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What are some subscription services done right?
(lemmy.umucat.day)
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this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
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I honestly think there are very few things that make sense as a subscription service. Basically all software that runs on your computer (Adobe, Office, etc) make 0 sense being a subscription. Honestly, most web software could just be made to run on your computer. Things like email, cloud storage, phone service, that have ongoing non-development related costs make sense.
Media is the worst offender. Just let me pay for a download and watch/listen to something.
Cloud storage makes no sense at all. You’re better off creating your own server in your house.
Oh no, your house just burnt down. Now all your data is gone.
You don't have house redundancy? What about the 3-2-1 rule for residences?
Cloud housing when?
Landlords: Heyyyy...
Oh no, your cloud account got banned because you commented killing Palestinian children is bad on a social media platform they also own. Now all your data is gone.
Oh no, your cloud account got banned because that hello world binary you just shared with your friend got flagged as a virus. Now all your data is gone.
Oh no, your cloud account got banned because you were using adblock on their paid streaming service. Now all your data is gone.
Oh no, your cloud account got banned because you were sharing your password with your friend so they can use your paid streaming account. Now all your data is gone.
Oh no, you uploaded media files that you bought but they got replaced with DRM versions.
Oh no, your credit card expired and the payment didn't go through this month. Now all but 5GB of your data is gone.
Oh no, they're suddenly not letting you log in until you upload your ID and a 3D scan of your head. Now all your data is held hostage.
Oh no, they accidentally deleted the production database and the recent data you absolutely can't afford to lose wasn't in the backup.
Oh no, you got phished and they changed your password from under you. Now all your data is theirs.
Oh no, they suffered a data breach. Now all your data is on the dark web.
Oh no, they're developing the next generation AI. Now all your data is being used to help companies replace workers and the right prompt might just give some rando fragments of your personal information.
If only you had a copy on your local drive, just in case any of that happened.
Real shame about that fire though.
I think web browsers would make sense as a subscription. The battle to keep them secure is intense and always ongoing. I think Firefox and Chrome should be subscriptions, while free browsers should have a drastically reduced feature set.
I'm not against supporting a software in a recurring form but the web browser is essentially the lock and key of accessing the entirery of what exists outside your machine.
That would garner an immense power to whichever entity developing one. Remember Microsoft and the IE case.
Firefox is not perfect and apparently on a downwards spiral but what made it stand out was because it wanted to be free and for all. Chrome is far from being a good thing.
Stop making websites do more and more shit, and browsers would need less and less development.
Stop making browsers with AI enhanced garbage. Stop embedding "features" in software that at its core only needs to render websites.
That's the best part. You'd only get those pointless features if you paid money. If you didn't you'd get the Pale Moon browser (or something like it).
Average capitalist consumer
This is a terrible idea!
It is the reason why Microsoft was able to gimp the Internet for so long with Internet Explorer. Companies couldn't make money off of the browser, so Microsoft made a browser that helped defend the Windows monopoly.
Even though it would be one way to make Mozilla self-sustainable, it would open a pandora box of different problems. Would free-versions continue receiving security updates? Would access to some websites be locked behind the premium version? It's a dangerous idea.
By "free browsers" I didn't mean "free versions". I'm thinking more along the lines of Pale Moon or Konqueror (in it's early days), third-party FOSS browsers with limited features.