Subscriptions vs. One-Time Payments: A Developer's Honest Take
As an indie founder, every pricing model feels like a bet—on your product, your audience, and your values.
After building and launching multiple indie products over the past few years, I’ve seen both ends of the pricing spectrum: the sticky warmth of recurring revenue, and the frictionless joy of one-time purchases. There’s no “right” answer—but after years of experimenting, I’ve come to favor the non-subscription model.
Let me break down why.
🧩 The Case for Subscriptions
Predictable Cash Flow:
The biggest draw. Recurring revenue makes it easier to plan and reinvest.Aligns with SaaS Logic:
If your product delivers continuous value (like analytics, hosting, or automation), subscriptions make sense.Higher LTV (in theory):
If users stay subscribed for 6+ months, it can easily outpace a one-off purchase.Easy to explain to investors:
VCs love MRR charts that go 📈.
⛔ The Downsides of Subscriptions
Subscription Fatigue is real:
More users are burnt out. "Another monthly fee?" can be an instant turnoff.Churn is your silent killer:
One quiet month and your MRR graph starts crying. You're always on defense.Pressure to constantly "justify" value:
People expect new features, updates, newsletters. Forever.Complex infrastructure & billing logic:
Handling trials, failed payments, prorating—it adds dev & support overhead.
💸 Why One-Time Pricing Isn’t Dead
It feels fairer to users:
Buy it, own it. Simple psychology.Lower friction, faster conversions:
No “Do I want this forever?” hesitation. Great for impulse or utilitarian tools.Appeals to indie/hacker/bootstrapped markets:
They appreciate tools, not commitments.Easier to maintain privacy:
No account = no tracking = happier privacy-conscious users.
📊 What I’ve Seen in the Wild
🎯 So... Why I Prefer No Subscription (For Now)
As a solo dev, I’m not trying to build a $10M SaaS. I care more about focus, simplicity, and building useful things without running a customer support empire.
That’s why my latest project [redacted] adopts a credit-based, non-subscription model: users buy what they need, use it anytime, and never worry about being billed again.
It’s not the only way—but for my audience and sanity—it’s the better way.
Would love to hear your thoughts:
Are you pro-subscription, or done with them?
How has your pricing model shaped your product journey?
Let’s talk 👇
Top comments (1)
I recently built an AI video generator: textideo.com that runs on a one-time payment model (no subscriptions, ever 🙌). If that sounds up your alley, feel free to take a look! I might do a follow-up post soon sharing how the numbers are looking.