7 ms·

Buy once, use forever A directory of one-time purchase software

222 points by richbowen 2y ago

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reassess_blind 2y ago
Needs a sort by popularity filter on the homepage
- waveringana 2y ago
  doubt itll see any sorting if you can pay to be featured
silvestreh 2y ago
nanoCAD uses a subscription model
- SanjayMehta 2y ago
  If you buy their 3 year subscription, the software continues to work but you don’t get upgrades. The 1 year subscription terminates. So technically nanocad qualifies for listing.
mjmas 2y ago
Rhinoceros 3D
singpolyma3 2y ago
I remember when we called this "software"
- mattl 2y ago
  Yep, seriously.
Aachen 2y ago
> you can submit it to our directory for a fee of $20. This is a one-time cost Well at least that's consistent. Feels a bit hidden after the invite in the title, though
- jsheard 2y ago
  The featured placement being a weekly subscription isn't quite so consistent, though.
- tonyhart7 2y ago
  20 bucks for submitting??? damn bro
fiatjaf 2y ago
There is so much software you don't have to buy at all, it's all free. So much you can't even have a directory for them.
- XCSme 2y ago
  That's nice, but for a better experience or more critical infrastructure, you usually want something that works reliably and comes with support. Would you rather use an open-source project that has 2000 open issues and only 1–2 updates per year, where developers haven't responded in months and have no incentive to help you, or pay for the software, support the developers, and receive quick answers to your questions and even have your issues/bug reports addressed immediately? Personally, even if I use open-source "free" software, I often donate to the developers, because I want that software to be maintained and improved, or even have my feature requests implemented. Why are people so reluctant to pay for stuff they actually need/use and to support smaller businesses? It's not even about being selfish, because paying the developers actually will make your experience with the product better.
riddley 2y ago
It would be nice if i could limit by my preferred operating system.
danpalmer 2y ago
One of the items on this list "FridayGPT" doesn't actually do anything unless you plug in an API key from a subscription service. While I understand that technically the app itself is buy-once, it doesn't feel in the spirit of the website, or maybe should be called out on the page, as it could be quite misleading.
- mixermachine 2y ago
  FridayGPT is also not really open about the need for an API key on their landing page. Only in the FAQ they mention it. Seems a bit shady to me. There are also other AI tools listed there. https://buyoncesoftware.com/?category=AI https://buyoncesoftware.com/?category=AI As soon as the AI models run on an external server a buy once model does no longer work (or atleast not with an acceptable one time price). The constant server cost is just to high.
  - danpalmer 2y ago
    > As soon as the AI models run on an external server a buy once model does no longer work (or atleast not with an acceptable one time price). The constant server cost is just to high. Tell this to Rabbit and their R1 device, which comes with unlimited LLM usage. I guess they just rate limit through having a bad UX though. /s But yes, you're right, this is what I was getting at, LLM usage is expensive enough to need a subscription model.
- naveennaidu 2y ago
  Hey Dan, I'm naveen, solo developer behind fridaygpt. thanks for pointing this out. you're absolutely right. api key requirement wasn't clear enough on the landing page. honestly, i hadn't realized this was causing confusion since current users didn't flag it until now. i've just updated the landing page to make the "bring your own api key" requirement explicitly clear. if i'd noticed this earlier, it would have been fixed sooner.
fredol 2y ago
You have to pay to submit your app. Waste of time.
ghaff 2y ago
Unless it's (maybe) mainfraame software, your software is going to break with an OS update. O you can maybe keep it working for a while in a VM, but the idea that you'll keep a software binary working forever is, for practical purposes, mostly silly.
- Aachen 2y ago
  Is it? I'm pretty sure Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 continued to function on Windows Vista (released some ten years after the game) and in Windows 7 everything besides saving worked, and iirc there was a trick for that as well. These things can last a long time Weird example perhaps but that's one of the oldest totally unmaintained things I used back in my Windows days. WINE may also be a way to run older Windows wares without needing a whole VM setup On Android, I also use software written for Android 4 on Android 10 without problems. The permission model got more strict so it asks you for giving some blanket permissions because those weren't granular at that SDK/API version (iirc network and storage access are two of the three main ones), but after that one-time confirmation it works perfectly, and from f-droid I also trust that it doesn't abuse these permissions Of course, there's also plenty of counterexamples. GOG exists for a reason, patching up games to run on modern OSes. I guess it's a risk but I don't generally expect most things to break with every version upgrade
