> I had a few interactions with them over the years, and the official answer has always been (quote) "...we have no intention of removing the standalone licenses as an option." (email exchange in Aug 2016).
I don't think these statements have any value whatsoever if AgileBits is unwilling to expose this option on its website and make it easy to buy. There is no way to buy the standalone option without spending a lot of time on the website and hunting for it (or asking on the forums). It doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) so hard, unless AgileBits is not confident about the subscription model or wants to hide something. As a potential customer, this is how I see it.
That's pretty silly. Every popular commercial password manager is subscription-based server-mediated SAAS software, and that's who AgileBits competes with. Not only is the SAAS model much more lucrative, but support costs for SAAS customers are far lower.
Despite all that, AgileBits goes way out of its way to not only provide a standalone password manager but keep it within shooting distance of the functionality of the non-standalone product.
But that's not enough for you: if they don't actively advertise and promote the variant of their product that is most expensive for them to provide, unlike, you know, any business on the planet, you're unsatisfied with their support.
They actually said so in my email exchange: "...when we introduced 1Password, the subscription option for individuals, we clearly wanted to steer new users in this direction. If we gave them choices to get the standalone and the subscription option together it defeated the purpose of making their lives easier. Again, you and I, we get this stuff, but the average consumer doesn't."
I'm totally fine with it. It's a very reasonable business decision to try to steer away users towards the cloud option, while still offering the standalone (even if it's a bit buried). If you can't find the standalone subscription with a few more clicks, maybe you really shouldn't be using it in the first place.
Kudos to AgileBits for staying true to their origins. Provided they don't screw up, I'll continue to promote their products to friends and family.
> If you can't find the standalone subscription with a few more clicks, maybe you really shouldn't be using it in the first place.
Of course, I don't use 1Password (standalone) because I don't think a company that actively hides the standalone option deserves to get my money. "A few more clicks" is actually not the correct way to describe it. Like you, I will continue to state this dark pattern for as long as AgileBits follows this and warn people about such tactics, which I strongly believe are not good.
Actually, what's silly is that you missed my point by a very long distance. It just doesn't matter if AgileBits provides a standalone product or not if one cannot find it easily on its website and buy it. So yes, that's not enough for me! And claiming brownie points for a standalone version that's not visible on its website, in my books, is shady as heck! Please try to buy the standalone version and see for yourself how difficult it is before passing comments about it.
As for other popular commercial password manager being subscription based, that's not the topic of discussion in my comment. Such a deflection is not useful for discussion.
I don't think these statements have any value whatsoever if AgileBits is unwilling to expose this option on its website and make it easy to buy. There is no way to buy the standalone option without spending a lot of time on the website and hunting for it (or asking on the forums). It doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) so hard, unless AgileBits is not confident about the subscription model or wants to hide something. As a potential customer, this is how I see it.