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Yes, we hate subscriptions. However, which apps do you choose to subscribe to?

I am not sure if that qualify as an App Subscription,
but here's what I pay for continuously and they have an App:
Dropbox, Amazon Prime, Overcast

I still use 1Password 6, I basically left Adobe ecosystem, for VPN I bought lifetime account at Windscribe, and stopped paying for Office, Skype, etc.
 
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iCloud
1Password
Amazon Prime
Apple Music
Fantastical
Day One
My Radar
Carrot Weather
Due
Tempo
Pillow
Strava
Bear
Private Internet Access (3 year subscription)
Nord VPN (3 year subscription)
AT&T TV Now (grandfathered “Go Big“ Plan with HBO added)
Disney+ (3 year subscription charter price)
 
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Like many here already, I don’t mind subscriptions but like to pay up-front (5 years Xbox live and game pass, thanks to the $1 deal) or lifetime (Lose It!) when it’s available.

I had Dropbox pro through my university, but now they’re covering Office 365. I also have Adobe CC though their site license.

I recently paid for one year of Fantastical but I’m not sure if I’ll keep that up. Im waiting for the semester to start so my schedule fills up again.

I will likely subscribe to Nike Training Center premium when their Covid-discount free premium ends. They really hooked me, and a monthly sub for that makes perfect sense to me.

We have family 200GB iCloud, Family Apple Music, and Amazon Prime. We get The Atlantic and the Washington Post.

My wife has her own subs for ToDo and beach body.

We also have T-Mobile, which includes Netflix.
 
Backup storage. If you think about it, its a never-ending cost no matter what. Hard drives need to be replaced. More space, failure, redundancy. Cloud storage means you never need to think about those things ever again.
 
NJRonbo said:
Thank Apple, for one, for encouraging software authors to stop charging a one-time purchase fee and go to a subscription model. Soon after Apple held a conference with developers and put that little gem into their heads, more and more software has become a subscription model to keep the money rolling in on an annual basis.

I have trashed many programs that I paid a lifetime subscription and then began charging me a subscription. I looked for cheaper alternatives.

However, there are a few that I chose to pay annually. Would love to know what "essentials" you deem worth subscribing to as well.

Here is my list (all prices are approximate):

1 Password ($34)
Forecast Bar ($18)
Carrot Weather ($25)

I know a lot of people like Innoreader, which is a subscription. However, under the free plan I can load it up with feeds and my ad-blocker keeps it ad-free.

I was paying for Raindrop.io and didn't think it was worth it
I also pay for Private Internet Access VPN and Qobuz Music Service
Click to expand...
The only subscription worth paying for is iCloud ($1/month)
 
I have a number of subscriptions (Apple stuff, video streaming, online services like computer backup). But actual App subscriptions, I only have:

1Password
Quicken for Mac
Office 365
 
Carrot Weather
Hulu (They had a $1.99/month deal Cyber Monday)
Amazon Prime

I think that’s it if you’re not counting Apple Music and Apple Arcade. Carrot has a very great weather app.
 
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iCloud 50G space only.
I spent few hours moving everything from DropBox and Evernote to iCloud, and moving from 1Password to Enpass. And it worths.
 
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The only thing I will subscribe to is a VPN. I'm lucky in that my job requirements are heavily focused on only 4 pieces of software, two of which are Apple and the other two 1 time payments. Everything else is either free or inconsequential in terms of price (like pixelmator).

Edit: I'm curious about why people subscribe to a weather app? Isn't the weather app on the iphone good enough? Or even the ones online? What do they offer that is worth the money? Is it something essential or is it just that that are a bit better and you don't mind paying a small amount for a non essential service?
 
I don't like the threat model of "Pay or else"...
Somehow all software developers in the world were making enough money up until 2015, somehow it is no longer affordable, so they all went subscription.

The only apps I would pay for are ones that are based on an ongoing service like email, VPN, etc... apps that work within themselves no. i like the old method where you purchase a software and in couple years they release a new version you have the option to upgrade for less or buy completely new.

The only software I am willing to subscribe to is software that I rely on for a living, yes I will pay $50 a month for software that I make $2000 off a month but that is currently not that case. I will also choose to pay subscription for expensive software that used to cost like $1000 per licesnse.

Paying subscription for utilitise like 1password is ludacrious. If they sell it at $40 for 1 million customers world wide, that is $40M, please software developers tell me if this is enough or not?!
 
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smoking monkey said:
The only thing I will subscribe to is a VPN. I'm lucky in that my job requirements are heavily focused on only 4 pieces of software, two of which are Apple and the other two 1 time payments. Everything else is either free or inconsequential in terms of price (like pixelmator).

Edit: I'm curious about why people subscribe to a weather app? Isn't the weather app on the iphone good enough? Or even the ones online? What do they offer that is worth the money? Is it something essential or is it just that that are a bit better and you don't mind paying a small amount for a non essential service?
Click to expand...

Weather alerts, radar, lightning strikes, customizable AppleWatch compilations, custom data sources, customize able iPhone app and widget, ability to use personal weather stations around you, find what weather was on a certain day in the past, hurricane tracking, sunscreen reminders. There are a lot of reasons.

