App developers and service providers love monthly subscriptions. It's much better to get a recurring payment each and every month rather than only getting paid on day one. It's better for the developers and service providers - but how about you?
A lot of smart people are getting really worn out with subscriptions.
Gabe isn't a fan:
But, but, it’s just $3 per month. That’s the same as a cup of derp, derp, derp… I have subscription exhaustion too
Neither is Julia:
It’s that time of year when I vigorously prune my list of software/service subscriptions & get pissed for letting it getting so out of hand.
Or Phillip:
Because if you wanna hook people into a subscription, you better justify that, got it, YNAB?
Here are a few services that offer subscriptions:
| Subscription | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| iCloud | $4 |
| Dropbox Pro | $10 |
| MS Office | $10 |
| 1Password for families | $5 |
| $5 | |
| Instapaper | $3 |
| Adobe CC | $50 |
| Single Site1 | $5 |
| Club MacStories | $5 |
| RelayFM | $5 |
| NY Times | $22 |
| YNAB | $5 |
| Flickr Pro | $3 |
| Overcast | $1 |
| Total | $133 |
This is a very incomplete list of the sites & service that offer monthly subscriptions. This list could be so much longer. Remember, I only included one "single site" subscription. There are dozens of popular ones, and probably hundreds or thousands to choose from. I also only included iCloud storage for one person. A family could spend $10-$20 / mo on iCloud storage without breaking a sweat.
Just about every one of these subscriptions, by itself, seems perfectly reasonable. Who can really get mad about paying four bucks a month for iCloud storage? Or $5 / month for Club MacStories? Isn't $5 / month for 1Password for Familes a great deal?
Sure. Individually, they do make sense.
Add them all up, and all of a sudden what was a cup of coffee looks more like an additional utility bill. I don't need another utility bill in my life.
Track your subscriptions. Keep a text file, an Excel spreadsheet, or write it on dead trees. Just keep an eye on your list to make sure it doesn't get out of control. That reminds me – I need to add a recurring item to 2Do.
Note: I wrote about subscription software last year. I hated it then, too.
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This could be any site that offers a monthly membership. There are tons - use your imagination. ↩