- mixermachine 2y ago
  Windows and Android are OK to pretty good when it comes to backward compatibility. MacOS Software sadly does break sometimes.
- nikau 2y ago
  It's called open source - I'm confident in 30 years time there will still be a vim port to whatever OS is in vogue.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Port is the operative word there. Proprietary binaries may work but there's no guarantee depending upon how the software was written.
danpalmer 2y ago
Serious question, because I'm not sure how I feel about it... should software with a server-side component that needs to keep working be counted as "buy once"? We've seen so many cases of companies going out of business or just deciding that it's no longer worth running these services, and leaving customers with no recourse. An example from this list: LocalCan – https://buyoncesoftware.com/localcan https://buyoncesoftware.com/localcan – there's a server-side component (which is why ngrok its competitor is subscription based). If this component disappears the app ceases to function. The flip side to this is that just because an app is entirely local doesn't mean it will work as the software around it gets updated (OSes etc), so if a company decides to stop supporting it, that too is useless in a way. It's not the same because running it on the machine you had when you bought it would still work, but that's not how we use computers in practice. Perhaps this is a different case because many of these "buy once" would charge for a major update like that anyway.
- Aachen 2y ago
  If it depends on a network service that isn't included in the purchase, then it's definitely not a thing you purchased The OS upgrade example you give is different from a required server I think, because - that's under your control: you can choose to keep an old system around, run emulation or WINE, depending on how important this is to you - they don't have ongoing costs, like they do with a service, so there's no reason for them to stop providing the thing you thought you purchased
  - danpalmer 2y ago
    Yeah I agree the OS upgrade is different, but it is somewhere on a spectrum right? > If it depends on a network service that isn't included in the purchase, then it's definitely not a thing you purchased Not sure if this is what you're referring to, but there's a distinction between services provided by the software supplier, and services that aren't. Example, could a Twitter client (RIP) be buy-once? Well, yes from the supplier, but no because Twitter turned down their public API access. I think a Twitter client could be sold in the spirit of buy-once. The clearer case though is something like LocalCan, where it depends on a service provided by the supplier, and that could go away, and I think therefore shouldn't be classed as buy-once (although this is not something I'm decided on, hence looking for input here).
haunter 2y ago
So 99% of the videogames?
- 3eb7988a1663 2y ago
  Maybe invert that? Seems like everything "needs" to be online now. Either from DRM activation servers to always-online-for-telemetry-or-lootbox reasons.
  - jsheard 2y ago
    Games are a mixed bag on that front nowadays, yeah, but GOG.com at least makes a point of only selling DRM-free games where the installer and all singleplayer content are guaranteed to work offline.
- hypercube33 2y ago
  Not really anymore - most need online junk to do anything. Ubisoft is super guilty of shutting down some VM that probably costs $1 a month to host co-op or multiplayer match making for splinter cell games etc
makeitdouble 2y ago
Something is better than nothing, but this feels ripe for abuse. If this gets any real traction and trust from a large user base - baiting into an expensive one-time-fee and pull the rug becomes that much more viable. In particular it becomes a good place to promote FOSS projects reskins that will be left behind once it gets exposed. - having a crazy high one time fee and 99.9% operate the subscription tiers will be enough to put the name on the list, which could enough publicity to cover the entry price. The directory management still gets the money, so I'm also not sure how much incentives they actually have to stop the abuse. What am I missing ?
II2II 2y ago
While the directory is a good idea, the FAQ did not address the one question that immediately came to mind: how is software that requires online activation handled? I've been bitten by vendors who offered perpetual licenses before, only to discover that they dropped support for perpetual licenses and have them push a subscription license on me. (To that software vendor: sorry, but you reneged on your promise. I'm not going to be fooled twice.)
- ryandrake 2y ago
  While the web site author can't predict the future to know what kind of rug-pull is coming, I'd agree that any software that has any online dependency whatsoever should at least have an asterisk next to it on a list like this.
mattl 2y ago
I can't tell which operating system the software is for.
pmags 2y ago
I was about to recommend VueScan which I purchased once way back in 2004 and have used ever since using the same license, but I was disappointed to learn that they have now moved to a subscription model (guess my perpetual license got grandfathered in). How disappointing! This motivated me to check another perpetual license I've had for a while -- MediaMonkey (license bought in 2006). Looks like this is still available as a lifetime license!
