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Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

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Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#11

Post by gustavorg »

mikekchar wrote: post #8
wild_preference wrote: post #7

Ads in desktop software are dead. Also, just think of the amount of serious, transient eyeball traffic you'd need which sounds like an unlikely demographic for a Mac app. Especially if you think these same people would be interested in your Patreon. You'd basically have to burn all goodwill to make a few pennies off them. The only reason ads make a little money on mobile is because of the lack of adblocker penetratio…

> Donations aren't a source of income. Though I encourage you to try a tip jar like Patreon just to see how vanishingly impossible it is. While I agree wholeheartedly with what you said, I still wonder about if Patreon might be a reasonable way to charge for services. There are at least a few people making a living off of Patreon. Of course, I've not really heard of anyone scaling it beyond that. It's possible to mak…

This one for example: https://www.patreon.com/YandereDev Used to profit $5000 one year ago.

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#12

Post by vbsteven »

Last time I checked the creator of VueJS is making some money from Patreon. But his monthly Patreon revenue is less than what a typical freelance software dev makes and he's the creator of the second most popular frontend JS framework, so I don't see that much potential for making a living on Patreon from niche mac apps.

If your app is adding value I would keep charging real money for it. Maybe check out a software subscription model for support and updates.

I like what Jetbrains is doing for their IDE's where you pay a fee for a specific version and 1 year support & updates. After that 1 year you can continue using the same version, or pay again to get another year of updates and support.

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#13

Post by ohadron »

vbsteven wrote: post #12

Last time I checked the creator of VueJS is making some money from Patreon. But his monthly Patreon revenue is less than what a typical freelance software dev makes and he's the creator of the second most popular frontend JS framework, so I don't see that much potential for making a living on Patreon from niche mac apps. If your app is adding value I would keep charging real money for it. Maybe check out a software s…

Evan You makes 180k/year just from Patreon, excluding additional gigs such as speaking at conferences. (https://www.patreon.com/evanyou/overview)

Some more about his business model: https://blog.patreon.com/vue-js-creator-evan-you

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#15

Post by vbsteven »

ohadron wrote: post #13
vbsteven wrote: post #12

Last time I checked the creator of VueJS is making some money from Patreon. But his monthly Patreon revenue is less than what a typical freelance software dev makes and he's the creator of the second most popular frontend JS framework, so I don't see that much potential for making a living on Patreon from niche mac apps. If your app is adding value I would keep charging real money for it. Maybe check out a software s…

Evan You makes 180k/year just from Patreon, excluding additional gigs such as speaking at conferences. ( https://www.patreon.com/evanyou/overview ) Some more about his business model: https://blog.patreon.com/vue-js-creator-evan-you

Yes, and it took him 2 years as the developer of one of the biggest JS frameworks with thousands of users to reach that level. And even then, over 80% of his Patreon comes from 3 backers at 2000/mo and 18 backers at 500/mo. I assume those are all companies. The revenue he has from individual users is peanuts.

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#16

Post by tinus_hn »

vbsteven wrote: post #15
ohadron wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evan You makes 180k/year just from Patreon, excluding additional gigs such as speaking at conferences. ( https://www.patreon.com/evanyou/overview ) Some more about his business model: https://blog.patreon.com/vue-js-creator-evan-you

Yes, and it took him 2 years as the developer of one of the biggest JS frameworks with thousands of users to reach that level. And even then, over 80% of his Patreon comes from 3 backers at 2000/mo and 18 backers at 500/mo. I assume those are all companies. The revenue he has from individual users is peanuts.

I hope Patreon doesn’t take a percentage out of that..

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#17

Post by golergka »

What's your primary motive in making the app open source? Personally, I would open-source 90% of the app (for example, it's core functionality in console form), but still leave it so you still have to buy the GUI packaged version from the store or easily set up your own build environment. It would mean that a developer can easily run your app for free, fork and fix issues, but a typical user has to pay - so you retain your revenue source.

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#18

Post by tenryuu »

gustavorg wrote: post #11
mikekchar wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Donations aren't a source of income. Though I encourage you to try a tip jar like Patreon just to see how vanishingly impossible it is. While I agree wholeheartedly with what you said, I still wonder about if Patreon might be a reasonable way to charge for services. There are at least a few people making a living off of Patreon. Of course, I've not really heard of anyone scaling it beyond that. It's possible to mak…

This one for example: https://www.patreon.com/YandereDev Used to profit $5000 one year ago.

Used to sure, kid stopped using his time to develop games and just started streaming in his free time. I only know people who consider this guy a joke now

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#19

Post by saluki »

I would look at adding new features and maybe adjusting pricing, test a sale price for the new version.

What is your target audience? I would spend some time writing blog posts on how your app can help them. Maybe give away some copies/keys on podcasts that your target audience listen to.

If that doesn't spark sales maybe go free with IAP. I would do this as a last resort. I think you'd do better being paid. Maybe introduce a free trial period if you don't already.

I don't think ads or patreon will make any significant revenue.

Re: Ask HN: Paid app to free and Patreon?

#20

Post by needz »

I have a free social network app that makes $122/month on Patreon[0] (from 43 patrons). Userbase is about 3.4k with ~200 DAU. I offer in-app recognition and the ability to vote monthly on what features I work on. I won't be quitting my job, but it's nice to not have to pay for servers and marketing out of pocket.

0: https://www.patreon.com/pindigo

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