The SaaS desktop app
I’ve been looking at several PostgreSQL clients as I migrate my local development databases away from Docker containers and back to a native PostgreSQL installation.
As I evaluated several desktop apps to manage these databases, I was disappointed to find that many require a monthly subscription.
The subscription model makes sense for server-dependent software. The server is part of how the product works and is often a key component. The product might use the server to sync information between devices or to process information in the background. The subscription model covers the ongoing costs of running and maintaining the servers on which the product depends.
Why a subscription model for a desktop app though? In most cases, the desktop app runs on your own hardware. In the case of a PostgreSQL client, it can open databases that exist on my laptop or even on another remote server, but the product itself doesn’t need a server to do this.
The justification is revenue predictability. One-time purchases tend to spike at launch and taper off, making it hard to forecast earnings or plan for the future. A subscription smooths that out.
I get why developers go down this route. Predictable revenue is easier to build a business around than the feast-and-famine cycle of one-off sales. But predictability is a benefit to the developer, not a justification rooted in the product itself. A $20/month subscription for a desktop app will cost $240 a year, every year, for software whose core functionality was largely complete on day one.
There’s a better model, and some developers are already using it. A one-time purchase with an optional paid upgrade for major versions, the approach taken by apps like Postico and TablePlus, gives the developer ongoing revenue tied to actual new work and gives the consumer a cost that reflects what they’re actually getting. If the subscription model is justified by ongoing server costs or continuous development, fine. But if it’s just a pricing decision dressed up as a product decision, that’s worth calling out.