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Pixelmator Photo Switches to Subscription Pricing, Launching on Mac by Next Year
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Best of both worlds to me. Lifetime license if you use it frequently. But if you're like me and don't use it very often, you can subscribe for a month every couple years. And existing customers get lifetime subscription for free.
With discipline, that's a very underrated feature of iOS subscriptions that are so easy to cancel. For example, I subscribe to Prime for one month out of the year (around the holidays to take advantage of the shipping and time off.) Catch up on all the series released through the year. Great value.
With discipline, that's a very underrated feature of iOS subscriptions that are so easy to cancel. For example, I subscribe to Prime for one month out of the year (around the holidays to take advantage of the shipping and time off.) Catch up on all the series released through the year. Great value.
Too bad, but completely understandable. I am an occasional user. I used to use Photoshop Elements and buy it about every three years. Usually at a discount, but without would have been about $35 per year. We can't expect apps to be updated to support all OS and other changes that may come down the pike. Presumably Pixelmator team knew that but gambled to get users.
I bought Pixelmator Pro because it met my needs and could buy, rather than subscribe. But sounds like I'm good for a while. Too bad a middle ground doesn't exist for developers. Support the power users, support occasional users, allow different upgrade paths. Don't follow this enough to understand why Apple can't be more flexible.
I bought Pixelmator Pro because it met my needs and could buy, rather than subscribe. But sounds like I'm good for a while. Too bad a middle ground doesn't exist for developers. Support the power users, support occasional users, allow different upgrade paths. Don't follow this enough to understand why Apple can't be more flexible.
Pixelmator Photo seems to be for batch edits of photos while Pixelmator Pro is Layer-Based Editing
Do you make the same excuse for companies worth three trillion dollars?
I don't subscribe to a huge list of app, but the ones I do see regular updates and added features. Drafts and Flexibits especially are good about that. 1Password as well.
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Buy this and stop complaining that things aren’t free in life.
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Value of the company really doesn't matter to me. The people in charge, whether it is a company with 5 employees or one with 5,000, has to do what they feel is best for their org and the need to help it grow and prosper. We can backseat drive our opinions on whether or not that's good, but we're never going to have the full picture that goes into the decision making process for these executives.
You have it already, so nothing changes for you. Just continue to use it.
Extremely good PR for Pixelmator, but Affinity Photo which is seldom mentioned is far superior (except when it comes to PR)
I kinda hate subscriptions, but I understand it. I'd prefer at least having a middle of the road, large upfront price, and smaller upgrade pricing. That way, if you like the current version, you don't have to keep paying for it. One and done payment. If they provide an upgrade with great new features, you can pay a smaller upgrade price and Pixelmator gets the money to keep the lights on and keep creating/updating features. Win-win.
Pixelmator Pro on macOS is more like a photoshop tool. The regular "Pixelmator" app on iOS is like a very very light version of this.
Pixelmator Photo is more of a advance photo editor. Like the editing option within Apple's Photo app taken to the next level, but not intended for multiple layers, text, 3D manipulations, etc. like Pixelmator Pro.
This. I understand sustainable recurring revenue, but it doesn't also have to come with a price hike.
They make the point in their blog post that being subscription means less users so those users have to pay more. They say right up front that it's more expensive but I don't quite follow their reasoning as to why.
I can’t imagine anyone who is calling them “greedy” for trying to maintain a sustainable business as anything other than selfish *******s whose business experience starts and ends at selling cupcakes at a school fundraiser. Don’t get me wrong, I left Photoshop for Pixelmator Pro and Affinity Photo because I also want to pay upfront, but they’ve done an excellent job defending their decision and have added a Lifetime option for those of us, while also letting existing paid users keep using the app for free. If Adobe had done that, I’d still be using Creative Cloud. The only thing I’d do differently would be to take a page from Notability’s approach: subscribe for a year, get all the updates, after the year you can keep using the app without updates and if you want a new feature you can subscribe for another year.
