https://bundlehunt.com/

Sale is on for several dozen mostly-Mac apps. I see that Aganda is offering a one-year premium unlock (in which you keep all unlocked features even after the year term ends) for $6, down from the usual $35.

Interesting that Agenda is putting itself on sale for so little. Last year, they offered a lifetime license on the heels of some interesting feature releases. So, enthusiastic, I bought into the lifetime thing. Turns out, that seems to have been the end of their creativity burst. The only "new" thing this year has been the now-obligatory "chat with your notes" AI-thingy. Agenda is still a pretty app, and useful especially on iOS.

I remember being distrustful of that $120 lifetime deal.

My previous subscription (a $9.99 one-year StackSocial offer) expired in spring 2023. Since then, the only new features locked to me are:

- Hiding private notes & projects

- Smart overviews

- Filtering and folding text

Folding was introduced late last year, I believe, and it’s something I’ve been wanting for a while, so picking it up now for $6 via BundleHunt seems like a no-brainer. Right now the app oddly won’t let you apply an unlock code or pay directly until a 7-day free trial first expires.

I’ve always been a bit skeptical of this kind of upgrade model, which Agenda pioneered. With traditional software, devs would hold back features for big paid upgrades, which was risky and led to cashflow issues, especially for indie teams. Apps like Scrivener have felt the pain of that model: one-time sales with no recurring income makes long-term development tough.

Subscriptions fix a lot of that: they bring in predictable revenue and ensure users always have the latest version. But people are increasingly burned out by the sheer number of subscriptions they’re expected to maintain. Some users reject any app with a sub model, even though they happily pay for Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, cloud storage, phone plans, and game passes. The difference seems to come down to perception: many people are fine with subscriptions that feel like a service rather than a "product." Still, no one really wants to go back to paying $300 every two years for a word processor, either.

Agenda tried to split the difference: “you own all features released during your active subscription.” But even that model seems to be hitting limits. Development has slowed, and without a steady flow of new features, it becomes harder to convince users to renew.

When they offer a $35 unlock for $6 (and take home even less after fees), it feels like a short-term cash infusion possibly at the cost of even fewer future renewals since current buyers unlock everything available now, permanently.

With traditional software, devs would hold back
features for big paid upgrades, which was risky and led to cashflow
issues, especially for indie teams. Apps like Scrivener have felt the
pain of that model: one-time sales with no recurring income makes
long-term development tough.

Subscriptions fix a lot of that: they bring in predictable revenue and
ensure users always have the latest version. But people are increasingly
burned out by the sheer number of subscriptions they’re expected
to maintain.

This is a topic of much discussion amongst software vendors.

As a vendor of downloadable software, I have stuck with the perpetual licence + paid major upgrades model, so far. Getting the money 'up front' does have it's attractions.

Some numbers on upgrade economics here:

https://successfulsoftware.net/2025/08/21/software-upgrade-economics-some-real-numbers/

I am considering offering a yearly subscription option on Easy Data Transform (alongside perpetual licenses) at some point in the future.

--
Andy Brice
https://www.hyperplan.com
https://www.perfecttableplan.com
https://www.easydatatransform.com
https://www.successfulsoftware.net

When they offer a $35 unlock for $6 (and take home even less after
fees), it feels like a short-term cash infusion possibly at the cost of
even fewer future renewals since current buyers unlock everything
available now, permanently.

And bundle hunt will take a big chunk of that $6. These discount promos are often a pretty horrible deal for the developers, especially when you factor in support costs. Your best hope is that either:

* a decent number of these new customers will pay you direct later to upgrade to vN+1

or

* (cynically) a lot of these new customers won't actually use most of the software they bought, so there won't be any support burden

A bit my experience as a vendor with bundles here, in case anyone is interested:

https://successfulsoftware.net/2016/12/13/promoting-your-software-through-1-day-sales-and-bundles/

--
Andy Brice
https://www.hyperplan.com
https://www.perfecttableplan.com
https://www.easydatatransform.com
https://www.successfulsoftware.net

Thanks for your insights, Andy. It's helpful when the real world joins a discussion.

Are there any discount specials like this for Windows-based software?

James Salla wrote:

Are there any discount specials like this for Windows-based software?

Check out StackSocial, HumbleBundle, appSumo, BitsDuJour... I'm sure there are others.

Andy Brice wrote:

I am considering offering a yearly subscription option on Easy Data
Transform (alongside perpetual licenses) at some point in the future.

It's interesting that around a quarter of the apps offered in the BundleHunt deal are 1-year subscriptions of some type. Regardless of hostility by some users it appears to be a licensing option that isn't going away, and the antagonism or burnout for subscriptions is apparently overwhelmed by the number of users willing to subscribe and the needs of devs for regular, sustained, predictable cash flows.

This morning BundleHunt sent out a blast email about this bundle and noted that the top three apps purchased so far are

- PathFinder (dual-pane Finder replacement - a one year subscription),

- the Agenda app quasi-subscription, and

- VideoProc Converter AI (video converter and upscaler).

Two of the three are subscriptions, and while VideoProc Converter AI is a 'lifetime license' on their site they also offer one-year subscriptions for the app.

This does not surprise me. In music plugin software a couple of companies tried switching to subscription-only but there was so much pushback that nowadays if a company offers subscription plugins they (a) tend to be 'all you can eat' and based on offering a large plugin library with add new ones regularly, and (b) indivudual plugins may also be purchased separately.

James Salla wrote:

Are there any discount specials like this for Windows-based software?

Bundles seem to be less of a thing for Windows software. I'm not sure why.

https://www.artisanalsoftwarefestival.com does sales twice a year (not bundles) and some of it is Windows software.

--

Andy Brice
https://www.easydatatransform.com
https://www.hyperplan.com
https://www.perfecttableplan.com
https://www.successfulsoftware.net

It’s interesting that around a quarter of the apps offered in the BundleHunt deal are 1-year subscriptions of some type.

It is a lot more attractive for the vendor to offer a steep discount on the first year of a subscription than it is to offer a steep discount on a perpetual licence. So vendors with subscription models are probably drawn to this sort of deal.

--

Andy Brice
https://www.easydatatransform.com
https://www.hyperplan.com
https://www.perfecttableplan.com
https://www.successfulsoftware.net

Andy Brice wrote:

It is a lot more attractive for the vendor to offer a steep discount on
the first year of a subscription than it is to offer a steep discount on
a perpetual licence.

Makes sense.

With Apple's App Store dropping its commission to 15% after the first year of subscriptions I assume that also drives the overall increase in subscriptions too, further incentivizing developers to keep their apps updated with bugfixes and new features to retain users long-term (increasing revenue by 21.43% per user).