- hamrickdavid 2y ago
  VueScan Developer here. We have a subscription option - but that's really intended for customers who have short term scanning needs (ie. scan all of your slides). If you purchase a one-time VueScan license, you can use it indefinitely.
  - pmags 2y ago
    Glad to hear it and thanks for the correction. My impression was that the previous "Professional Edition, Single User" license included upgrades in perpetuity (which no longer seems to be the case). Am I misremembering on this point?
    - hamrickdavid 2y ago
      Yes, back in 2004 we did offer lifetime free updates for Professional Edition customers. We changed it to 1 year of updates a number of years ago, but indefinite access for the versions released during your free update period. But of course, we grandfathered in all licenses that came with lifetime free updates. I think when we started offering lifetime free updates back in 1998, we didn't expect to still be working on VueScan 27 years later!
  - hypercube33 2y ago
    Cool to see you here - I purchased a license for an old Nikon scanner and haven't circled back to benefit from it but I trust VueScan will serve me wonderfully. Thank you!
zeeebo 2y ago
I like the premise but don't like the pricing. Google search ads would be a much better investment. Add something that makes it unique like reviews of the software as well, not just a bio and two product links.
- owebmaster 2y ago
  20$ is nothing in google ads while in this case it can fund a novel way to market local-first apps. Let's spend more money with small tech and less with Big Tech.
TheRealPomax 2y ago
You need some kind of special decoration for "you buy a license to use the app, not a specific version of the app", like VueScane or FL Studio (you pay for a lifetime license to "the thing", not "whichever version of the thing happened to be the current version when you bough it"). And maybe a badge of shame for "buy once, and yeah, you own that version, but you get punished for not upgrading by skipping a version meaning you now pay full price again" like DxO... Yeah it's "you own it" but my goodness is it the worst possible way to offer that.
gbraad 2y ago
"Get featured for $99", "Add entry for $20". Doesn't sound very independent, but rather one big ad.
- oefrha 2y ago
  From a self-promotion-only account no less, breaking HN's rule on self promotion. Also others have pointed out that some of the listings are bullshit, but why let that get in the way of collecting the fee. What a grifter.
  - gbraad 2y ago
    If not mistaken, the person behind the post, is a former colleague of mine. He might not have been aware of this. The post is now flagged. Note: In this case, the label "Show HN:" might also not have been OK.
- christina97 2y ago
  How much for lifetime feature?
talles 2y ago
I would love a little icon indicating Windows/Linux/Mac support
zeeebo 2y ago
There's a mismatch in submit pricing: FAQ says $20 while the submit page says $10
- richbowen 2y ago
  That's been fixed.
Nihilartikel 2y ago
Davinci Resolve is a lifetime license for an extremely powerful video production platform. It's a great value even at a serious-hobbyist level.
- jorvi 2y ago
  Buying Studio grants a lifetime license to the current major version only. It's just that DaVinci has been upgrading everyone for free with every major update. They can stop doing that at any moment. Not that they'll ever do that. Resolve / Studio is their loss-leader product to pull people into their very premium camera ecosystem.
commanderkeen08 2y ago
Probably the only app I bought once 10 years ago and still use daily. https://fogofworld.app/en/ https://fogofworld.app/en/
SubiculumCode 2y ago
FL Studio. Buy once, forever version upgrades. Good software too. https://www.image-line.com/ https://www.image-line.com/
- Perenti 2y ago
  Yes. They do have subscription cloud services, but you don't need it. Something quite amazing is that it's written in Delphi. I love Fl Studio. It's possibly the best commercial software I've ever seen.
  - Perenti 2y ago
    Something else about FLStudio - you can run it on multiple machines with a single license. So ImageLine don't charge you for each computer you use it with.
ricardobeat 2y ago
As others have also expressed, a lot of the software here doesn't really live up to the what most people mean by 'one-time purchase'. Screen Studio: $9/month vs $220 "one-time purchase" with only one year of support. Sizzy browser: $12/month or $499 one-time purchase. Then you often have a one device limit - I can't be two places at once but I do have both a laptop and desktop machine. Who in their sane mind would choose these? Note that the problem with "one-year of updates" is not that you'd want free access to a newer major version of the app, but a year+ is enough time to have a new OS version make your app unusable or subject to security updates. While companies in the before times would quickly release a patch to keep their old users happy, the one-year term just ensures you'll be left hanging. This is just paying lip service to the idea of a one-time purchase.
- deleted 2y ago
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- jwagenet 2y ago
