best outliner you use? (2018)

Posted by NickG
May 9, 2018 at 07:04 AM

For me, as a freelance, the problems with subscription schemes are:

- A small number of low monthly fees turns rapidly into a large annual cost. $10/month? Not much. 10 or 15 sees of $10/month? Much more. I could easily commit to $1500-$2000 a year, without trying.
- Subs turn my software costs from variable (I but when I need to and can fund the cost) to fixed (I pay whether I need to/can afford it or not). I’m a freelance - sometimes I’m not working, at which time, I want to reduce my outgoings. When I’m working, I can but what I need. I work at different rates - I can control my spend to fit.
- I think subs turn out to be expensive - $10/month for 5 years is $600 - that’s what apps used to cost 20 years and more ago

All that comes before one get to whether or not the developer will make good on delivering updates and enhancements. Some will, but many won’t, and I think the good (mostly small) developers will get hit hard when customers find themselves being let down by the more cynical competitors.

I agree that subs work well for developers - I’m not convinced they work well for customers

tightbeam wrote:
There’s a lot of talk on this forum about “supporting” small developers.
>A subscription scheme likely is the best way to support small
>developers, as it gives them a steady stream of income from their
>limited number of users. It seems a bit hypocritical to be deadset
>against subscriptions when that is an ideal business model for small
>developers and those who wish to support them - and in turn, gain
>support from them, in terms of bug fixes, troubleshooting, and answers
>to questions.
>