Upgrade Policy

Posted October 8, 2007 by jesse in blog

For the last few years I've had a policy of free upgrades forever. I'll honor that for existing customers, but I now want to change to a more standard policy. I've got no plans to charge for any upgrades in the near, or even foreseeable future. But I'd like to reserver that option in case it makes sense at some point in the future.

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WordPress SEO - December 20, 2007 4:59 AM

Free updates for life is difficult.

If you get 2000 loyal users but have slow growth, how do you maintain the product...

Many of the users would probably be happy to pay for updates (technology changes, new API's become available).

I think the solution can be either major iterations (and that means once every two years, maximum, bonehead developers, not every six months) are paid.

Or alternatively and very simply implemented at Egonis software (whose fabulous Typinator is the only text expansion utility properly encoded these days) - all updates are free for two years from purchase. That's clear and that's reasonable.

A problem we are facing at Foliovision is how to get users to pay for Open Source software. What we develop are WordPress plugins - and it's open season on your code every day, even for commercial application.

And what do you do when you develop a great app that you don't want to support anymore (HogBay Notebook anyone)? I finally had to give up Hog Bay Notebook as it slowed down my Intel Mac and the search function froze regularly (10.4.8) for DevonThink (which I'd owned in parallel for years). For years, HogBay Notebook was lightning fast and DevonThink was a lumbering behemoth. On a RAM loaded Mactel - exactly the opposite. DevonThink flies and HogBay Notebook was jumpy and froze regularly.

Your solution of selling off Mori was much better, btw.

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James - January 6, 2008 6:45 PM

I am a happy WriteRoom 1.0 user who is ready to take the plunge and buy the full version, unfortunately I am re-thinking this because I do not have specific information on the license I am buying. This is directly related to an upgrade policy.

So far I have purchased software with multiple license styles out there:

  • Major version licenses:

    • You buy a 2.x license
    • A 3.x upgrade is an additional fee
    • If you bout 2.x within 30 - 90 days of the 3.x release, the upgrade is free
    • This is easy for software vendors to track and is easy to understand
    • Products from the OmniGroup are an example

  • A time based license with free upgrades

    • You buy a year 2.x license
    • Any 2.x upgrades or 3.x upgrades within 1 years of the purchase are free
    • Any 2.x or 3.x upgrades that come after the purchase of the license are NOT free
    • You can buy another "subscription" to extende your license
    • Axure RP is an example

  • A license w/o upgrades

    • You buy a 2.0 license
    • Any 2.x upgrades are PAID unless you have a specific upgrade license
    • Runtime Revolution Studio is an example

  • Lifetime free upgrades

    • You buy a 2.x license
    • 3.x, 4.x, 5.x etc are all free
    • JungleDisk is an example

Now someone in the software industry, I understand you need to make money and pricing is very important, but so are clear statements about the license that is for sale, and unfortunately I cannot find any information concerning this on your site, except for this blog entry which is both old and vague.

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jesse - January 6, 2008 7:18 PM

Sorry it's vague because I just don't know. But I don't see myself charging for upgrades in the foreseeable future. It's also very possible that I'll never charge for a WriteRoom upgrade. So sorry I can't be more specific, but I can promise you won't be caught with an upgrade right after ordering.

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