  It used to be that one time purchase never came with any updates and a new version came out for the same price the next year. I’m all for pushing back on subscriptions, but the expectation that users should get indefinite support without paying for it is silly.
  - ricardobeat 2y ago
    I mentioned that in my comment. You wouldn’t get new versions, but in case of security or compatibility patches you could download them for free to keep running your old version, not just for one year.
- c22 2y ago
  QCAD uses this pricing model. I bought QCAD once over ten years ago. Since then I've bought it a couple more times to get some new feature, but even the original binaries I downloaded over a decade ago work fine on my modern linux/windows installs. I'm not sure which operating system is obsoleting all your software on a yearly basis, but it doesn't sound like a very stable computing environment.
gslepak 2y ago
I've been maintaining Espionage (macOS folder encryption + plausible deniability) since 2008 as part of a small Mac shareware business. $29.99 w/o lifetime updates, and $49.98 with. As appreciation for this thread, here's $10 off for HN readers (expires April fools): HNONCE https://www.espionageapp.com/order/?code=HNONCE https://www.espionageapp.com/order/?code=HNONCE
desireco42 2y ago
This is one of the things I wished I came up with... excellent and useful idea. For a moment I thought it was started by Basecamp people, I am sure they would support this. I think idea is good, maybe execution is lacking and could use someone else to do it...
footlose_3815 2y ago
There's a ton of shovelware in here and there's currently no good method of filtering it out without manual comprehension. For example, there's an LLM interface that "Lets you access multiple LLM models" (https://buyoncesoftware.com/fridaygpt https://buyoncesoftware.com/fridaygpt) But you obviously will not have access to these and it's clear self-promotion spam of over-eager people looking for exposure for their commonplace apps.
candiddevmike 2y ago
Since this website is pretty terrible (and broken, can't submit without a cloduflare error), our app Homechart is a one time purchase, self-hostable household management app. No ads, no gamification, just get-out-of-your-way organization: https://homechart.app https://homechart.app
- richbowen 2y ago
  I'll add Homechart. currently having an unexpected bug with payments I'm working through.
politelemon 2y ago
This is just a big affiliate marketing site. You have to pay to get listed.
- richbowen 2y ago
  Payment acts as a filter for those not serious about posting actual products.
andrewstuart 2y ago
I understand the sentiment but software needs ongoing revenue. I don’t resent paying a subscription for software.
semanticist 2y ago
Literally the first piece of software I looked at there does not have any option I could find for paying once, just one and three year subscription plans. (NanoCAD.) So it looks like they'll list anyone who pays the fee, making the whole exercise a waste of time.
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ipcress_file 2y ago
I don't mind re-purchasing software if it ages out gracefully. I recently bought a (non-subscription) copy of Softmaker Office. If I have to buy a newer version ten years from now, that's okay. It's got better file compatibility with Word than LibreOffice and it doesn't force me to connect to the internet or anyone's cloud.
benjaminhlee 2y ago
Would love to nominate Postico here — very few software purchases have made me so thoroughly satisfied, but the combination of a functional free tier + very generously priced tiers for students and professionals alike has left me happy to spend money on their software.
drewbitt 2y ago
'Use forever' - except many would need updates regularly which you won't get forever. Chromium updates broke Sizzy's extensions for example and it will need to have Chromium updates forever. It's also doubtful that AI ones will work longer than a couple years without updates. (OpenAI has already begun changing their API format)
bdhcuidbebe 2y ago
”Get featured for $99” makes me dismiss the whole list. Which is sad, as it was a good idea. Someone make an awesome-github repo instead please.
- richbowen 2y ago
  Featured is just a way for persons who add their products to highlight them above the rest for a period of time.
  - bdhcuidbebe 2y ago
    Sure. Initial submission was just 20$. I lived long enough to recognize a grifter.
krelian 2y ago
I suppose this is a new project. I am always turned off by projects, of this sort, that on day one start to push monetization, and this blatantly. If you are here for the long run why not build some goodwill first instead of immediately going for a quick buck?
DavideNL 2y ago
If anyone knows good open source "buy once" alternative sources/lists/websites, please do mention them...(not necessarily limited to just tech.)
lussh 2y ago
I use Whisper Notes to transcribe my daily voice notes and it's offline, one-time purchase, $4.99. https://whispernotes.app https://whispernotes.app
XCSme 2y ago
There's also this one: https://payoncealternatives.com/ https://payoncealternatives.com/
XCSme 2y ago
Submitting a listing doesn't work for me: https://i.snipboard.io/9oJiwp.jpg https://i.snipboard.io/9oJiwp.jpg

