{"id":26648,"date":"2019-09-19T16:41:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T20:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=26648"},"modified":"2019-10-04T15:26:35","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T19:26:35","slug":"scanbot-goes-freemium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/19\/scanbot-goes-freemium\/","title":{"rendered":"Scanbot Goes Freemium"},"content":{"rendered":"

doo<\/a> (tweet<\/a>):<\/p>\n

To start with the most important point: none of our users gets taken away something they have had before. That means that every feature that was unlocked by purchasing the ‘Scanbot Pro’ upgrade before the release of Scanbot 9 will stay valid and every unlocked feature will remain available.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>\n

We provide a lot of functionality for very little money: In the most extreme case, a user that bought Scanbot Pro in 2014 for as little as 0.99$ has enjoyed 9 fully featured major versions with over 400 internal builds of Scanbot.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>\n

Just additional new features that will be released from now on will only be unlocked with the subscription.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s $22.49\/year, whereas it used to be $7 one-time. They offered me the first year for $4.49, since I’d purchased before.<\/p>\n\n

Via Greg Hurrell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The thing about a scanner app is it’s a bit like a screwdriver: you want it to do one thing, and once you have a tool that does that thing well you’re pretty much happy with it as-is. You don’t want to be locked into a a recurring payment contract just to keep screwing in screws.<\/p>

The developers make the argument that a subscription model will allow them to keep working on the product. Sure it will, but it misses the point: people don’t need or want them to endlessly evolve an already-working screwdriver.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Sadly, I don’t think I’ve ever<\/em> seen a small subscription based app that justified its ongoing costs: no number of pointless “bug fixes and performance improvements” releases will deliver me any perceptible value<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Maybe the plan has changed since he updated, but as described it sounds like a win-win. If you don’t want the extra features, you get the basic stuff at no additional charge, forever. You can also buy certain features<\/a> through one-time IAPs.<\/p>\n\n

But he raises a good point about screwdriver apps. Some apps just don’t need a stream of new features, but all apps need maintenance. How do you fund that? Relying entirely on new customers doesn’t seem like a good plan. In theory, a very cheap subscription would be fair to both sides. But I haven’t seen that done. One issue is how to get your installed base to subscribe if you’ve already delivered the features they want. Another is that even if the subscription is cheap, a lot of customers will search for any<\/em> non-subscription alternative. So the math no longer works, and you need a much more expensive subscription.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n