Sublime Forum

Why buy ST2 is so expensive?

#48

Dunno, I don’t make any money with ST2 either and had no problem buying ST2 after about 2 months of evaluation.
I bought a lot of software I really like even if there’s open source for it (FTP, Archiver, etc…).

I think it’s a matter of personal preference.

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#49

I evaluated ST2 for a couple months, but after using it for 9-10hrs a day, 5-6days a week… more then happy to pay the small $60 fee :smile:

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#50

About this “unlimited” evaluation period, when we can use ST2 without paying: is it legal to use unregistered copy on my work PC in office? I mean I’m agree to see those reminders during saving etc, and sure to buy legal copy in several month but in theory - is there any theoretical law violation in using it on evaluation terms in company, for work purposes?

btw, price is ok, I think. Usually, people who write code for money using such soft make 10, 20 or even 50 times (per month I mean) as ST2 costs. At least, in Ukraine.

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#51

I agree… i would’'ve payed for a PRO license if the price was around $30 … $70 is way to much.
You know how rich Markus Persson became just by selling his Minecraft for a couple of dollars…
It’s all about quantity.

I bet if you sold the editor for around $30 you make it affordable for 3x more people

Less buyers with high prices = $$ (2x70=140)
More buyers with lower prices = $$$$$$ (6x30=180)

Has always been this way… and it will always stay this way.

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#52

[quote=“niquedegraaff”]I agree… i would’'ve payed for a PRO license if the price was around $30 … $70 is way to much.
You know how rich Markus Persson became just by selling his Minecraft for a couple of dollars…
It’s all about quantity.

I bet if you sold the editor for around $30 you make it affordable for 3x more people

Less buyers with high prices = $$ (2x70=140)
More buyers with lower prices = $$$$$$ (6x30=180)

Has always been this way… and it will always stay this way.[/quote]

It has been proven that’s it’s not so simple (doesn’t have the reference link).
Some software writers had try to play with price and their conclusions was in the end the profit is approximately the same:
Divide the price by 2 and you sell 2 times more.

But if you sell 2 times more it means 2 times more questions, bug reports, …

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#53

Australia must be suffering rampant inflation. 5 months on and now $70

I fritter away cash all over the place for great software and even I have to wince at that

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#54

Hi !

I am using Sublimetext now for 2 Month and i think its worth every cent. I paid enough money for other Programs of any kind over the Years and i can’t even remember the names of some of them. :wink:

Sublimetext is really great, in my opinion. Everyone can test it for free. Everyone can use a free Editor, there are alot really good Alternatives.

Mfg Tobi

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#55

Calling Sublime Text expensive, considering its quality, is pretty lame.

Go launch Notepad, cheapo.

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#56

The current price of ST2 is what suits Jon’s business model and I applaud him for sticking to it. For years people have tried prove the theory of, “well if it was only x amount of dollars it would sell so many more”, but that is never how it really pans out. Say Jon did drop the price to 10 bucks and he sold 3 times the amount of licences, that would also mean 3 times as many customers to support. People would DEMAND instant support since they’re a paying customer and in the long run Jon would spend most of this time answering support questions. If he did hire someone it’d have to be a few hours a week or a couple bucks an hour to keep cost low.

SublimeText is a professional level quality Text Editor for the minilist minded developer with a lot of torque. If you’re a weekend warrior and want to dabble in some code here and there, there are dozens of free options. No one is twisting your arm to use SublimeText just like no one is twisting it to buy a copy. Considering the going hourly rate for most developers, the current price is drop in the bucket, baffles me how people piss and moan over the price.

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#57

It is funny how so many people are in favor of this silly idea that “well, considering occupation X hourly rate, it’s not much” and other relative justifications. I see so many marketing people put that message for any stuff they sell.

Now, a bit more about product. I am just trying it now, so I don’t yet know what this editor is capable of, however when I saw price, my expectations are really high - I mean, it should really do some magic! I do not consider myself cheap, when talking about development tools, I am user of some very advanced IDE (EDIT: name excluded to not be considered as promotion) which costs $199 ($99 if you buy on discount), if you interested only in web development there are non-Java versions of $99 or less. I would say this IDE does magic! So if ST is only text editor, I would say it is extremely overpriced for $70 compared to other tools or it must do something really magical!

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#58

If you want magic, install the Emmet plugin.