222 points by richbowen 2y ago

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reassess_blind 2y ago

Needs a sort by popularity filter on the homepage

waveringana 2y ago
doubt itll see any sorting if you can pay to be featured

silvestreh 2y ago

nanoCAD uses a subscription model

SanjayMehta 2y ago
If you buy their 3 year subscription, the software continues to work but you don’t get upgrades. The 1 year subscription terminates. So technically nanocad qualifies for listing.

mjmas 2y ago

Rhinoceros 3D

singpolyma3 2y ago

I remember when we called this "software"

mattl 2y ago
Yep, seriously.

Aachen 2y ago

> you can submit it to our directory for a fee of $20. This is a one-time cost Well at least that's consistent. Feels a bit hidden after the invite in the title, though

jsheard 2y ago
The featured placement being a weekly subscription isn't quite so consistent, though.
tonyhart7 2y ago
20 bucks for submitting??? damn bro

fiatjaf 2y ago

There is so much software you don't have to buy at all, it's all free. So much you can't even have a directory for them.

XCSme 2y ago
That's nice, but for a better experience or more critical infrastructure, you usually want something that works reliably and comes with support. Would you rather use an open-source project that has 2000 open issues and only 1–2 updates per year, where developers haven't responded in months and have no incentive to help you, or pay for the software, support the developers, and receive quick answers to your questions and even have your issues/bug reports addressed immediately? Personally, even if I use open-source "free" software, I often donate to the developers, because I want that software to be maintained and improved, or even have my feature requests implemented. Why are people so reluctant to pay for stuff they actually need/use and to support smaller businesses? It's not even about being selfish, because paying the developers actually will make your experience with the product better.

riddley 2y ago

It would be nice if i could limit by my preferred operating system.

danpalmer 2y ago

One of the items on this list "FridayGPT" doesn't actually do anything unless you plug in an API key from a subscription service. While I understand that technically the app itself is buy-once, it doesn't feel in the spirit of the website, or maybe should be called out on the page, as it could be quite misleading.

mixermachine 2y ago
FridayGPT is also not really open about the need for an API key on their landing page. Only in the FAQ they mention it. Seems a bit shady to me. There are also other AI tools listed there. https://buyoncesoftware.com/?category=AI https://buyoncesoftware.com/?category=AI As soon as the AI models run on an external server a buy once model does no longer work (or atleast not with an acceptable one time price). The constant server cost is just to high.
- danpalmer 2y ago
  > As soon as the AI models run on an external server a buy once model does no longer work (or atleast not with an acceptable one time price). The constant server cost is just to high. Tell this to Rabbit and their R1 device, which comes with unlimited LLM usage. I guess they just rate limit through having a bad UX though. /s But yes, you're right, this is what I was getting at, LLM usage is expensive enough to need a subscription model.
naveennaidu 2y ago
Hey Dan, I'm naveen, solo developer behind fridaygpt. thanks for pointing this out. you're absolutely right. api key requirement wasn't clear enough on the landing page. honestly, i hadn't realized this was causing confusion since current users didn't flag it until now. i've just updated the landing page to make the "bring your own api key" requirement explicitly clear. if i'd noticed this earlier, it would have been fixed sooner.

fredol 2y ago

You have to pay to submit your app. Waste of time.

ghaff 2y ago

Unless it's (maybe) mainfraame software, your software is going to break with an OS update. O you can maybe keep it working for a while in a VM, but the idea that you'll keep a software binary working forever is, for practical purposes, mostly silly.

Aachen 2y ago
Is it? I'm pretty sure Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 continued to function on Windows Vista (released some ten years after the game) and in Windows 7 everything besides saving worked, and iirc there was a trick for that as well. These things can last a long time Weird example perhaps but that's one of the oldest totally unmaintained things I used back in my Windows days. WINE may also be a way to run older Windows wares without needing a whole VM setup On Android, I also use software written for Android 4 on Android 10 without problems. The permission model got more strict so it asks you for giving some blanket permissions because those weren't granular at that SDK/API version (iirc network and storage access are two of the three main ones), but after that one-time confirmation it works perfectly, and from f-droid I also trust that it doesn't abuse these permissions Of course, there's also plenty of counterexamples. GOG exists for a reason, patching up games to run on modern OSes. I guess it's a risk but I don't generally expect most things to break with every version upgrade
mixermachine 2y ago
Windows and Android are OK to pretty good when it comes to backward compatibility. MacOS Software sadly does break sometimes.
nikau 2y ago
It's called open source - I'm confident in 30 years time there will still be a vim port to whatever OS is in vogue.
- ghaff 2y ago
  Port is the operative word there. Proprietary binaries may work but there's no guarantee depending upon how the software was written.

