[jmiskovic]

I really like this model. Users get free stuff, they create content to attract more users. Bigger fans spend a bit of money on full version, which fuels the development. Potential contributors build from source code and get full version. The full version is little more than quality-of-life improvement and WIP modules that will likely reach free version when done. It's hard to see any downside.

Compare it to other models. Donations don't work at all, they just make developers downhearted. Ads are huge betrayal of user's trust (and hard to do across platforms). Freemium is based on addiction-forming patterns. Commercial products create walled gardens for privileged, they severely limit adoption rates and they are reserved for first-comer (PICO-8).