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Ask HN: Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

Are people still building desktop apps? More specifically, can you make a living (or earn some side money) in 2023 by selling a desktop app? Asked previously -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30027925

jokethrowaway 3y ago
yes there are some indie makers doing it open up twitter and look for mentions of MMR it can work, but B2C is more ruthless than B2B installing a desktop app is more friction than opening a website
- mikewarot 3y ago
  >installing a desktop app is more friction than opening a website On the other hand, the desktop program won't just stop working one day because the company that wrote it changed business plans.
  - softsound 3y ago
    Who knows they could put something in there to change it, is it an online only desktop app? More and more of my desktop apps now require internet (for some stupid license check or something) so I've been avoiding upgrading them whenever possible but sometimes they sneak it in without telling me. I actually look for that as a feature for desktop apps now.
fuzztester 3y ago
Thanks for asking. Interesting to me, and I'm sure, to many others too, although HN seems heavily web-tech-biased, for well-known reasons, which I won't get into. There are sure to be some, if not many, people building such apps and making money from them. Check HN user desktopapp's post on HN a while ago in a similar thread, in which they mentioned that they were making 750k per year from their app. Andy Brice (hermitcrab on HN) has made a good living for years with his QT-based app PerfectTablePlan. His blog is successfulsoftware.net. There are other examples, too, and I'm sure some will not be visible because they don't want competition.
hightrix 3y ago
Yes. In an industry where PHI and PII must be protected at all costs, sometimes it makes more sense to build a desktop app. That isn’t to say we only build desktop apps, far from it. But the skill set is needed.
vb6sp6 3y ago
[dead]
mortallywounded 3y ago
There are a good number of people making a living from desktop apps. However, many of these desktop apps are actually web apps in disguise (Electron, Tauri, etc). The number of actual desktop applications making money are shrinking, but non-zero...
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

jokethrowaway 3y ago

yes there are some indie makers doing it open up twitter and look for mentions of MMR it can work, but B2C is more ruthless than B2B installing a desktop app is more friction than opening a website

mikewarot 3y ago
>installing a desktop app is more friction than opening a website On the other hand, the desktop program won't just stop working one day because the company that wrote it changed business plans.
- softsound 3y ago
  Who knows they could put something in there to change it, is it an online only desktop app? More and more of my desktop apps now require internet (for some stupid license check or something) so I've been avoiding upgrading them whenever possible but sometimes they sneak it in without telling me. I actually look for that as a feature for desktop apps now.

fuzztester 3y ago

Thanks for asking. Interesting to me, and I'm sure, to many others too, although HN seems heavily web-tech-biased, for well-known reasons, which I won't get into. There are sure to be some, if not many, people building such apps and making money from them. Check HN user desktopapp's post on HN a while ago in a similar thread, in which they mentioned that they were making 750k per year from their app. Andy Brice (hermitcrab on HN) has made a good living for years with his QT-based app PerfectTablePlan. His blog is successfulsoftware.net. There are other examples, too, and I'm sure some will not be visible because they don't want competition.

hightrix 3y ago

Yes. In an industry where PHI and PII must be protected at all costs, sometimes it makes more sense to build a desktop app. That isn’t to say we only build desktop apps, far from it. But the skill set is needed.

vb6sp6 3y ago

[dead]

mortallywounded 3y ago

There are a good number of people making a living from desktop apps. However, many of these desktop apps are actually web apps in disguise (Electron, Tauri, etc). The number of actual desktop applications making money are shrinking, but non-zero...

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]