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BundleHunt 8/2025
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Posted by satis
Aug 28, 2025 at 01:11 PM
Sale is on for several dozen mostly-Mac apps. I see that Aganda is offering a one-year premium unlock (in which you keep all unlocked features even after the year term ends) for $6, down from the usual $35.
Posted by Paul Korm
Aug 28, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Interesting that Agenda is putting itself on sale for so little. Last year, they offered a lifetime license on the heels of some interesting feature releases. So, enthusiastic, I bought into the lifetime thing. Turns out, that seems to have been the end of their creativity burst. The only “new” thing this year has been the now-obligatory “chat with your notes” AI-thingy. Agenda is still a pretty app, and useful especially on iOS.
Posted by satis
Aug 29, 2025 at 05:20 AM
I remember being distrustful of that $120 lifetime deal.
My previous subscription (a $9.99 one-year StackSocial offer) expired in spring 2023. Since then, the only new features locked to me are:
- Hiding private notes & projects
- Smart overviews
- Filtering and folding text
Folding was introduced late last year, I believe, and it’s something I’ve been wanting for a while, so picking it up now for $6 via BundleHunt seems like a no-brainer. Right now the app oddly won’t let you apply an unlock code or pay directly until a 7-day free trial first expires.
I’ve always been a bit skeptical of this kind of upgrade model, which Agenda pioneered. With traditional software, devs would hold back features for big paid upgrades, which was risky and led to cashflow issues, especially for indie teams. Apps like Scrivener have felt the pain of that model: one-time sales with no recurring income makes long-term development tough.
Subscriptions fix a lot of that: they bring in predictable revenue and ensure users always have the latest version. But people are increasingly burned out by the sheer number of subscriptions they’re expected to maintain. Some users reject any app with a sub model, even though they happily pay for Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, cloud storage, phone plans, and game passes. The difference seems to come down to perception: many people are fine with subscriptions that feel like a service rather than a “product.” Still, no one really wants to go back to paying $300 every two years for a word processor, either.
Agenda tried to split the difference: “you own all features released during your active subscription.” But even that model seems to be hitting limits. Development has slowed, and without a steady flow of new features, it becomes harder to convince users to renew.
When they offer a $35 unlock for $6 (and take home even less after fees), it feels like a short-term cash infusion possibly at the cost of even fewer future renewals since current buyers unlock everything available now, permanently.
Posted by Andy Brice
Aug 29, 2025 at 12:34 PM
>With traditional software, devs would hold back
>features for big paid upgrades, which was risky and led to cashflow
>issues, especially for indie teams. Apps like Scrivener have felt the
>pain of that model: one-time sales with no recurring income makes
>long-term development tough.
>
>Subscriptions fix a lot of that: they bring in predictable revenue and
>ensure users always have the latest version. But people are increasingly
>burned out by the sheer number of subscriptions they’re expected
>to maintain.
This is a topic of much discussion amongst software vendors.
As a vendor of downloadable software, I have stuck with the perpetual licence + paid major upgrades model, so far. Getting the money ‘up front’ does have it’s attractions.
Some numbers on upgrade economics here:
https://successfulsoftware.net/2025/08/21/software-upgrade-economics-some-real-numbers/
I am considering offering a yearly subscription option on Easy Data Transform (alongside perpetual licenses) at some point in the future.
—
Andy Brice
https://www.hyperplan.com
https://www.perfecttableplan.com
https://www.easydatatransform.com
https://www.successfulsoftware.net
Posted by Andy Brice
Aug 29, 2025 at 12:44 PM
>When they offer a $35 unlock for $6 (and take home even less after
>fees), it feels like a short-term cash infusion possibly at the cost of
>even fewer future renewals since current buyers unlock everything
>available now, permanently.
And bundle hunt will take a big chunk of that $6. These discount promos are often a pretty horrible deal for the developers, especially when you factor in support costs. Your best hope is that either:
* a decent number of these new customers will pay you direct later to upgrade to vN+1
or
* (cynically) a lot of these new customers won’t actually use most of the software they bought, so there won’t be any support burden
A bit my experience as a vendor with bundles here, in case anyone is interested:
https://successfulsoftware.net/2016/12/13/promoting-your-software-through-1-day-sales-and-bundles/
—
Andy Brice
https://www.hyperplan.com
https://www.perfecttableplan.com
https://www.easydatatransform.com
https://www.successfulsoftware.net