closing down.
Xmark’s users pledged money and there were numerous acquisition offers, all of which failed to reach any agreement with the company, until today. The acquisition will see all of Xmark’s 4.5 million users and 1 billion bookmarks moved over to LastPass and the service will, as planned before the takeover, move to a freemium business model.
Moving on, specific Xmarks features will remain free with the option to purchase an Xmarks Premium account, costing $12 per year, which will enable additional features like access to Android and iPhone applications, priority support with more becoming available over time. To integrate the two services, both Xmarks and LastPass Premium accounts can be combined for a one-off subscription of $20 per year.
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For the moment, both applications will remain separate, as the two companies work to introduce new features and service improvements but plans are underway to integrate the two services in the future.
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