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Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

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Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#61

Post by Semaphor »

xg15 wrote: post #44
cplli wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't throw Jetbrains in the same boat. I quite like their pricing model. You get to keep the last version, so you're basically paying for updates in the end (which are worth it IMO). On top of that, you get a discount after the first year.

Yeah, Jetbrains' model is one of the better ones in that. At least your money doesn't completely vaporize with that, even though you'll still lose a year of features and improvements once you cancel.

You’ll lose it now, but under the old model you would never have had those features and improvements.

While it took a community outcry, I think Jetbrains now has the best subscription model, that’s a positive for both users and the company.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#63

Post by codeptualize »

I don't mind subscriptions, I actually prefer them for many things.

Especially for software I rely on I want the developers to consistently earn money so they keep motivated to work on it, do maintenance and fix bugs. I don't pay for software, I pay for the thing it allows me to do. Me paying a subscription fee creates an incentive and responsibility to keep things working.

If there is a backend component to its even more important as they will have continuous cost.

Also the "one off" model usually means you'll pay for versions which is not always cheaper. Take Sketch for example, some of my clients use it so I had to update each year spending 99$. With subscription I could just use it for a project and cancel afterwards saving money, something I have done with Adobe software (although I find their prices way too high).

If something is too expensive I will find alternatives, that has imo nothing to do with the subscription model.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#64

Post by koolba »

xg15 wrote: post #26
mattjenner wrote: post #21

Dear innovative people: think of a better model. 1. Free = problematic with the lack of money 2. Freemium = looks good if the balance is right 3. Ads = Mostly works but the model is flawed and skewed 4. Subscription = Love/Hate currently trendy but too relied on 5. Pay-what-you-can = Fans provide the service for everyone 6. Premium only = Only what it's worth, when it's worth 7. Enterprise = S'ok because my company/o…

How about good old "pay for it once, then own it"?

If there’s backing services associated with it such as data storage then the duration of the asset and liability don’t jive.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#65

Post by danielvaughn »

xg15 wrote: post #10
boffinism wrote: post #4

Dear customers: we know. But our businesses are viable as subscription services, and not as one-off or ad-hoc puchase models. We know because we tried them. So we're catering to the people who are OK with buying a subscription because there are enough of them. Sorry if that doesn't suit you.

> But our businesses are viable as subscription services, and not as one-off or ad-hoc puchase models. Doesn't explain businesses that had been per-purchase for a long time and are now still switching to subscriptions though. (E.g. photoshop, jetbrains...)

These weren’t online, so you had to pay for new versions of the software. Do you want to pay again each time a new version of a website is released?

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#66

Post by shapefrog »

xg15 wrote: post #26
mattjenner wrote: post #21

Dear innovative people: think of a better model. 1. Free = problematic with the lack of money 2. Freemium = looks good if the balance is right 3. Ads = Mostly works but the model is flawed and skewed 4. Subscription = Love/Hate currently trendy but too relied on 5. Pay-what-you-can = Fans provide the service for everyone 6. Premium only = Only what it's worth, when it's worth 7. Enterprise = S'ok because my company/o…

How about good old "pay for it once, then own it"?

Would you like feature updates with that purchase?

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#67

Post by gordaco »

I'm a very, very firm believer on not paying for "subscription" to software. New content, I can understand (I spend about 40€ monthly on several Patreons, mostly comic artists; and I have a couple news subscriptions as well), although I still hate music/tv subscriptions and I don't want Netflix, Spotify or whatever. But for software, no matter how useful it is, I just refuse to choose between an unbounded price and the possibility of losing it because I don't want to keep paying. For the record, I don't have any problems paying, say, 400€ for Mathematica and things like that (in fact, I haven't pirated anything in a very long time). But I paid once and I can use the software as much as I want without paying again.

For me, it's not about the amount of money, but the peace of mind (no additional bills, no additional shit to renew when I my debit card expires, and most important, I don't need to engage in any bullshit cancellation process). In the rare cases where both a subscription and a single payment is offered, I've done the math and from time to time I actually estimate that I'll spend less money on the subscription (although normally it's the other way around, of course), but even in these cases, I prefer paying upfront. I hate that this is becoming less and less available.

Re: Dear startups: I hate subscription services (2021)

#70

Post by shapefrog »

withinboredom wrote: post #59
chrisseaton wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you own an online service?

You own a license, instead of paying for a license in perpetuity.

And how frequently would said license be renewed?

How about for maximum flexability we do a per user rolling monthly license.

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