4 ms·

In the context of software I’ll unapologetically defend the subscription model. I’m not maintaining your software forever (when the platform it’s on often has b

In the context of software I’ll unapologetically defend the subscription model. I’m not maintaining your software forever (when the platform it’s on often has breaking changes version to version) without recurring revenue. If I have to only focus on B2B software to make that happen, so be it. Mobile platforms really forced the hands of developers here. Windows will happily run 30 year old software — you could actually “finish” software and move on to the next project. iOS and Android won’t run apps from 5 years ago. Their store policies constantly change and you have to frequently keep up with new agreements lest your store listing be removed. And of course your app will be downranked into oblivion on the store search if you’re not charging a fee — why would the App Store promote apps that don’t make money for the App Store owners, and why would they promote one-time payment apps over subscription apps?

layer8 3y ago
The issue is that iOS and Android require constant updates to apps in the first place. That’s the insane state of affairs that needs to change. That aside, I’m fine with paying a yearly subscription that is roughly 10% of the price I would be willing to pay for a one-time purchase, based on my average personal operational lifetime for an unchanged piece of software. The issue is subscriptions whose prices exceed that.
lelanthran 3y ago
> In the context of software I’ll unapologetically defend the subscription model. I’m not maintaining your software forever So ... don't? It's just one model for selling software. Another one is once-off purchases. If you can find people to pay you a monthly fee for your application (whether phone, desktop or other), good on you! Someone else may decide to just charge that once-off fee, that you get over 12 months. After all, even with a subscription model, you aren't going to maintain something forever unless a significant portion of your subscribers remain. Even if someone is paying you to maintain something forever, be honest, how long will you take their $1.99/m? You need a large enough number of someone's to pay you monthly to maintain that software. There's risks and trade-offs for both sales models. Charging a small monthly fee makes it easier to acquire users, but that ease means that someone else charging a small monthly fee is losing those users (and one day you'll be that someone else losing users too). Charging a once-off fee means that you get your money upfront, you have no further costs for that product, and the customer gets no additional value over and above the value they got on day 1. The downside is that you'll make less money off a good product than with a subscription model. > . Mobile platforms really forced the hands of developers here. Windows will happily run 30 year old software — you could actually “finish” software and move on to the next project. iOS and Android won’t run apps from 5 years ago. Their store policies constantly change and you have to frequently keep up with new agreements lest your store listing be removed. And of course your app will be downranked into oblivion on the store search if you’re not charging a fee — why would the App Store promote apps that don’t make money for the App Store owners, and why would they promote one-time payment apps over subscription apps? It sounds to me like your biggest beef with once-off sales has to do with products that are mobile apps. Maybe you don't already know this, but mobile apps are the worst place to try to make money with creating software products. Mobile apps are complementary to some other product (your bank provides a free app, etc). If you want to sell software, mobile apps are not the product with which to make money, because you can't count on being the lottery winner that manages to get 10% of whales on your app.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  >Maybe you don't already know this, but mobile apps are the worst place to try to make money with creating software products. Mobile apps are complementary to some other product (your bank provides a free app, etc). best place for games, though. You get a good "subscription" model and you get whales paying you hundreds before dropping off. Oh, and also you can use actual subscription items like Battle Passes on top of that. But I guess that is a whole other conversation. I agree for any other software that the race to the bottom has long finished. it is extremely hard to monetize a premium app, even if you only charge $1.

layer8 3y ago

The issue is that iOS and Android require constant updates to apps in the first place. That’s the insane state of affairs that needs to change. That aside, I’m fine with paying a yearly subscription that is roughly 10% of the price I would be willing to pay for a one-time purchase, based on my average personal operational lifetime for an unchanged piece of software. The issue is subscriptions whose prices exceed that.

lelanthran 3y ago

> In the context of software I’ll unapologetically defend the subscription model. I’m not maintaining your software forever So ... don't? It's just one model for selling software. Another one is once-off purchases. If you can find people to pay you a monthly fee for your application (whether phone, desktop or other), good on you! Someone else may decide to just charge that once-off fee, that you get over 12 months. After all, even with a subscription model, you aren't going to maintain something forever unless a significant portion of your subscribers remain. Even if someone is paying you to maintain something forever, be honest, how long will you take their $1.99/m? You need a large enough number of someone's to pay you monthly to maintain that software. There's risks and trade-offs for both sales models. Charging a small monthly fee makes it easier to acquire users, but that ease means that someone else charging a small monthly fee is losing those users (and one day you'll be that someone else losing users too). Charging a once-off fee means that you get your money upfront, you have no further costs for that product, and the customer gets no additional value over and above the value they got on day 1. The downside is that you'll make less money off a good product than with a subscription model. > . Mobile platforms really forced the hands of developers here. Windows will happily run 30 year old software — you could actually “finish” software and move on to the next project. iOS and Android won’t run apps from 5 years ago. Their store policies constantly change and you have to frequently keep up with new agreements lest your store listing be removed. And of course your app will be downranked into oblivion on the store search if you’re not charging a fee — why would the App Store promote apps that don’t make money for the App Store owners, and why would they promote one-time payment apps over subscription apps? It sounds to me like your biggest beef with once-off sales has to do with products that are mobile apps. Maybe you don't already know this, but mobile apps are the worst place to try to make money with creating software products. Mobile apps are complementary to some other product (your bank provides a free app, etc). If you want to sell software, mobile apps are not the product with which to make money, because you can't count on being the lottery winner that manages to get 10% of whales on your app.

johnnyanmac 3y ago
>Maybe you don't already know this, but mobile apps are the worst place to try to make money with creating software products. Mobile apps are complementary to some other product (your bank provides a free app, etc). best place for games, though. You get a good "subscription" model and you get whales paying you hundreds before dropping off. Oh, and also you can use actual subscription items like Battle Passes on top of that. But I guess that is a whole other conversation. I agree for any other software that the race to the bottom has long finished. it is extremely hard to monetize a premium app, even if you only charge $1.