danpalmer 2y ago

Serious question, because I'm not sure how I feel about it... should software with a server-side component that needs to keep working be counted as "buy once"? We've seen so many cases of companies going out of business or just deciding that it's no longer worth running these services, and leaving customers with no recourse. An example from this list: LocalCan – https://buyoncesoftware.com/localcan https://buyoncesoftware.com/localcan – there's a server-side component (which is why ngrok its competitor is subscription based). If this component disappears the app ceases to function. The flip side to this is that just because an app is entirely local doesn't mean it will work as the software around it gets updated (OSes etc), so if a company decides to stop supporting it, that too is useless in a way. It's not the same because running it on the machine you had when you bought it would still work, but that's not how we use computers in practice. Perhaps this is a different case because many of these "buy once" would charge for a major update like that anyway.

Aachen 2y ago
If it depends on a network service that isn't included in the purchase, then it's definitely not a thing you purchased The OS upgrade example you give is different from a required server I think, because - that's under your control: you can choose to keep an old system around, run emulation or WINE, depending on how important this is to you - they don't have ongoing costs, like they do with a service, so there's no reason for them to stop providing the thing you thought you purchased
- danpalmer 2y ago
  Yeah I agree the OS upgrade is different, but it is somewhere on a spectrum right? > If it depends on a network service that isn't included in the purchase, then it's definitely not a thing you purchased Not sure if this is what you're referring to, but there's a distinction between services provided by the software supplier, and services that aren't. Example, could a Twitter client (RIP) be buy-once? Well, yes from the supplier, but no because Twitter turned down their public API access. I think a Twitter client could be sold in the spirit of buy-once. The clearer case though is something like LocalCan, where it depends on a service provided by the supplier, and that could go away, and I think therefore shouldn't be classed as buy-once (although this is not something I'm decided on, hence looking for input here).

haunter 2y ago

So 99% of the videogames?

3eb7988a1663 2y ago
Maybe invert that? Seems like everything "needs" to be online now. Either from DRM activation servers to always-online-for-telemetry-or-lootbox reasons.
- jsheard 2y ago
  Games are a mixed bag on that front nowadays, yeah, but GOG.com at least makes a point of only selling DRM-free games where the installer and all singleplayer content are guaranteed to work offline.
hypercube33 2y ago
Not really anymore - most need online junk to do anything. Ubisoft is super guilty of shutting down some VM that probably costs $1 a month to host co-op or multiplayer match making for splinter cell games etc

makeitdouble 2y ago

Something is better than nothing, but this feels ripe for abuse. If this gets any real traction and trust from a large user base - baiting into an expensive one-time-fee and pull the rug becomes that much more viable. In particular it becomes a good place to promote FOSS projects reskins that will be left behind once it gets exposed. - having a crazy high one time fee and 99.9% operate the subscription tiers will be enough to put the name on the list, which could enough publicity to cover the entry price. The directory management still gets the money, so I'm also not sure how much incentives they actually have to stop the abuse. What am I missing ?

II2II 2y ago

While the directory is a good idea, the FAQ did not address the one question that immediately came to mind: how is software that requires online activation handled? I've been bitten by vendors who offered perpetual licenses before, only to discover that they dropped support for perpetual licenses and have them push a subscription license on me. (To that software vendor: sorry, but you reneged on your promise. I'm not going to be fooled twice.)

ryandrake 2y ago
While the web site author can't predict the future to know what kind of rug-pull is coming, I'd agree that any software that has any online dependency whatsoever should at least have an asterisk next to it on a list like this.

mattl 2y ago

I can't tell which operating system the software is for.

pmags 2y ago

I was about to recommend VueScan which I purchased once way back in 2004 and have used ever since using the same license, but I was disappointed to learn that they have now moved to a subscription model (guess my perpetual license got grandfathered in). How disappointing! This motivated me to check another perpetual license I've had for a while -- MediaMonkey (license bought in 2006). Looks like this is still available as a lifetime license!

