But this is no different to the model you mentioned. If you only pay once it’s not sustainable for the developer.
I agree there are differing models out there. I like Due and Agenda’s model where you pay for new features. However, I’m not sure how sustainable it is in the long run.
My experience the last 10 years is the number of Indie developers who asked for user support, received it and when the product was good sold it to a large business who raised prices.
In the end there is no real solution. Users will pay the minimum they can and developers will charge as much as they can. In the UK financial climate I find myself consolidating and dropping subscriptions as much as I can. This is no disrespect to the developers, but a purely financial decision. I’m rapidly moving towards FOSS. Even Apple’s pricing is pushing me to ditch their platform.
When costs escalate and you realise you can do the same work in less polished or feature rich apps that are cheaper or free you’re going to move in that direction.
Apologies for moving the thread in a different direction.
Back to topic.
My concern with Affinity and now Canva is that Canva didn’t spend $380 million to make the product free and gain no return. Their investors would not be happy. This means revenue must come from somewhere. Someone mentioned it will come from AI, but if AI doesn’t produce the expected return then they will need to charge elsewhere. Having seen this happen before, I’m asking myself if I have the energy to journey through Affinity’s transition only to need to drop it due to cost down the road and go elsewhere. I’m also in the position where these apps are not mission critical for me. I will of course hope for the best and watch from the sidelines.