I fully support Pixelmator on this and hope their business does better.
I’ll be waiting for your dumb “drinking the koolaid” responses, because apparently that’s become synonymous with “I disagree“ nowadays.
I fully support Pixelmator on this and hope their business does better.
I’ll be waiting for your dumb “drinking the koolaid” responses, because apparently that’s become synonymous with “I disagree“ nowadays.
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Another subscription app to torrent, pirate and steal, out of principle, when the old app I paid for inevitably stops working due to neglect. (NOT ASKING FOR MORE FEATURES, JUST AN XCODE RECOMPILATION, SO EXPENSIVE TO DO THAT + TWEAK SOME DEPRECIATED METHODS + SMALL UI CHANGES WOOOW I KNOW /s)
Not all casual users of a product use it enough to merit a subscription. Some just want a nice interface.
OH WELL. CONSIENCE CLEAN.
I’ve spent lots on Affinity Photo, Designer and their hardback books, and they still somehow manage to keep spitting out updates and new features. Big respect for Serif.
Not all casual users of a product use it enough to merit a subscription. Some just want a nice interface.
OH WELL. CONSIENCE CLEAN.
I’ve spent lots on Affinity Photo, Designer and their hardback books, and they still somehow manage to keep spitting out updates and new features. Big respect for Serif.
If you love capitalism, which I assume many here do, I am not quite sure what the issue is here. If you step outside of the reflexive desire to not have more subscriptions to understand the realities of a software company today, it isn't at all a surprise that the push toward subscriptions was inevitable (this applies to hardware nowadays as well).
I would go further to say it is also desirable in some ways (not on individual budgets of course).
This isn't to say you have to like it or participate in it, but it will become increasing more difficult to participate in society or have enjoyment if this trend continues. Rather than trash these companies for doing what is necessary; perhaps take a moment to analyze why this occurring, what it will lead to, and how we might adjust our systems.
I would go further to say it is also desirable in some ways (not on individual budgets of course).
This isn't to say you have to like it or participate in it, but it will become increasing more difficult to participate in society or have enjoyment if this trend continues. Rather than trash these companies for doing what is necessary; perhaps take a moment to analyze why this occurring, what it will lead to, and how we might adjust our systems.
Oh wait, it’s a one-time purchase? I take that back.
Thought it was going the way of Fantastical, Paw, Git Tower and other subscription-based apps that have had no radical updates since going that way.
Thought it was going the way of Fantastical, Paw, Git Tower and other subscription-based apps that have had no radical updates since going that way.
I ****ing LOVE Pixelmator and have been purchasing their products - even when they made us repurchase the Mac app as Pro for 'reasons' if we wanted updates - as long as they have been available but if it gets to the stage a subscription or this drastically overpriced one time purchase is required for the main apps I will move on from them.
Sad it has come to this.
Sad it has come to this.
They're probably going to handle it like Darkroom where you have to pay the $74.99 lifetime unlock for the just recently added masking features. Which is OK considering some of us are using Affinity Photo next to it anyway.
"It looks like this is the best way to ensure Pixelmator Photo can continue to be developed long into the future."
That's where you're wrong.
That's where you're wrong.
Upgrade discounts, to me, always seem like, “You saw value in our stuff previously, but we’re SURE that you no longer see value in it now. Tell you what, because we realize you don’t value our hard work, here’s a price cut. We hope NEW users will pay the full price, though.”
The “humans doing the development” are part of the business expenses, too. Development never ends, bug fixes, new features, new OS alignment… subscriptions are developers realizing that. And, as we’ve seen from Patreon and other such services, there are millions upon millions of folks that are willing to provide a living wage to people and companies that make the products they like.
Are there folks that DON’T like subscriptions? ABSOLUTELY! The job for the developer is to switch their user base from “those that don’t want to support us over the long term” to “those that do want to support us over the long term”.
