Sublime is something I can’t live without, incredible productivity boost. $80 is way underpriced imho
Reason For Sublime Text $80 Price: I Think I Have It
tamj
#12
*Sublime is something I can’t live without . . . *
Have you discussed this with your doctor ?
Seriously, please elaborate . . . using a sample project to show how this productivity gain was attained. 
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Fire-Dragon-DoL
#13
I assume this is not the same in the entire world, so there will be differences, but Sublime Text is aimed at software developers, which have a decent salary nowdays.
I struggle to see $80/lifetime be a high price for a job that can go on for a lot of years.
Usually freelance jobs have a higher entry cost than a computer, a text editor and internet+power.
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tamj
#14
I struggle to see $80/lifetime be a high price …
But it isn’t paid over a lifetime - it’s paid in one go !
$80 easy to pay for a small utility program by the average developer with family, mortgage, car loan, health insurance, life insurance, pension, children’s education fund, etc, etc ? 
Neither is it lifetime.
When ST 4.0 comes out we have to pay more.
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jfcherng
#16
I think this makes a product healthier. Otherwise, eventually, the product will no longer be profitable and the author will just leave it dead. For what I found, the upgrade fee from ST2 to ST3 is $30.
http://www.sublimetext.com/blog/articles/upgrades
There are still 0.5% people using ST2 even if ST3 has been released for a VERY long time. So I guess history will repeat when ST4 is out. And it may take even longer for people to upgrade to ST4 because I expect the bundled Python version will be upgraded to hopefully at least 3.8. So you can try to save $30 in “no enforced time limit” until they have enough money and willing to upgrade it?
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Add regional discounts?
braedsjaa
#17
I believe @tamj hit the nail on the head with their analysis of the price point: $80 means fewer paying customers to support; and those who choose to “evaluate” long-term may one day find they can afford/want to pay and meantime may spread the word about ST’s benefits to other potential customers. This is certainly how it worked for me and I have always thought it a great pricing model.
I was first introduced to ST at a low paid job when I couldn’t justify paying, but after a few months, and finding I could switch between Windows, Mac and Linux environments with ease, I was very happy to pay for a quality product. After six years it is excellent value.
I have also installed Sublime Merge. As I only use this occasionally I am still on “evaluation” but can see that personal circumstances may one day make sense to pay for it.
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tamj
#18
Jack, I’ve had it in earnest for 1 week. (Okay, I’ve looked at it casually a year ago but seldom used its power - in fact I didn’t even know what Emmet could do then 
) But already I’m getting pop-ups looking for me to buy the damn thing.
Maybe we should all wait till ST 4 comes out 
Just joking.
… finding I could switch between Windows, Mac and Linux environments with ease …
Whoa ! You saying that if I get it for Windows, I can freely download the Linux version ? I’d sure love that as I’m sick of the memory sucking sump that Win 10 has become.
I saw that ST was written in C and Python. I’d thought that different versions (Win/Linux/OS) would have been compiled for each op system. And whenever there are different versions, there are different transactions and separate charges . . .
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FichteFoll
#19
Yes, you get a per-user license and may use that on as many machines and operating systems as you want.
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facelessuser
#20
The ability to use it cross platform was the thing that pushed me to buy Sublime initially (aside from all the other cool features). I code outside of work as well as inside work, but I don’t code on the same systems I do at work. At the time, I primarily coded on Windows at work, but used macOS at home. Now I’m using Linux at work and macOS at home.
The freedom of not being bound by the shackles of a specific OS was a big deal for me. Now I can code freely where ever I am, and I don’t have to lose my muscle memory of where things are in my editor or what shortcuts I use (outside of using super for macOS vs ctrl in Windows/Linux 
).
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tamj
#21
Originally, did you buy ST for yourself AFTER using it at the day-job ?
I ask as ST looks like a no-brainer proposition for an employer (double/treble code output for $80 a head) but, I believe, is not something a coder would buy without experiencing measurable performance gain, as you would in a job situation with all those KPIs and all that.
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facelessuser
#22
I evaluated it at work and at home. And yes, my employer probably would have paid for it (I know of some who actually went that route), but I wanted it for personal use. At the time, the price was somewhere around $40 - $50, so I just bought it myself and use it at both home and work.
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tamj
#23
Leave it to those inside Sublime HQ and on the payroll to worry about this stuff.