hamrickdavid 2y ago
VueScan Developer here. We have a subscription option - but that's really intended for customers who have short term scanning needs (ie. scan all of your slides). If you purchase a one-time VueScan license, you can use it indefinitely.
- pmags 2y ago
  Glad to hear it and thanks for the correction. My impression was that the previous "Professional Edition, Single User" license included upgrades in perpetuity (which no longer seems to be the case). Am I misremembering on this point?
  - hamrickdavid 2y ago
    Yes, back in 2004 we did offer lifetime free updates for Professional Edition customers. We changed it to 1 year of updates a number of years ago, but indefinite access for the versions released during your free update period. But of course, we grandfathered in all licenses that came with lifetime free updates. I think when we started offering lifetime free updates back in 1998, we didn't expect to still be working on VueScan 27 years later!
- hypercube33 2y ago
  Cool to see you here - I purchased a license for an old Nikon scanner and haven't circled back to benefit from it but I trust VueScan will serve me wonderfully. Thank you!

zeeebo 2y ago

I like the premise but don't like the pricing. Google search ads would be a much better investment. Add something that makes it unique like reviews of the software as well, not just a bio and two product links.

owebmaster 2y ago
20$ is nothing in google ads while in this case it can fund a novel way to market local-first apps. Let's spend more money with small tech and less with Big Tech.

TheRealPomax 2y ago

You need some kind of special decoration for "you buy a license to use the app, not a specific version of the app", like VueScane or FL Studio (you pay for a lifetime license to "the thing", not "whichever version of the thing happened to be the current version when you bough it"). And maybe a badge of shame for "buy once, and yeah, you own that version, but you get punished for not upgrading by skipping a version meaning you now pay full price again" like DxO... Yeah it's "you own it" but my goodness is it the worst possible way to offer that.

gbraad 2y ago

"Get featured for $99", "Add entry for $20". Doesn't sound very independent, but rather one big ad.

oefrha 2y ago
From a self-promotion-only account no less, breaking HN's rule on self promotion. Also others have pointed out that some of the listings are bullshit, but why let that get in the way of collecting the fee. What a grifter.
- gbraad 2y ago
  If not mistaken, the person behind the post, is a former colleague of mine. He might not have been aware of this. The post is now flagged. Note: In this case, the label "Show HN:" might also not have been OK.
christina97 2y ago
How much for lifetime feature?

talles 2y ago

I would love a little icon indicating Windows/Linux/Mac support

zeeebo 2y ago

There's a mismatch in submit pricing: FAQ says $20 while the submit page says $10

richbowen 2y ago
That's been fixed.

Nihilartikel 2y ago

Davinci Resolve is a lifetime license for an extremely powerful video production platform. It's a great value even at a serious-hobbyist level.

jorvi 2y ago
Buying Studio grants a lifetime license to the current major version only. It's just that DaVinci has been upgrading everyone for free with every major update. They can stop doing that at any moment. Not that they'll ever do that. Resolve / Studio is their loss-leader product to pull people into their very premium camera ecosystem.

commanderkeen08 2y ago

Probably the only app I bought once 10 years ago and still use daily. https://fogofworld.app/en/ https://fogofworld.app/en/

SubiculumCode 2y ago

FL Studio. Buy once, forever version upgrades. Good software too. https://www.image-line.com/ https://www.image-line.com/

Perenti 2y ago
Yes. They do have subscription cloud services, but you don't need it. Something quite amazing is that it's written in Delphi. I love Fl Studio. It's possibly the best commercial software I've ever seen.
- Perenti 2y ago
  Something else about FLStudio - you can run it on multiple machines with a single license. So ImageLine don't charge you for each computer you use it with.

ricardobeat 2y ago

As others have also expressed, a lot of the software here doesn't really live up to the what most people mean by 'one-time purchase'. Screen Studio: $9/month vs $220 "one-time purchase" with only one year of support. Sizzy browser: $12/month or $499 one-time purchase. Then you often have a one device limit - I can't be two places at once but I do have both a laptop and desktop machine. Who in their sane mind would choose these? Note that the problem with "one-year of updates" is not that you'd want free access to a newer major version of the app, but a year+ is enough time to have a new OS version make your app unusable or subject to security updates. While companies in the before times would quickly release a patch to keep their old users happy, the one-year term just ensures you'll be left hanging. This is just paying lip service to the idea of a one-time purchase.

