Last week Ulysses, a writing app for iOS and macOS, switched to a subscription model. Instead of paying for a one-time license to use the app, writers can subscribe to Ulysses for $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Student pricing is available for $11.99 for six months. One major advantage for users is that they can now access Ulysses on all devices for one price. Prior to this subscription, users who wanted to download the app to multiple devices had to pay for the app on macOS and iOS separately, compliments of the App Store.

Another major benefit to moving to a subscription model is that Ulysses can now allow a free 14-day trial across devices, which includes syncing features. If a user chooses not to subscribe after 14 days, the app goes into read-only mode. They can still export their work after the trial ends.

Why a subscription model? Ulysses answered that in its August 10 announcement.

“Some of you may be surprised by this step, but it’s the result of a long-lasting discussion about how to put Ulysses’ development, and the future of our company, on a sustainable foundation,” said Ulysses.

On Medium, Max Seeleman, development lead at Ulysses, explained the reasoning behind the decision in great detail. [Editor’s note: tl;dr means ‘too long, don’t read.’]

‘Today, we are switching Ulysses to a subscription model. The short story is this (tl;dr): Our users expect a continuously evolving high quality product – and subscription is the only way we can truly deliver on that expectation,’ Seeleman said.

Here’s the short version. Ulysses has been talking about business models including subscriptions for more than two years. After 14 years in business, Ulysses is still a sought-after tool for writers, but considering a new business model was complex, and such a monumental change was intimidating, Seeleman said.

The primary impetus for the change was that the company wants Ulysses to be around for many more years, and creating a subscription for the app was the best way for the company to become sustainable long-term. Paying for a product once covers some costs, but not future development costs for additional features and upgrades. They also considered users paying for subsequent updates, making one of the apps free or a freemium model where basic features are free but pro features cost more. The company didn’t find any of these options viable, so it settled on a universal subscription. Benefits to subscribers for doing so include:

• One subscription will unlock the app on all devices.
• Ulysses can be downloaded for a 14-day free trial.
• Subscriptions make the app more accessible to people who can’t afford the one-time purchase price.
• Ulysses now has student pricing.
• Subscriptions alleviate the pressure of doing huge updates every year. Instead, subscribers can get new features earlier and more often.
• ‘Subscriptions are also the only match for the way technology works these days,’ Seeleman said.
• Even if a user stops their subscription, the app will continue to get updates and they can still access all of their previous work in read-only and export modes.

‘So many upsides, and we believe there are very few downsides,’ said Seeleman. ‘App subscriptions are a bit unpopular at the time of writing, but we think they clearly are the way forward, at least for our kind of app: a complex, multi-platform productivity app.’

Seeleman concluded his post with this:

How does this affect existing users who invested in the app already? Ulysses said that current customers get a lifetime discount on the yearly plan which is 50 percent off the regular monthly subscription. This offer is available for limited time, but Ulysses didn’t specify when the offer expires. For users who bought the app in the last couple of months, Ulysses is offering a free-use period of up to 18 months based on a couple of factors.

Insider Take:

Ulysses took more than two years to make a decision to change its business model. While this seems like a long time, Seeleman’s Medium post makes it clear that the decision was made based on a lot of factors. They considered a variety of options, before choosing the subscription model. The reasoning was sound and logical, and we appreciate that they were so transparent about the change. The explanation gives current customers a better understanding of why they they’ve switched to a new model, and new customers some insight into the care and passion that goes into the Ulysses app.