I’m just considering it, not worrying about it.
Wish I had the “problem” of STHQ revenues and profits to “worry” about 
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MAN
#24
I think the $80 price is supportable if updates/improvements were thrown in without charge rather than having to repurchase a new version. Just my opinion. 
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ntenney
#25
I believe that is already the case with Sublime Text. If you by a 3.x license, you are eligible to receive all updates and improvements to that series. You won’t have to pay until they release a 4.x version.
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tamj
#26
You won’t have to pay until they release a 4.x version . . .
… which could be as soon as the New Year 
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facelessuser
#27
No, this isn’t how Sublime works. When 4.X builds start appearing, you will get dev builds a long time before the official 4.X release. Sublime releases multiple cycles of dev builds and public betas before an official release, all of which your 3.X license will cover. When the official 4.0 release finally lands, then you would have to upgrade. That is how it has worked for every version in the past.
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tajmone
#28
This is an interesting thread, and a constructive one too (I’m sure that SHQ team can appreciate all this passionate users’ feedback).
I’ve seen mentioned here that the price issue might affect many potential customers, and the argument “If ST can’t earn you $80 …”, or that there’s a line between good and amateurs programmers in relation to the price.
I’m not sure about those arguments, for there are surely many excellent programmers living in countries with an inflated currency (for whatever reason, from embargos to calamities or post-war recovery). So, undoubtedly, for programmers living in those countries $80 might be a huge price to pay — also, the exchange ratio for the Dollar and each other currency is not always proportionate in every country, so $80 could be a lot if you have an unfavourable rate exchance, or peanuts if you enjoy a stronger currency, it’s a relative consideration after all.
Surely, we can see that medical drugs have different prices in different countries, depending on their economical strength — some drugs can cost over €20.000 in Europe, and just $1000 in Asia. So, there are many context in which price changes according to coutnry are deemed an acceptable practice.
Of course, ST/SM licenses being sold online makes it a different matter altogether, and possibly prevent a per-country price policy. But, if I remember correctly, shelf-software products did have different prices in differen countries — at least in the pre-online purchase era. I remember that Windows boxed CDs had different prices in different countries, the difference in price being so huge as to not being possibly tied to localization only — e.g. Arabic editions of Windows were more expensive that English Win, but diffrently priced in the gulf (rich countries) and in North Africa (less richer). Probably currecny exchange played a role too, but that wouldn’t explain why buying Windows in Egypt was cheaper than buying in Saudi Arabia (whic had a stronger currncy than the Dollar), so my guess is that it had more to do with sales expections.
As for the argument “more sales = more users support on SHQ side”, I’m not quite convinced of this argument. First, no one is ever asked if he own a license when posting to the Forum — and there is no special customers’ area either. While I was trying out ST (about a year period) I posted questions and no one asked me if I had a license or not. Again, SHQ has a relaxed approach toward its users (licensed or not), just like with the unlimited trial time and features.
I think that these are good strategies, and I’m convinced that many non licensed users might have contributed good quality packages to the ST echo system too. Also, unlimited trial prevents the proliferation of cracks and warez, which ultimately get exploited for PC infections and other malignant purposes. Last but not least, a free-raider (cracker or unlicesed alike) is never a lost customer, for there isn’t enough commitment on their side to buy a product if it wasn’t freely available or crackable — but they still count as user base, possibly contributing to a software popularity.
We’ve seen this with music files, during the Napster era, which ultimately turned out to be a good vehicle for small musicians groups who managed to obtain fame (the only ones who complained where the big corporations, who claimed to have lost sales, which is not a proven statement for we don’t know if those free-ride downloaders would have ever spent money to buy music).
In the end, software protection will only harm legitimate users, and rarely stop software crackers.
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iamntz
#29
There is a small thing you all seems to avoid: it’s a free market afterall and it regulate itself. There is that „offer/demand” ratio that nobody seems to remember. There is a demand for $80 Sublime? Well, then it will be an offer.
It’s too steep for some? Fine, use the free version until you get the money. It’s too bugy? Use another editor.
Now, for the developers out here: how would you think if your boss will say to you: „Yo, Johnny, I think your salary is too high, what about I half your hourly rate? And I’ll just double the amount of work, so you’ll have the same income!”.
PS: there are almost 17 millions users on Package Control. Assuming that 1% of them had bought the editor, I’d say it’s still a good income for STHQ.
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