Pricing for Sublime 2?

[sam1am]

Hey I noticed Sublime 2 build 2020 has started popping up the nag screen on OS X. I'm excited to purchase Sublime once it is ready to go, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to pay for it while it's in Alpha. I'd like to wait until it's a bit more mature and don't particularly want to deal with the nag screen in the meantime. I was also thinking in the back of my mind that with software getting cheaper lately, and if you were planning on competing in the app store, that there's would be a good chance it wouldn't be $59 anymore.

Are you planning on keeping the pricing the same? Is the licensing system even set up yet if I were to buy a license? Are you planning an introductory sale or something? Can we shut off the nag screen while in alpha/beta and maybe use a package expiration or something instead?

[jps]

Sublime Text 2 has always had a nag screen, it just doesn't show very frequently.

I don't anticipate the price going down, if there's any change to the price it would be upward.

[farmerpaul]

What are your thoughts on the way software prices have been trending since Apple introduced the App Store? I have no idea if the low prices are actually making developers more money or less money, but I suppose the idea is that lower prices stimulate higher sales volume. Case in point, since the App Store arrived, I've been buying more applications than I ever have before. It's hard to come up with a good excuse to not shell out $5-$10 on an app.

I'm not saying you don't deserve $60 for each sale of your amazing product, and I'm going to try to convince my boss that we should purchase a business license. However, as far as individual sales goes, I think slashing the price might just make you more money in the end — but, what do I know? I just know I'd be the owner of a license by now if it cost less than what I paid for my recent OS X purchase.

[Anomareh]

I'd say the price point is just about perfect. The same as TextMate and is of similar quality. I couldn't see the price being any higher though. With compatibility with most of TextMate's extras it's ok at $60. Any higher and you'd have to start comparing it to the likes of Coda (which is $100) but is a much more cohesive product than Sublime. The feature set of Sublime would have to be significantly buffed and better integrated to start bumping the price up imo.

[jbrooksuk]

I think the pricing is fine. I never paid for an editor before Sublime but I just fell in love with it since the first time we used it.

[iamntz]

I bought the ST after about two weeks of heavy working with it.

If you are a programmer, probably your average income is over $1500 (or 1000e if you are in EU). So I guess $60 is a reasonably price.

Worth every penny.

[oriceon]

I`ll buy a liceense too, it`s a corect price for it, but not now. I`ll wait to see if will add some future that i realy need for.

[paulstraw]

Sublime is worth way more than what Jon is charging. I'd honestly understand the price going up after it's out of beta.

[jakobud]

I agree, Sublime is worth MUCH more than what it's price is. It's well worth purchasing, even if ST2 is still alpha/beta. It's extremely usable and will only get better.

[Anomareh]

I don't really see how.

Sublime is simply a product just as any other. At it's current price point it's best compared to TextMate. If it weren't for Sublime's compatibility with TextMate the price would have to be considerably lower as for the same price TextMate's resources would dwarf it's own. However, seeing as it is compatible with TextMate $60 is a fair price and even has a leg up being cross platform.

Start upping the price however and you have to start comparing to the higher priced products like Coda, which is $100. Right now ST2 has a very small repository of plugins and not to mention is still quite rough around the edges. Given, it is still in beta, even if you take those two things out of the equation it doesn't even compare to the cohesiveness of Coda. Also, I don't believe any of the major features Sublime is lacking, when comparing it to Coda, are even planned to be implemented before release.

So then say you're going to shoot for some middle tier between TextMate and Coda, Sublime really doesn't offer much besides cross platform support. At that point you'd just be charging people a premium to use the editor on the OS of their choosing. It's good business, but personally to me it's a bad vibe and I'd personally just find an alternative that comes at a fairer price or is free. To me it just comes off as it being more about the money and less about the product, which I understand people need money, but as a consumer I'm looking to buy a product not give you money. It doesn't give me a ton of faith in your product if you're just out to get my money rather than get it through supplying a solid product.

Just my 2 cents at least.