For me the biggest is Apple Watch compilation and weather alerts.

BE2B7597-F770-4BC8-B2D9-1E90DCA6B361.png

sunset sunrise current temp and next five days in a quick glance. :)

Oh and I get to support a developer who is active on Macrumors and listens to customers. (CarrotWeather)
 
Adobe cc
Icloud
Idrive (I'm paranoid so I pay for another back up service)
Spotify
Tesla premium
YouTube + Google music
Netflix
Disney + espn Hulu combo
1password
Slack
Postmates
Door dash
Instacart
Amazon prime
Athletic
G suite
Latimes
Nest
Copilot

I'm a web developer so I also subscribe to the following for web related services:

Wpengine - hosting for WordPress based websites

Kinsta - another great wordpress host

Webhostinger - really cheap wordpress hosting for sites I don't care much about

Gplvault- can subscribe and test out pretty much any wordpress plugin before purchasing

Godaddy- for domain names
 
Wow, reading this thread people are so willing to subscribe, can't blame developers going that path its much more lucrative to them.

damphoose said:
Backup storage. If you think about it, its a never-ending cost no matter what. Hard drives need to be replaced. More space, failure, redundancy. Cloud storage means you never need to think about those things ever again.
Click to expand...

Its nice thought but there are 2 issues:
1)Privacy, cant have your whole life uploaded to the cloud. It is actually a physical computer that some one has physical access to it.
2)Sending data back and forth. Internet is just too slow. If all you have is text documents that fine but usually a large storage means large files. Not to mention some ISP have limits.

Ryan_Mak said:
The only subscription worth paying for is iCloud ($1/month)
Click to expand...
You know, OneDrive for $7 is not too bad. Full office suite and a whopping 1TB of storage. Also works on all platforms, i think iCloud is Apple devices only?

ulyssesric said:
iCloud 50G space only.
I spent few hours moving everything from DropBox and Evernote to iCloud, and moving from 1Password to Enpass. And it worths.
Click to expand...

May I ask why did you move from 1Password? They still have license purchase.
Also how do you find EnPass? I am looking for a local password storage(none cloud based) and I am afraid 1Password one day turn completely subscription.

Honestly 1Password is one of the finest pieces of software I have ever used, its beautiful and convenient in every way, but I am not willing to be locked away from my data because I failed to pay up...forever.

Pbwj said:
Adobe cc
Icloud
Idrive (I'm paranoid so I pay for another back up service)
Spotify
Tesla premium
YouTube + Google music
Netflix
Disney + espn Hulu combo
1password
Slack
Postmates
Door dash
Instacart
Amazon prime
Athletic
G suite
Latimes
Nest
Copilot

I'm a web developer so I also subscribe to the following for web related services:

Wpengine - hosting for WordPress based websites

Kinsta - another great wordpress host

Webhostinger - really cheap wordpress hosting for sites I don't care much about

Gplvault- can subscribe and test out pretty much any wordpress plugin before purchasing

Godaddy- for domain names
Click to expand...

May I ask how much you pay in subscription fees a month? that seems a lot, I am guessing you make ton of money out of using all those services to justify all those subscriptions. Plus, why are you subscribing to Godaddy? aren't they a domain purchasing site?
 
Couple things… we need to stop calling them "subscriptions". They are not; subscriptions are things you keep after you're done. These things are RENTALS, and I will die on that hill… at least as it relates to apps.

I have a movie rental with D+, and that's it. Given that they keep coming out with new unique stuff, that has value to me.
 
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thefourthpope said:
Have you tried Mendeley?
Click to expand...
Mendeley is fine for being free. But I'd never pay for it. macOS app have been crappy (and looked crappy) for years. And the iOS app is beyond bad. Basically, development is really really slow. Just go read the blog, you basically never read anything about app updates.
 
Icloud
microsoft Office
ulysses

These are my biggest writing tools and the only subscriptions I wish to subscribe to. Ulysses is on the cusp because I already have Scrivener, but I got grandfathered under the cheaper subscription for early adoption.
 
Some subscriptions do make sense, it's the total cost of "ownership" that matters most to me, so we (my girlfriend and I) have given up on Adobe (to take one example) and replaced the suite with Affinity (Photo, Designer and Publisher), and Pixelmator/Pixelmator Pro. I would also never have paid for Office 365, but I get that through work; I prefer Pages, Numbers and Keynote, anyway.

There are still services I find good (enough) value to subscribe to:

Apple Music (Family Sharing)
Apple iTunes Match
Apple iCloud 2TB (Family Sharing)
Apple Developer Program

Guardian Digital (€49/year)

1Password ($2.99/month)
Newsblur ($12/year)

Netflix
HBO Nordic
Amazon Prime
Viaplay

We gave up linear TV years ago, and only use streaming services. I also gonna add Disney+ to the streaming services once they launch in Norway in September. Probably won't renew Apple TV+ once the free year expires in November.
 
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Zoddino said:
iTunes Match is included in Apple Music, no need to have the iTunes Match annual subscription if you have Apple Music.
Click to expand...

With iTunes Match you can actually keep the matched files (even if you cancel the service). This is enticing if you still want the ability to own your music.
 
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