Another day…Another app…Another subscription.
I was wondering if anyone would like to list off their subscriptions, how they manage them, how many is too many?
Here’s my list.
Software
iCloud
Gmail (legacy edition)
Evernote
Office 365 (The one I hate, I don’t like OneDrive, but when I deal with people who only function with Microsoft and need to edit documents on my iPad or mac)
CollectorRZ (Database for my comic, book, and movie collection)
Adobe Creative Cloud
Entertainment (we cut cable)
Netflix
Hulu
Amazon Prime (mainly for shopping than entertainment)
Utilities
Ring
Crashplan Business
Cloudways Server
I still need to subscribe…but assessing whether it warrants or not
1Password - Been content with single license, but wondering if I should subscribe to their monthly
Day One - Love journaling, fits me for now as is.
Drafts - Not using to full capacity, still learning how to use other than just a quick notepad, or sending it to OF, or Evernote
Key Collector - app that helps in notifying of key comic issues, past or present
Anyone else have this many or more?! Considering to drop Evernote for DTP, but worried will DTP go subscription as well.
Definitely forgetting some, but I’ll give it a shot:
iCloud
Google Drive
Dropbox
Office 365
(I believe this is known as “hitting for the cycle” in sportsball.)
Amazon Prime
Monotype Fonts
Avid Sibelius
Bear (notes)
Overcast
Nomorobo
CARROT Weather (Ultrapremium)
nkoda (sheet music subscription)
Dreamhost (web hosting)
Infuse PRO (iOS video player)
Runkeeper Go
1Password
TextExpander
YNAB
Spotify
HBO Now (for another couple of weeks now that Westworld is over)
MoviePass (for one more month until school starts)
Relay
Six Colors
Club Mac Stories
Brett Terpstra’s Labs
Harry’s razors
I’m definitely leaving some things out, but that seems like enough for one post.
EDIT because I forgot:
ComposerCloudX (sample library)
Setapp
Backblaze
I’ll also add that I recently ended subscriptions to Adobe CC and Micro.blog. I don’t have a problem at all with subscriptions. In fact, I like them. Everything here is a thing that I like, that brings me value, and in many cases that I use for work. I don’t add subscriptions carelessly, and I stop them when I no longer need them. (Note: Netflix and Hulu are not on the list.) I have been considering Adding YouTube Premium with music to replace Spotify, but I’m not sure it would have all the features I need. I use Spotify in my music teaching extensively.
EDIT to add some out-of-rotation things that I have recently subscribed to but don’t currently:
Out of your “assessing” category, I’m subscribed to Day One and Drafts, both proving worth it even after my initial frustration with Day One’s particular model.
1Password for me is standing as the standalone. I think when I get married we’ll switch to a subscription on that so it’s easy for my partner and I to have a “shared” vault for utility accounts, etc. but for the time being it’ll stay as standalone because I prefer syncing it myself.
I maintain this list in a Soulver file anyway, so here we go:
Reading
Scribd
Magzter
Blinkist
Kindle Unlimited
Learning
Codeschool (now Pluralsight)
The Great Courses Plus
TutsPlus (part of Envato Elements)
Skillshare
DataCamp (often run a sale for 99 USD for a year)
I really don’t like subscriptions and try to avoid them. While I see value for content services which are cheaper then before if you consume a lot, software services are mostly just a shameless money grab in my experience and rarely worth the money. So I look for alternatives
Mine is listed using Bobby app so I can keep track of all my subscription. For some part, I love subscription because it allows me to pay a cheaper fee that otherwise I wouldn’t go for. I can use an app for a month for work if needed. But I hope developers would also create a new category, a payment plan that lets me pay monthly until I reach the price ceiling of an app. Most apps that I wanted to try is too expensive (I’m from a 3rd world country so pricing is too high for me) so it’s usually out of reach.
It also helped that most of this account is shared among my household but I’m still the sole payee :)) but the benefit is shared so major advantage.
I’m also thankful for regional pricing on some entertainment services that let us pay half or even 1/4 of the original monthly plan compared to the U.S. like Netflix, Apple Music, etc.
Entertainment:
Apple Music Family
Netflix Ultra HD
Hulu (using a DNS server)
Prime Video (paltry selection but American Gods are on it and it’s only $2.50 monthly)
Filmstruck (subscribe from time to time when I have lots of time since it’s expensive)
Scribd
Bright Wall/Dark Room
Blinkist (got it free from Scribd)
Audm (got it free from Scribd)
Mubi (got it free from Scribd) (I use to pay for these)
Services
iCloud 2TB
Feedbin
Backblaze
PlaymoTV
Pocket (got it free from Scribd)
Learning
Design+Code
Skillshare (when I sign up using facebook it shows a regional pricing which is 1/4 of the original subscription, if I use my email it’s $99 annual)
Subscriptions that I used in the past but eventually canceled
Adobe Creative Cloud - switched to Affinity Designer and Photo
Evernote
New Yorker
Instapaper
Overcast
My list of technology related subscritions isnt something I think about a great deal, but it’s not that big so I could list them off the top of my head easily enough.
1Password (family).
Amazon Prime.
Cellular Contract.
Club Macstories.
Drafts.
Evernote (work subsidized these days)
Home ISP (work subsidized).
Netflix.
NowTV.
Spotify (family).
TextExpander.
I also currently have some SquareSpace sites but I’m actively working on migrating those due to the combined expense and some issues I have in regards to ease of updating.