If you buy a Porsche 911 it doesn’t automatically take corners for you, it will demand more of you, eventhough it’s more expensive than an Audi. Same goes for Sublime. It’s a simple editor that probably can be customized into the best coding tool you’ll ever have. But there’s also things it doesn’t do. He doesn’t force anyone to pay, so you can just use it without paying or find something else to use if you don’t think it’s worth it.

For me personally I have it set up the way I like it, also bought a SFTP license to automatically sync my code to my staging server. For me it’s better than Notepad, Dreamweaver, Aptana, Eclipse etc. But it’s a matter of taste, and whether you can be bothered to set up your environment. I will pay for anything I use as long as it’s reasonable compared to what it gives me considering options, and if I’m able to. The price is definitely in the upper tier, but the program is also really good, in my view.

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#59

I thought it was expensive too. But it’s so much better for me than Notepad++ or alternatives that I went ahead and bought it. No regrets.

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#60

Go and check out the price of UltraEdit. $59 and that’s for just one platform with only a year of free updates and it’s garbage compared to Sublime Text. I work on multiple platforms so $70 for the same editor on all 3 is a complete no-brainer. I do wish Jon would put native printing support in though!

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#61

$59 is a deal imo. Coda is $99 (on sale for $75), and that’s a bargain too. Of course the feature sets are different, but both are great IDEs

If you can’t afford it, use the fully capable freeware version.

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#62

I don’t code much, but I write LaTeX all day. Came from vi to Sublime, and it’s a pure blast. It’s neat, fast, extremely configurable and versatile, and geared towards people who want an excellent text editor with configurable IDE-like facilities.

And for that, paying 70$ is a bargain. This is an extremely high quality GUI software. The only other that striked me this way were µtorrent back in the day, and SumatraPDF. Slick, fast, does what it does in a very neat and precise way and doesn’t bother with flourishes.

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#63

I would say for me it’s because I would use it as my primary OS if it where possible. I find myself constantly searching for/making ways to do everything in ST. I guess it’s the freedom to customize and it’s incredible speed that makes it so. It’s a sucky explanation but it’s all I have. The price is right if you want to see it where you want it to go.

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#64

While I’m a stickler for open source software, I found myself using Sublime Text more often than Aptana, for web development work. I ran the evaluation for a month and with the help from the community, integrated Sublime into my daily workflow with a few additional plugins. For $70, it’s paid for itself already with time and efficiency. It’s clean, unobtrusive and slick. What more could you want?

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#65

Yes, $70 is expensive for an editor.

But is $70 really a good price? If the goal is to maximize revenues (product sold * price of product), what is the optimal price for maximum revenues? I am very curious as to how someone arrived at the price of $70.

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#66

It is true that there are many free text editors out there. Sublime is not an IDE, and so one might think “Why should I buy it?”. That and there is no time limit to using the trial version. I suggest you take a look at http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/perfect-workflow-in-sublime-text-free-course/. Mr. Jeffery Way shows a lot of features that are unique to Sublime Text. I’ve watched the first 10 or so and I think it is very cool compared to other editors.

To answer the “Why should I buy it?” question:

It depends on whether you can afford to pay for it. If you can’t, you’ll have to put up with the unregistered version’s reminder pop-up when it shows up. Think of it this way though: let’s say you made a really cool program or website that offers very useful services. Depending on how many people are helping you (if any) develop the project, as well as how time consuming it will be to implement the project, you will probably want to get some compensation from others using your services. For example, if I make a simple tic-tac-toe web-based game, I probably would not charge people for playing the game. If I make an application that helps businesses run more smoothly, such as a mobile app template that allows customization with pre-built functionality (add clients, calculate expenses and earnings, etc.), it would probably take me quite a bit of time and money as well on my end (I may need to hire other developers more experienced in a particular area, they will want to get something too.) It is reasonable to charge some money for these services; I may give a free month to new users so they can see if they like it, and then charge a reasonable monthly fee.

Mr. Jon Skinner is being very nice to us and only charging a one-time fee of $70. You are free to use this license on as many computers as you want. For the amazing features unique to Sublime Text, as well as the license terms, I think it’s very affordable and a nice way to help Mr. Skinner out; I’m sure he has expenses of his own to cover.

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#67

I think the main question is: Should I update from ST2 to ST3 just for the sake of getting updates?

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