One of the worst parts of Apple’s App Store success has been the move (encouraged heavily by Apple) toward Software as a Service (SaaS). This benefits both the developer and Apple because:
- The developer gets a continuous revenue stream via ongoing subscription
- Apple gets a continuous cut as it takes 30% of every subscription collected, in perpetuity (this can drop to 15% under some conditions)
This does not benefit the consumer, as they now might pay $50 per year in perpetuity for an app that once cost $50 total. In theory, the primary benefit to the consumer is ongoing, active development of the application, with the revenue stream providing stability the developers would lack if they sold their programs as a one-time purchase option.
I think that argument is largely bunk, and it made me stop using Ulysses for about a year and a half before I finally acquiesced and got a sub for it at a 25% off rate. But no more!
I have canceled or opted to not renew the software subscriptions I have, with a few exceptions.
A list! That is also a table! This shows the before and after apps, but not in that order.
Subscription-free replacement | Subscription-based app that was replaced |
Diarium (journaling) | Day One |
iA Writer, Scrivener (writing) | Ulysses |
Affinity Photo (image editing) | Adobe Photoshop |
Affinity Designer (vector image editing) | Adobe Illustrator |
Obsidian (note-taking) | Craft |
And the exceptions for which I still pay a subscription:
- Microsoft 365. This is the family version, so it allows both me and my partner to access all the apps. While I do use Excel and Word sometimes, the main benefit of this is the 1 TB of OneDrive storage.
- TickTick. I decided to try the paid version for a year, to see how it compares to going free. The calendar view, which is not available in the free version, turns out to be something I literally never use.
- Todoist. I couldn’t decide between this and TickTick, so I am running both in tandem. It’s silly, but I’m a silly person. In six months I’ll pull the plug on at least one of these.
If you are software savvy™ you might note that some of the software that have subs can be used for free, albeit with some features disabled (Craft, Day One), while others, like Ulysses, cannot be used at all, apart from a brief trial period. Note also that none of the subscription apps are bad–they are all quite good, and some are industry standards (Photoshop, for example). And while it looks like it takes two apps to replace Ulysses, iA Writer and Scrivener have very different focuses and, unlike Ulysses, are cross-platform, which is another thing I’ve decided is critical to the software I use. All the replacement apps are available on Windows and macOS. In fact, they all have iOS versions, too.
If I end up having giant regrets over switching to the apps listed in the table above, I will make a follow-up post, complete with a well-chosen “I’m very remorseful” image. For now, I think this is the right call. I save money and also help support a model I prefer. Win-win!