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Comment by crankyadmin | Hacker News Reader

This looks awesome (beautiful looking app) but wow... its expensive!

I've been using Boop (free) for the same purpose https://apps.apple.com/us/app/boop/id1518425043?mt=12 and really wouldn't mind paying for devutils (I've tried the demo and liked it) but $49.95 for the standard edition seems a little on the steep side for what it is...

In the event of a decent price reduction this would have me purchase for sure.

Edit: "This is a perpetual license and includes one year’s worth of updates." - yeah, I'll pass thanks.

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Disclaimer: I'm the app developer.

Thank you for the kind words, and I'm glad you like DevUtils! I just want to drop a quick comment about the license terms.

"This is a perpetual license and includes one year’s worth of updates"

In the last 12 months, I added 10+ major upgrades[1] with a lot of new tools, bug fixes, and improvements.

I think the 1-year upgrades term is the best way to keep me motivated and keep improving the app.

This license type is the same as seen in many other popular apps like JetBrains IDE, Sketch, TablePlus, Parallels Desktop, etc.

I hope you understand.

I do offer student discounts and special discounts if you are from a country with a low-income level. Feel free to hit me up anytime (email in my profile).

Thanks!

[1]: https://devutils.app/changelog/

I don’t think it is expensive at all. I wouldn’t fret about it, and nice to have discounts for low income countries.

No need to apologize to anyone. Your pricing is a steal for the convenience. It takes time to maintain and develop new features and it would be crazy for people to expect all of this for free…

I'll echo others' sentiments - the pricing seems fine to me. I happily bought a license this morning.

Thank you very much!

Expensive? Not really. I was an early purchaser of DevUtils, and in the intervening time, the author has released a steady plethora of improvements and enhancements. Not to mention develop a bunch of other unrelated useful utilities.

He kind of reminds me of myself 25 years ago, when I used to write utility app after utility app for DOS, early Windows systems, Unix systems etc. Hundreds of long forgotten tools that were used by either just myself, or large corporations and government departments for a modest fee. Had there been a Stripe or easy way of monetising decades ago, I could have made some serious coin. But eventually I burnt out and started a 'boring' consulting business to pay the bills.

I just loved creating, and I wish that someone had paid me enough to just keep experimenting and creating them because who knows where it could have gone. I paid for a DevUtils licence because I wanted Tony to continue to be encouraged to create more without feeling unappreciated, and I don't want him to end up an old, jaded programmer like me. ;) I can either pay $25 over the next week to buy coffees that I will pee down the drain, or I can help a young indie programmer create something new...

Thank you so much for the encouraging words, cyberferret!

I recently quit my full-time job and go solo to work on DevUtils and my other apps. Your comment is such a great motivation boost for me!

I really appreciate this, thank you so much!

This is why developers constantly choose to go for an ad based revenue model over just charging users. The amount that can be made by not respecting user privacy and getting a million users greatly exceeds the amount that can be made by charging a fraction of those users. Everyone pays lip service to the idea that they are willing to pay for a no ad experience but it's just that, lip service.

I agree. I notice even at big corps, they don’t even pay for a Postman license which is used daily

I would say the pricing seems reasonable, especially for teams in the US. Each 1 yr license is less than an intern's hourly wage.

Edit: 1 yr is update so it’s pretty good

It is expensive for me, personally, but just in the that it is just enough of a price point to encourage me to automate and script these things myself, relative to my income. But I'm surprised to hear that sentiment on here more broadly, don't y'all all have fancy jobs? Also its an osx app, y'all already have macbooks, and $25 is too much?

I bought the $25 license and it’s enough. Love the app.

The developer regularly adds more functionality.

I also paid for dash and alfred and love their integration.

All these licenses are affordable and help some very cool people put bread on the table.

Thank you very much for your support, Andrei!

I'm a solo developer and this means a lot to me!

You’re more than welcome. I feel your care in every update and every communication I receive.

I'm a happy customer – I bought it ~6 months ago and use it most days as part of my work flow. $25 was a no-brainer for me, I didn't even think twice.

Thank you very much, @kylegawley!

The price seems 'about like a software development book.' That doesn't strike me as jarringly out of range for what it is.

> but wow... its expensive!

25 dollars is expensive? Should I remind you that you're complaining about the cost of a few beers while typing your complaint on a >$1000-dollar device.

“Are you seriously complaining about the price of power, when you’re sitting in a home worth hundreds of thousands”?

Same energy.

50 is as expensive or inexpensive as you want it to be considering you are buying a tool for a specific purpose.

It’s also competing with stuff which is free.

For a combination of tools already available elsewhere (command line/existing sites), maybe?

The value is in the convenience of NOT having to spend the time researching, bookmarking, and remembering all those tools you use. That is the calling of software developers right? To abstract complexity so the other person doesnt have to worry about "this"? All businesses are born out of creating convenience for someone else who values time more than experience (in that particular thing).

$25 for this app might save you hours of work, hundreds or thousands. Just like $25 for a half tank of gas will save you a few hours from getting to where you want to go.

if $25 is expensive then I would say you value your time at a very, very cheap rate.

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