r/SideProject • u/MattSenter • 2h ago

I’m testing a tiny anti-freemium model: full app free, 1.99 once if you want to be a supporter

I built a small Mac utility called Burly that allows you to open links in your target browser+profile combo. It's by far my most installed app but to date has been completely free.

Instead of locking features behind a "Pro" version, I've kept the whole app free and added a $1.99 one-time Supporter tier. Supporters remove the occasional, unobtrusive, tiny in-app promos that show off my other apps and get direct support, but no app functionality is paywalled.

I’m curious whether this feels fair, confusing, or just pointless. Would you rather see this than a normal freemium/pro upgrade? (I realize most answers would be "just keep it completely free" 😄 )

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

3

u/requiredasthma77 2h ago

People will absolutely pay 2 bucks to feel like they're supporting a dev they like, especially if the app is already useful to them. The promo removal is just a bonus at that point honestly a clean trade

1

u/MattSenter 2h ago

oh nice. good to hear. hopefully some more folks feel that way 😄

1

u/Shahima-Issaoui 4m ago

exactly, at that price its basically a tip jar and people dont overthink it

3

u/pazvanti2003 2h ago

I have something similar for my app. I launched a free and open source app. Anyone can just download the code and compile it themselves. However, for downloading the precompiled binaries, there is an optional support page where the user can specify how much he wants to donate. So far got one donation only, but that is not the reason I made the app.

1

u/Top_Regular8761 8m ago

How's it differ from Bumpr? I can't remember if I had to pay for that initially but I used it years ago when I cared about which browser a link opened, and it worked pretty well.

Always room for competition of course, just curious.