15 Apps/Services I’d Actually Pay For
May 17th, 08Have you ever stopped to consider how heavily you rely on free or open source services? There are a number I use daily that improve/simplify my life or business, but until I saw Mark Ghosh’s list of 15 websites or services he’d actually pay for (spurred by Ryan Spoon’s post of the same name), I never gave it much thought.
Not surprising both lists had some of the same things I use, but it was interesting to see what else was listed. On that note, if everyone ditched the open source model tomorrow, here are the ones I’d likely pay for..
- WordPress - I’ve been using WP for 2 1/2 years (ironic that 2.5 was just released), and watched it evolve into a truly powerful tool. Over time it even changed my ideas about [dynamic] design and website management overall, and the community that rallies behind it is amazing.
- MAMP - For local WordPress development on a Mac. I’ve already considered buying the Pro version actually, and probably will eventually. Nice app.
- Firefox - If browsers started charging, I’d pay for a FF license. I don’t know how I ever got by without tabs before it came along.
- Web Developer - Coupled with FF, is my preferred toolset for developing and testing websites.
- Things - It’s free right now, but the intention is to release it as premium software once it’s out of beta. I plan on buying a license, definitely. See my review.
- Thunderbird - The past few months I’ve been using Mail because I wanted to give it a fair shot, but if I had to pick between the two as paid options, I’d go with Thunderbird without a doubt.
- IEs4OSX - Run different versions of IE on your Mac without having to reboot to Windows or use full-blown software like VMware/Parallels. I’ve yet to see IE7 work properly, but if that weren’t an issue I’d pay a nominal fee for the convenience. Read the review.
- iStockPhoto - Ok this one isn’t free, but I echo Ryan’s thoughts on the credit system. Not everyone can afford a corporate account however, so if they implemented different levels at a reasonable cost (i.e. a “blogger account” or “freelancer account”), I’d be on board
Update: Wow, maybe someone was listening! iStockphoto actually added a subscription based service! Too bad it’s still out of my price range. :( 5/28/08 - Mint Money - They have a really slick interface for keeping tabs on your financial health. They also just announced that functionality for tracking investments will soon be added. Pretty cool. See my review.
- pMetrics - Simply put, I like it better than Google Analytics. Signed up for Woopra last week but I’m still waiting on approval. :/
- Podcasts - Of my many subscriptions, a couple stand out enough to warrant paying for. Boagworld is one (and probably my favorite). The WordPress podcast is also very good.
- Akismet - Self explanatory.
- Popularity Contest - A nice compliment to a stats app, it lists averages/percentages of the content most often viewed on your site in the WP admin. You can also use it to show visitors what’s most popular by category, month, etc.
- OpenOffice - I don’t use an office app enough to justify a $79+ price tag, but I’d be willing to pay $20-25 for this one. While not the prettiest software (v3.0b is looks much better), it serves my purpose. Check out the extensive list of improvements for the upcoming release.
- I really tried to think of one more, but drew a blank. I guess I’d pay for Skype or YIM - but only if I had absolutely no alternative.
I may never have tried any of the above if they weren’t free to begin with, but some that are not named eventually converted me to a paid member (like Flickr) without being forced. What about you? What would you be willing to pay for if it switched to a paid format? Feel free to add your thoughts here or link up with your own post! :)
I definitely wouldn’t have tried most of them if they weren’t free (and looked like they’d continure to be free). Some things I wouldn’t continue if they were charged for because I love the concept of open source, GNU, sharing, community projects and all that. However, I’m coming to a point when I’m quite happy to make donations to the services that I use a lot and value.
I’ve only got around to donating to a couple of them, but I think I’ll get to the rest in time.
OpenOffice (or NeoOffice for mac) was way too hefty, sluggish and annoying for me. I ended up switching to iWork, which really is better as a native Mac application. However I did recognise that OO.org was relatively young and sort of a community project, so improvements would be coming, even if a little slower. Those changes look very exciting and might actually make OO.org better than iWork: native Mac support, error bars and regression equations in charts. WOOT!
I actually use Camino (another Mac one) and only open FF when I’m developing (for Web Developer Toolbar and Firebug). I guess with all the excellent apps about, it’s hard to imagine people paying for some things.
An example of software going the other way NetNewsWire, NewsGator’s desktop application (there’s one for Windows as well), used to be paid for, now it’s free!
May 19, 08 | 1:00 amI use some of them. They are more effective than other similar tools. However, if I use so many tools during a period, I’d like to use them free of charge, otherwise the cost will be very high for me.
May 20, 08 | 12:20 pm@kristarella - I keep hearing about Camino. Never tried it but the more often its name comes up, the more curious I am. As for donating, I’ve been meaning to do the same. Web Developer and IEs4OSX in particular. They’ve made my work so much easier, it’s worth a few bucks at least!
@systeme - I hear ya. The cost of staying in business as a freelancer would become overwhelming if I had to pay for all of the above (especially if it were all at once). Thank goodness this post is just hypothetical. :)
May 20, 08 | 3:53 pmIf I must pay for using these tools, WordPress, Firefox and Web Developers are chosen by me.
May 23, 08 | 2:17 pmHai,
Thanks for the mentioning of pMetrics. I’ll look into them. We’re using Google Analytics at present, and well, if nothing else, I like having other ‘opinions’ (my way of looking at the accuracy of any analytics program) re. our blog’s traffic.
Meanwhile, we LOVE Wordpress, and yes, Firefox tabs has greatly enhanced our productivity!
May 27, 08 | 9:19 pmGreat list. I keep hearing about Camino, too, so maybe I should just go ahead and check it out.
One note: The link to pmetrics is incorrect. pmetrics.com is parked. The correct link is http://pmetrics.performancing.com/ .
Jun 1, 08 | 8:27 amWell I guess, as first time users of those services, we are afraid t take the risk especially if there’s money involved or we have to pay for it. Having free trial for a certain program could really help a lot for customers to assess whether to continue and pay for that service. Thanks for sharing those list! ;)
Jun 4, 08 | 7:00 pmGreat list. Not sure about OpenOffice though. If you’re using it for free then its passable, but I found it way too clunky to ever consider paying for it. I’ll stick with Microsoft Office, the daddy of them all :)
Jun 6, 08 | 4:57 amOf all those apps, there are only a few that I would consider paying for.
1)Mint - I have never used it but would definetely pay for using it if I could. Unfortunately its not available for non-US citizens. It looks beautiful though.
2)Firefox - Without a doubt. The author says how did he function without tabs before. I wonder how I functioned with Internet Explorer. My brother kept on at me to get Firefox until eventually I relented and havent looked back. Wonderful software.
As for Open Office, well I think I may just experiment with that one. Ive got Office 2007 but I really do not like it one bit.
Jun 14, 08 | 2:59 amAs someone who’s never been too obsessed with search engine rankings, but has recently developed a number of info-sites and is interested in tracking the progress of their rise thru the SERPs, I would personally pay good money for a program that does a great job of tracking search engine rankings…tracks multiple sites, keeps a history, can show the results as a visual chart, etc. I own IBP & Arelis, which does some of this stuff, but not enough and is too blunt and noninuitive an instrument overall. I’d definitely pay decent money for a tool to do this and save me from doing it manually every day.
I’m with you on Wordpress, Firefox and OpenOffice.
Jun 17, 08 | 9:17 pmCertainly some good apps here - one I would have to have on my list would be Google Analytics… I remember paying loads for WebTrends years ago - big hugs to Google for having so many great free apps!
Jul 2, 08 | 2:57 am