[_mlbt]

I'm not sure why there's so much hostility to this comment here.

SetApp is actually a pretty good deal for developers because it creates a recurring revenue stream for low effort, and if you use a lot of the apps available on SetApp, it's a decent deal for the users too.

Unfortunately, paying a low one time price for a lifetime license for software is completely unsustainable. It leaves developers with effectively 2 options if they want to continue to receive revenue: subscriptions or major version upgrades released periodically.

[layer8]

Major version upgrades released periodically is the standard model for pay-once software, and it is preferable for users, because it gives them a choice of if and when they want to upgrade.

[bruce511]

It is preferable for users. Mostly they don't ever upgrade.

However, if you want to create an actual business, if you want to quit your day job, if you want to make a career out of this, then it's a good idea to start thinking about things from a business perspective.

I know this is HN, lover of all things free, a self-selecting group that treat tiny purchases like they're buying a house, but the key to building an actual functional sustainable business is to make business like decisions.

Part of that is pricing. Take something like this, where the price is completely arbitrary. Less than 10k for 2k users is $5 per user. If the product is $2 more then revenue jumps 40%.

One-and-done sales means you never get ahead. Every year is harder sales. Whereas Annual subscriptions means you build on a growing foundation. Conversely Upgrades just waste your time dreaming up features nobody wants or needs, and the market just gets smaller.

Sure, offering value to users is good. Offering value to customers is better. Making the business sustainable (so it exists even if 0 new sales) is the best model for both customers and the business.

So yeah, pricing matters.