Sure, it’s the best for the product, but it is stupid pay a sub for something like a calendar. Think if you pay for system tools like file manager, custom configurations…
My cell phone service feels entirely sensible as a subscription. In other cases, either could be sensible and which is “better” is subjective. I used to spend a lot more buying CDs than I spend now on music services and my casual music experience is way better now and I wouldn’t want to go back.
For a productivity tool, I’m okay with recurring billing and then it’s just a matter of the price. I’d rather pay $100 once than $20/mo, which is a little content-free as it’s close to saying “I can’t find a bond paying 791% annual interest”.
You have to thank people for not wanting to pay for desktop software any more, so SaaS is the only way left.
> We've seen too many productivity products fail because they fail to make money even though they grew their free user base fast. We think building a business that grows quickly, in hopes of future salvation from venture capitalist or an acquisition creates bad incentives for us and a sub-par product for our customers.
Ironic because they're funded by YC so at some point they'll have to IPO or get acquired. Or, well, they don't have to but investors will expect an exit.
