Maybe you ask yourself why ChatMate Pro for WhatsApp is subscription only and can not be purchased via a one off payment. In the following I would like to explain why this came to be and why many software developers have no choice but to change their business model into a subscription based model.
The initial version of ChatMate was released in 2015 under the name "App for WhatsApp". It became a major hit and its maximum sales price was $1.99.
After some turbulences the App was re-released in 2017 under the name "ChatMate for WhatsApp". Existing users received an upgrade offer for $0.99.
During all this time, developing the App, answering service requests and keeping the necessary server infrastructure running and up to date has been a full time job for me. Now, in 2024 the App is in the market for 9 years in total and therefore finding new paying customers is hard to achieve. Therefore I had the choice to either shut down the App, charge existing users for a paid upgrade or change the business model towards subscriptions.
Shutting down the App never really was an option, given that so many still use it daily. I would not want to take this tool away from anybody and quite honestly it would also make no sense from a business perspective. That leaves us with the options to charge for a paid upgrade or the change of business model.
While paying once for a product and then owning it is also my personal preferred way of gaining access to goods, it has to be said that with software it never is that easy.
The reason is that the environment changes all the time. This means that users purchase new hardware, Apple is releasing new versions of macOS and iPadOS and the developers have to keep up with that development. And this does not even cover the immense workload that is keeping the servers running and providing service to users.
Many other Apps have shown that while a paid upgrade can be marketed as a "one time upgrade fee", in fact it is recurring. (For example from Version 1 to 2 and then again from Version 2 to 3).
When looking at this from a neutral perspective, we see that this is not so much different from a (maybe yearly) subscription.
One might argue that a paid upgrade is not forced on the user as he can choose to keep using the old version. However, I want to keep in mind that without service a software becomes obsolete quite quickly. Just look at the transition from 32 Bit to 64 Bit or from Intel to Apple Silicon. These are only some very well known transitions that would force users to pay for an upgrade.
I actively chose to not play this game of calling the repeated sale of upgrades a "one time purchase". Instead I want to be honest with you.
Developing and maintaining software is a fun but very time consuming job. The only way people can sustainably keep it up is to make money on a regular basis.
I have therefore decided to change the business model of ChatMate Pro towards subscriptions and I hope you will continue to use it and support me in further developing and maintaining this App.
Let's find out together what the next 9 years of ChatMate will bring!
Let me know if you have any questions regarding the transition to subscriptions.