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jwagenet 2y ago
It used to be that one time purchase never came with any updates and a new version came out for the same price the next year. I’m all for pushing back on subscriptions, but the expectation that users should get indefinite support without paying for it is silly.
- ricardobeat 2y ago
  I mentioned that in my comment. You wouldn’t get new versions, but in case of security or compatibility patches you could download them for free to keep running your old version, not just for one year.
c22 2y ago
QCAD uses this pricing model. I bought QCAD once over ten years ago. Since then I've bought it a couple more times to get some new feature, but even the original binaries I downloaded over a decade ago work fine on my modern linux/windows installs. I'm not sure which operating system is obsoleting all your software on a yearly basis, but it doesn't sound like a very stable computing environment.

gslepak 2y ago

I've been maintaining Espionage (macOS folder encryption + plausible deniability) since 2008 as part of a small Mac shareware business. $29.99 w/o lifetime updates, and $49.98 with. As appreciation for this thread, here's $10 off for HN readers (expires April fools): HNONCE https://www.espionageapp.com/order/?code=HNONCE https://www.espionageapp.com/order/?code=HNONCE

desireco42 2y ago

This is one of the things I wished I came up with... excellent and useful idea. For a moment I thought it was started by Basecamp people, I am sure they would support this. I think idea is good, maybe execution is lacking and could use someone else to do it...

footlose_3815 2y ago

There's a ton of shovelware in here and there's currently no good method of filtering it out without manual comprehension. For example, there's an LLM interface that "Lets you access multiple LLM models" (https://buyoncesoftware.com/fridaygpt https://buyoncesoftware.com/fridaygpt) But you obviously will not have access to these and it's clear self-promotion spam of over-eager people looking for exposure for their commonplace apps.

candiddevmike 2y ago

Since this website is pretty terrible (and broken, can't submit without a cloduflare error), our app Homechart is a one time purchase, self-hostable household management app. No ads, no gamification, just get-out-of-your-way organization: https://homechart.app https://homechart.app

richbowen 2y ago
I'll add Homechart. currently having an unexpected bug with payments I'm working through.

politelemon 2y ago

This is just a big affiliate marketing site. You have to pay to get listed.

richbowen 2y ago
Payment acts as a filter for those not serious about posting actual products.

andrewstuart 2y ago

I understand the sentiment but software needs ongoing revenue. I don’t resent paying a subscription for software.

semanticist 2y ago

Literally the first piece of software I looked at there does not have any option I could find for paying once, just one and three year subscription plans. (NanoCAD.) So it looks like they'll list anyone who pays the fee, making the whole exercise a waste of time.

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ipcress_file 2y ago

I don't mind re-purchasing software if it ages out gracefully. I recently bought a (non-subscription) copy of Softmaker Office. If I have to buy a newer version ten years from now, that's okay. It's got better file compatibility with Word than LibreOffice and it doesn't force me to connect to the internet or anyone's cloud.

benjaminhlee 2y ago

Would love to nominate Postico here — very few software purchases have made me so thoroughly satisfied, but the combination of a functional free tier + very generously priced tiers for students and professionals alike has left me happy to spend money on their software.

drewbitt 2y ago

'Use forever' - except many would need updates regularly which you won't get forever. Chromium updates broke Sizzy's extensions for example and it will need to have Chromium updates forever. It's also doubtful that AI ones will work longer than a couple years without updates. (OpenAI has already begun changing their API format)

bdhcuidbebe 2y ago

”Get featured for $99” makes me dismiss the whole list. Which is sad, as it was a good idea. Someone make an awesome-github repo instead please.

richbowen 2y ago
Featured is just a way for persons who add their products to highlight them above the rest for a period of time.
- bdhcuidbebe 2y ago
  Sure. Initial submission was just 20$. I lived long enough to recognize a grifter.

krelian 2y ago

I suppose this is a new project. I am always turned off by projects, of this sort, that on day one start to push monetization, and this blatantly. If you are here for the long run why not build some goodwill first instead of immediately going for a quick buck?

DavideNL 2y ago

If anyone knows good open source "buy once" alternative sources/lists/websites, please do mention them...(not necessarily limited to just tech.)

lussh 2y ago

I use Whisper Notes to transcribe my daily voice notes and it's offline, one-time purchase, $4.99. https://whispernotes.app https://whispernotes.app

XCSme 2y ago

There's also this one: https://payoncealternatives.com/ https://payoncealternatives.com/

XCSme 2y ago

Submitting a listing doesn't work for me: https://i.snipboard.io/9oJiwp.jpg https://i.snipboard.io/9oJiwp.jpg