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Ask HN: Is there an easy way to do shareware?

2 points by pkamb ↗ HN
I've made something that some people will find very useful and would buy. (This is also a very desktop-oriented thing, not at all possible on the web/SaaS)

But it's a small project, I'm not quitting my day job or anything. Basically, I'm not sure coding-in some type of shareware trial is worth my time. But how else can I make a bit of money off this?

Is it worth it to spend the time implementing a "30-day trial" type function? I'm expecting this to kinda be a lot of work, as I've never done anything like it before. Also, I'd need to provide good support, send keys, stuff like that. Again, keeping my day job.

Is there any service that helps with this kinda thing? I'm developing for Windows at the moment.

The only other option I can think of is a "donate" button on the website and/or app. Do these actually work?

Basically rolling my own trial download has all this overhead that I really don't want to deal with. But on the other hand I'm not sure a "donate" button with a free download will make any money.

Is there an easy way to do shareware?

4 comments

[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 21.9 ms ] thread
veb
In my experience, shareware tends to get cracked -pretty- fast. Is your target audience big enough so that a few people downloading the pirated version won't hurt you?
pkamb
Yeah that's one of my worries/complains about shareware. I don't have the time and/or anti-cracking security knowledge to prevent it, so I guess I'll just have to deal with it. It's an app directed at "normal people" and not tech nerds, so hopefully that will help.

It sucks that a SaaS/webapp type pricing plan isn't viable, but again this is a very desktop oriented thing that wouldn't work elsewhere. So I'm just trying to figure out the BEST way to release this.

singer
Fortunately, the average computer user doesn't know how to find and/or used cracked software. Personally, I wouldn't worry about this much. Almost all well-known software has been cracked. That didn't seem to stop them though.
singer
I found donation-based software does not work very well. However, I suppose it could work like a champ if you have millions of users. You're most likely to find that it'll create an increased need for support since you'll have more users. That might not be the best thing for you right now since you still have a day job. I'd suggest you go with a 30-day trial. The next best thing would be a version with minimal features, and a fully-featured pay version.