I think the user means ‚seats‘ and you already answered that question but I think there i a misunderstanding. The upgrade price relates to the license, not the seats.
I think btw that the new model is a sensibel one. Tinderbox has it, Zengobi Curio has it. Bookends as well as Mellel (and probably others, too). Devonthink is known to be stable, well built software. I was always happy when there was an update with some improvements but I could have also been using this software without the new features.
Everything gets more expensive, server costs, rents etc… as much as I liked to have a one-payment license in the past, I think this license model is more sustainable this way. I have a keen interest that the developers continue the software. And I can continue using the software and – after one year – once I think I need the new features I can decide to pay the upgrade price.
I am looking forward to v4 and what it has to offer in the past, Devonthink never disappointed
Hello,
it is and will be a subscription. Yes, I can use the app longer than one year. But still unclear what will happen after that day. E.g. MacOS will be updated and suddenly DVT makes problems, parts of the app do not work anymore. No subscription, no running DVT.
I am also thinking about a cheaper alternative.
€ 110 / year is too much, and, as like @filou53, I use DVT only for private use.
I understand that the developer needs money (like everyone of us), wants money for a product (like everyone of us) and sees the possibility to make more money with this model. And it is difficult find the balance (price, users need/demands, …). Probably for a part of the users it is not the “good balance” anymore and they will search for an alternative. The others who buy the subscription will cover these costs easily.
I will give it a try and test DVT Pro 4 for one year. But I will also keep my eyes open for an alternative.
I wish you luck in your search for a cheaper solution.
For my purposes, I haven’t found a single software which is reliable and easy to use which would even come close to DT. I would have to use several software packages to achieve what I can do with DT. This would come at a higher price or with less functionality.
Yes, it would be wonderful to have today’s functionality with yesterday’s pricing.
I am prepared to pay the price - and switch to the new model - for a single quality software solution. After testing the new version for a day now, I have to say that I am very pleased with the new version.
I know promotions from other companies. But these are not available for existing users or when a subscription is already active.
In case you offer something different (for loyal customers) then yes, this would be great and a reason to continue DVT.
(y)
@manfred9 Well, I do not want to switch, and to search for a different solution (yes, there is no real alternative available, I am afraid) and to transfer all documents plus plus plus.
But I also have to calculate - DVT would not be the only subscription (for me it is simply a subscription, because it is not the former licence model).
What I am missing in this whole discussion is that I read elsewhere from the team that extending immediately after the year of paid for upgrades comes with a discount. So it will not be 99 dollars each year when extending immediately but (substantially?) less. But you will pay the full extension price when skipping updates for a while. Can @Bluefrog confirm this and maybe give an indication of the discount? I think this will help lessen the confusion/financial angst of some of us and maybe help in making a financially rational decision.
This licensing model always amuses me, because its logical, but its not intuitive. I think people prefer things they understand easily.
I think its the best payment model there is, being both fair to users and devs, but every dev I’ve ever seen use it has to spend time explaining how it works and why its better. People don’t seem to get it.
But with a subscription service people know where they stand, so even if it means they pay more over the life of the product, they seem ok with that.
Our promotions, e.g. Black Friday, never excluded existing customers and therefore our customers have the opportunity to e.g. upgrade to higher editions or to buy additional sets in case of promotions.
It will cost 5*$99 (plus local taxes), less in case of promotions. And of course only if you extend without any interruption. E.g. if you’re happy with DEVONthink’s state, meaning it’s stable and does all the things that you need, you can of course extend licenses at a later point in time.
The consideration for a new pricing model is always the same. How much can I increase the price without too many people dropping out? The revenue must be higher than before, even if some of the users don’t take part.
I think this will work here. Long-time users are unlikely to switch apps. To be honest, there aren’t many alternatives either. The developers know this, of course, and are testing how far they can go. That’s completely normal.
However, one consideration is missing. What does growth look like in the future with the new pricing model? But even that is already clear. If too few new users join, the price will simply be lowered.
Hasn’t that always been the case? If I was happy with DT2, I could have kept using it instead of upgrading. It’s hard to see this as something other than the cost massively increasing to keep the same benefits. If the yearly renewal was $25, then I could see how this might be better for some people, but going from around $100 every five years to every year is a big change.
How would this be any different than saying that there will be a new major version of DT released every year and we need to pay $99 to upgrade? Same idea, just that we shouldn’t expect as many new features as with a major version?
The developers decide what constitutes a “new major version” and how often this happens. This is completely arbitrary. The same applies to the definition of a subscription. You can agree or disagree with any argument. This leads nowhere.
The users only have to decide one thing: Do I stay with it or not?
Fair enough. All the talk about this being a “flexible and modern” license model was confusing the issue. It’s basically a 5x price hike. Even though I didn’t use DT all that much, I could justify paying $100-150 every few years to upgrade and have it available to me. Now I need to think about whether it’s worth $99/year to me. I suspect I’ll turn to some of the open-source apps for my basic needs instead.
Admittedly, it always hurts when costs increase. Nevertheless, I prefer this situation a thousand times over the announcement that DEVONthink has been sold and that nothing will change for the time being. Just think of Evernote and its development.
I am aware that the further development of software cannot be based solely on new customers, but that existing customers must also be involved.
I’d rather pay the right people with the right goals than investors who simply exploit the company and then let it go.
Thank you for deciding against a sale!
Thanx for your Work all the past Years.
I will remain loyal to you and Love DT.
i am not sure i agree that it is logical. if you don’t do away with versions (e.g. v4 now), then what am i extending to? it would make so much more sense to just say “Devonthink” and not a specific version. drop the versioning and releases altogether, just release big features throughout the year.
that would make sense, not this nonsense of extending but ‘not-a-subscription’ but then with versions and minor versions and whatnot.
in the past, Devonthink never disappointed
The more people say this and then do it, the greater the probability that the price will fall again.