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kepano

Thoughts on Omnivore shutting down (1/3)

Many people enjoyed Omnivore because it was free, but being free was part of its demise.

As an independent app maker, you must have a way to generate revenue or your product will die. As a user you must demand a way to pay makers for the products you love. See my essay: "Quality software deserves your hard‑earned cash"
stephango.com/quality-software

12 comments
kepano

I didn't personally use Omnivore, but it seems like many Obsidian users loved it. Now the app is being shut down with only a couple of weeks to export your data.

While this is abrupt, it isn't surprising. When a startup runs out of resources, the end is always more sudden than you expect. The dream of making it work persists until the very last moment. (2/3)

kepano

A subset of people will find refuge in Omnivore's open source code, but the vast majority of users are not technical enough to compile/host/run a service like this.

In the end I keep coming back to the ephemerality of software. We have to appreciate that apps like Omnivore are being attempted. The apps that become self-sustaining will last longer than those that don't, but none will last forever. (3/3)

Heleen Kuiper

@kepano Obsidian is free when you don’t use sync, isn’t it?

esmevane, sorry

@heleenkuiper @kepano for personal use, yes. there are (extremely well-priced, worth it!) annual license fees for professional use

Thibault Molleman🇧🇪 🌈🐝

@heleenkuiper @kepano well yeah... The sync and licenses are the business model.

Obsidian is profitable and is able to hire more people because they have real money

Omnivore had no business model

Thibault Molleman🇧🇪 🌈🐝

@heleenkuiper @kepano I just told you and Kepano also told you.

The users buy services from them.

They buy sync/publich services.
They buy Catalyst
They buy business licenses.

I don't know what more to tell you....

"Above all, Obsidian is 100% user-supported. There are no investors pushing us to compromise on these values."

Free for Personal Use and Commercial Use Options
- Headline text: "Free for personal use" with a subtitle explaining "We don't charge based on features or usage. Only pay if you use Obsidian commercially."

Personal use
- Price: Free (forever).
- Benefits: All app features, no account or sign-up required, access to themes, plugins, and API, community support.
- Action button: "Download Obsidian" (in purple).

Commercial use
- Price: $50 USD per user, per year.
- Benefits: Commercial use license, 14-day free trial, priority support.
- Action button: "Buy license" (in purple).
- Additional note: For bulk discounts or other inquiries, contact support@obsidian.md.
Add-ons
- Headline text: "Add-ons" with an option to toggle between "Yearly billing" and "Monthly billing."

Sync
- Price: $4 USD per user, per month (billed annually).
- Benefits: Sync notes across devices, end-to-end encryption, version history, priority email support.
- Action buttons: "Sign up" (in purple) and "Learn more" (in gray).

Publish
- Price: $8 USD per site, per month (billed annually).
- Benefits: Publish notes to the web, no technical knowledge required, graph view and outline, priority email support.
- Action buttons: "Sign up" (in purple) and "Learn more" (in gray).
Early Access (Catalyst)
- Headline text: "Early access"
- Descriptive text: "Get beta versions of Obsidian, VIP badges, and help us remain 100% user-supported."
- Plan name: "Catalyst"
- Price: $25+ USD (one-time payment)
- Benefits: Support development, early access to beta versions, special community badges, and access to the VIP channel.
- Action buttons: "Support Obsidian" (in purple) and "Learn more" (in gray).
kepano

@heleenkuiper Obsidian has multiple revenue streams (commercial, Sync, Publish) whereas Omnivore only accepted donations

Colin Devroe

@kepano I try my very best to pay for all software that I use. And when companies don't allow me to, I know my principles don't align with theirs.

This happened with Arc cdevroe.com/2023/08/30/dear-ar

And now we see they are abandoning what was a very good app.

reaty

@kepano I think there is also an issue of it being an online servise. You can make an offline product for free out of love, and then, when you lose interest or run out of resources you can just abandon it, maybe open-source it, and it still going to work. But with online thing you need to pay for the servers and provide constant support, which is hard to do endlessly on pure enthusiasm...

reaty

That said, I really hoped they will add some way of monetisation, instead of shutting the app. They said they were planning to do this when people asked about their business model. But, I guess, they decided it wasn't worth it.

Christian Krebel

@kepano 2 weeks is too short, there should be some minimum time frame for cases like this. 1-3 months.

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