Four years ago I was paying $240 a year for cloud storage. Two sync subscriptions, one backup service, and a "team plan" I bought for personal use because it was cheaper than the personal tier (don't ask).
Last month I cancelled all three. I built my own WebDAV mount tool, charged myself $5.5 for a lifetime license, and never looked back.
The math that broke me
In 2022:
- Dropbox Plus: $11.99/month × 12 = $143.88
- iCloud+ 200GB: $2.99/month × 12 = $35.88
- Backblaze Personal: $7/month × 12 = $84
- Total: $263.76
In 2023 I "downgraded" by sharing plans with family. Spent $156. Felt better.
In 2024 I cancelled Backblaze. Felt smug.
In 2025 I realized I was still spending $180/year on sync I didn't need.
That's when I started building.
What I actually use
The tool I built is called ScsDriver. It mounts a WebDAV server as a local drive on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. It works with any WebDAV source — Nextcloud, ownCloud, a friend's Synology NAS, a $5/month VPS running Caddy.
The "philosophy" is simple:
- Mount, don't sync (your phone storage thanks you)
- Stream, don't download (your data plan thanks you)
- One license, not a subscription (your wallet thanks you)
The $5.5 lifetime question
I get this a lot: "Why $5.5? Why not $9.99 like everyone else?"
Three reasons:
1. Lower price = less support burden. At $9.99/month you can afford support staff. At $5.5 lifetime, you can't. By keeping the price low, I have to keep the product simple. The product is simple because it does one thing well: mount WebDAV.
2. The "founder pricing" trap is real. I've seen indie tools launch at $29 lifetime, then quietly rebrand to "v2" at $99/year once the early buyers are locked in. I wanted to make the $5.5 tier actually mean $5.5 forever. No "v2 premium tier". No "Pro plan". One price.
3. Lifetime at $5.5 is still profitable. Even at a 50% margin, $5.5 × 1000 customers = $2750. That's enough to keep the lights on for a side project. I don't need to charge subscription prices to keep building. I have a day job.
The features I didn't add
I shipped v1.0 in 2025 with these features:
- WebDAV mount on 5 platforms
- Auto-reconnect on network drop
- Read/write/copy/paste like a local drive
- TLS support
- Multiple simultaneous mounts
I deliberately did NOT add:
- File versioning (Nextcloud handles this on the server side)
- Real-time co-editing (use Google Docs if you need this)
- Built-in document scanner (your phone already has one)
- AI-powered file suggestions (you don't need an algorithm to find your tax return)
Every feature I didn't add is a feature I don't have to maintain, document, or explain.
The customer reaction
I expected complaints about the price being "too low to be legitimate." I got the opposite. People thank me for not being predatory. They share the link in forums. They recommend it to friends.
Three months in, I have 800+ paying users and 50+ unsolicited blog mentions. The product's reputation travels further because the price doesn't feel like a trap.
What I learned about indie pricing
Indie tools that charge $9.99/month are optimizing for short-term revenue, not long-term reputation. The math: 100 customers × $9.99 × 12 months = $11,988/year. Same 100 customers at $5.5 lifetime = $550 total.
The subscription number is bigger. But the lifetime number builds trust. And trust, in a niche where the giants keep hiking prices, is a moat.
Who this is for
- Tinkerers who already run their own server or NAS
- Privacy-conscious users who want to leave Big Cloud
- Anyone paying $10+/month for sync they barely use
- People who own 2+ devices and want one license for all
Who this is NOT for
- Teams that need real-time collaboration
- Users who want zero setup
- Anyone editing 4K video from the cloud
- People who want a "support team" to call
Try it
If you've been on the fence about switching from sync apps to a WebDAV mount, the $5.5 tier is the cheapest possible way to test. One payment, all your devices, no subscription. The link is in my profile.
The next time Dropbox charges you $11.99, you'll remember this article. The next time iCloud+ goes up to $3.99, you'll be glad you switched. The math doesn't lie.
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