Entertainment
Spotify (family plan)
Netflix
Amazon Prime (although primarily for the delivery service)
Kindle Unlimited
Plex (switched to one-off lifetime payment earlier this year)
PlayStation Plus
Xbox Live
Apps and Services
Office 365 (Home, for the apps and OneDrive storage)
Office 365 (Exchange Online, for my domain’s email)
Adobe CC Photography Plan
CrashPlan for Small Business
iCloud
MoneyWiz Premium
TextExpander
Setapp
CARROT Weather (Premium)
AnyList (family)
1Password for Families
Giganews (includes VyprVPN)
Not included as I think they are consider essential
Domain registration/renewal and web hosting
Sky TV
Mobile phone plan
Home phone/broadband
Other utilities
Some of these are annual subscriptions as they are long-term and the rest are monthly as a) that’s the only option, or b) I could change my mind and ditch them at a moment’s notice*
*not including the essentials list (heat, light, etc).
How do I manage them? I use YNAB. It’s a budgeting app and every month I budget for each thing and I can see where my money goes and makes things like subscription less scary. It also makes you think about what subscriptions you have now and ways to cut them. For example, I’m going to be dropping Evernote which is about $6 a month to use Bear instead which is $15 a year or $1.25 a month that I’ll budget for in YNAB. I also cut Netflix after realizing every month I was filling its category but never really watching it.
Since YNAB makes me think about these subscriptions more I rank how valuable each subscription is to my life. Something like 1Password is very important because it has all the keys to my digital life and real world. But something like Evernote gets on the chopping blocks when I can get the same thing done in Bear and is cheaper.
It’s almost like a game to find ways to cut back on expenses in YNAB, I have a dollar amount every month that I need to reach for everything to be paid for in that month. I often go into YNAB and look at where I actually spend my money and see if I can lower that monthly dollar amount. It feels really good when a yearly subscription comes up and the category in YNAB for it is already filled because I did my goals each month - this is why subscriptions become less stressful for me because the money is there and ready to be used instead of it sneaking up on you.
And then there is the side benefit that I’m self employed so I can write off some of these expenses too.
I renewed Amazon Prime just before the price increase. I’ve been monitoring my use and will reconsider it. It’s what I hate about subscriptions - seems like a great deal, but hard to actually value each piece.
I also dip in and out of Netflix and probably subscribe two months out of 12.
Apple Music
Netflix
Nexia (Home Automation service)
iCloud (50 GB)
I also have a free Office 365 account through my office, which gives me access to fully functional software in the Microsoft Office suite on all my devices, including 1 TB of OneDrive storage.
The wife has an Amazon Prime subscription, so I use that. I also got her a subscription to Acorn TV (British TV shows) on our Apple TV. Not sure if that counts, but there it is.
Pretty much hate all software subscriptions, and go out of my way to avoid the ones I don’t have, and replace the ones I do with non-SaaS when I can. Entertainment services are a necessary evil to a point, so I make a sacrifice, just because Netflix is still less expensive than a cable subscription. I cut the cord well over 10 years ago.
Software:
Overcast (because it’s not a prohibitive cost, and I use it daily)
iCloud Drive (because Apple are stingy buggers–who can get by with 5gig these days? It’s a travesty)
Apple Music (to have my tunes everywhere, used daily)
BackBlaze (because I need offsite backup for my data and they’re still cheapest)
Netflix (because we watch it)
Ulysses (because I was too entrenched in my Ulysses workflows when, after promising never to do so, they went SaaS, and so I bit the bullet for now and will jump ship the next time someone creates an equivalent)
YNAB (and this is my most hated, because Jesse is frankly a megalomaniac and knows he’s got his users and has now jacked up his prices twice because he thinks the software ‘is undervalued’. I’m itching to leave it, but it’s how I’ve managed my money since version 3, and so I’m stuck. I’m gone the minute I can, or if he even hints at removing the grandfathered plan–yes, I’m bitter and angry)
That’s it. Although I do have a lifetime Plex subscription. I’d do a one-and-done for any of these packages in a heartbeat if they offered it like Plex does.
Here is what I will call my digital subscriptions. The list is fairly small, but I work to keep it that way. The apps on the list are the ones I find the most value in using, hence my desire to pay for them. The rest is pretty self explanatory.
Apps
Drafts
Castro
Carrot Weather
Website
Dreamhost (for the site hosting)
Hover (for the domain registration)
Simplecast (for my podcast)
Club MacStories
Services
Apple Music
iCloud Drive 200GB
Amazon
Netflix
Hulu
HBO
Note: I’m not counting my internet bill in this, as I consider it a utility.
I have never tried to list them, until now.
I am suprised only two of the above have current evernote subs that they pay for themselves.
I thought lots of people used that!
Here they are (macos and ios mixed)
Textexpander
Evernote
Amazon prime
Office 365
VPN
Dashlane
Drafts5
Grammarly
Here are my current Subs. I too hate software subscriptions and try to keep them to a minimum. The streaming services we turn on and off. If there is nothing to watch why keep it. We will wait serveral months then turn it back on to watch fresh content. I probably won’t be renewing amazon prime after this last price increase. I can just wait a few more days when ordering something. Will probably turn Apple Music back on. I enjoy big music catalog.
Software/Cloud Services
YNAB (Grandfathered in price) Love the system but their price has been on the increase for everyone else.
Evernote (would like to replace)
Smugmug (unlimited photos and video, really like their style)
Backblaze (Cheapest offsite backup)
Ring (Still a good value to me at their current price but have since put up my own camera/nvr system so we shall see)
