请问HN:何时改变定价模型会破坏用户信任?
我很好奇这里的人们对此有什么看法。
许多应用程序最初是通过一次性购买的方式来运营。交易非常明确:你一次性付款,就拥有了所有功能。
但在某个时候,商业模式发生了变化:开始引入订阅服务,而用户已经支付过的功能则消失了,或者被锁在新的付费墙后。
我理解为什么会有订阅模式。经常性收入使得产品更容易维持。
但从用户的角度来看,这感觉就像是在事后改变规则。这不是对新用户的价格上涨,而是对现有用户的追溯性改变。
我最近在我参与的一个项目中添加了GPX导入功能,特别是为了避免数据锁定。这个想法很简单:即使有人停止使用这个应用,他们的数据也应该能够在其他地方使用。
这让我提出了一个更广泛的问题:
• 改变现有用户的交易条款是否可以接受?
• 可持续的盈利与破坏信任之间的界限在哪里?
• 对于你曾经支付过的软件,你如何看待“所有权”?
我真心希望听到创始人和用户的看法。
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I’m curious how people here think about this.<p>Many apps start with a one-time purchase.
Clear deal. You pay once, you own the features.<p>At some point, the business model changes:
subscriptions are introduced,
and features people already paid for disappear
or become locked behind a new paywall.<p>I understand why subscriptions exist.
Recurring revenue makes products easier to sustain.<p>But from a user perspective, this feels like changing the rules after the fact.
Not a price increase for new users —
but a retroactive change for existing ones.<p>I recently added GPX import to a project I work on,
specifically to avoid data lock-in.
The idea was simple:
even if someone stops using the app,
their data should remain usable elsewhere.<p>This raised a broader question for me:<p>• Is it ever acceptable to change the deal for existing users?
• Where is the line between sustainable monetization and broken trust?
• How do you think about “ownership” in software you paid for once?<p>Genuinely interested in perspectives from founders and users.