How Mailwell is priced

Why I chose to sell Mailwell once instead of as a subscription.

Mailwell is something you buy, not rent. You don’t need a subscription. I went back and forth on this for a while, so I want to explain how it works and why I landed here.

How it works

Here’s what you pay and when.

• $69 buys Mailwell for up to three of your Macs, with a year of updates.
• $29 adds another year of updates, whenever you want it. Pay for one year at a time, or have it renew each year.
• Nothing if you skip it. The version you have keeps working.

Any version of Mailwell that comes out during your year of updates is yours.

When the year is up, the updates stop, but the app doesn’t. You keep the last version that came out in your year, and it keeps working for as long as you want it to. Nothing gets switched off and your mail stays where it is. Newer versions need another year of updates.

Settings › License shows the date your updates run through, so you always know where you stand.

If you want another year, it’s $29. You can choose Add One Year whenever you feel like it, or Renew Yearly if you’d rather not think about it. You can turn yearly renewal off anytime and keep the year you’ve paid for. There’s no deadline and no penalty for waiting. If your updates ran out in March and you renew in June, your new year starts in June. If you renew early, the new year starts when your current one ends, so you never lose time.

Why not a subscription

Subscriptions are the normal way to sell apps now, and I understand why. A steady monthly income makes it easier to keep going. I started out thinking Mailwell would be one too.

But a subscription means the app stops working the day you stop paying. For a mail app that felt wrong. Your email is one of the most important things on your Mac, and the app you read it in shouldn’t depend on a card being charged next month. If you stop paying for Mailwell, you should still be able to open it tomorrow.

Subscriptions also blur what you’re paying for. With Mailwell the deal is simple. You buy the app as it is today, and it’s yours. If the next year of fixes and features is worth $29 to you, renew. If it isn’t, don’t, and nothing breaks. That also keeps me honest. Each year of updates has to be good enough that people want it.

And a lot of us already have too many monthly charges. A mail app is something you want to settle into and stop thinking about.

Why not just one price for everything

The other option was a single price with free updates for good. That sounds nice, but it only works if a steady stream of new customers pays for the work on updates, and that tends to end with an app that slows down or gets abandoned. I’m one person, and I want to keep making Mailwell for a long time. Paid updates once a year are how I can do that without a subscription.

Try it first

Mailwell is free for 14 days, with everything turned on and no card needed. That’s the time to make sure it works with your accounts and fits how you handle mail. I’d much rather you try it properly than buy it and wonder.

Founders

Until December 31, the first 50 people can get a Founder license for $59. It includes every Mailwell update for the Mac, for as long as I make Mailwell. It’s a thank-you to the people who backed Mailwell this early, and once the 50 are gone or the year ends, it’s gone too.

As always, tell me what you think on the feedback board or at [email protected].