How do we feel Workflowy stands up to both bigger companies and/or those that can actually offer unlimited parts to their application?
I ask because whilst I’m not against paying for an app subscription or even a one off fee if it ever comes up but there are apps that do also offer bullets but they are unlimited with a premier tier offering more storage for example. I’m on a premier tier for WF until march 2026 and in addition have a free tier account for work purposes which is capped at 100 bullets a month. I use it less for work and use my personal account more frequently.
When my premium expires I am going to be unsure if 100 bullets a month is suitable for me and I know for sure I’ll be constantly looking at what I have remaining!
My point is, can Workflowy afford to let the competition offer unlimited notes/bullets when WF is capped? Do we ever see a world where premium shifts to no longer offering unlimited bullets and it instead focuses on the other premium parts? Then the free tier offers unlimited bullets to match and compete with other products?
Good question! My observations* are that app providers of all sizes have several business models (what they offer and how they make money) to choose from. They get to sift and sort combinations of fees and features that they think will work for them. I think these three are the most common models:
Mostly free Some offer a rich feature set for free then charge for a small set"pro" features. They believe they can earn enough from the few percentage of users who upgrade. So they bet that they offering lots of features for free will attract a larger pool of people which gives them a larger quantity of paid users to earn from. Often, the “pro” features are either highly useful but not strictly necessary things or they are things that businesses (who presumably have more money to spend and are used to paying for services) would happily pay for. Again, this model is not limited to larger businesses. Obsidian is an example of this business model. Some startups use this model to encourage lots of users to join and help them grow; they often alert early users that the app is “free for now” and that they are switching to the mostly paid model at the v1.0 launch.
Mostly paid Some offer a “nothing is free but you can have a 14-day trial” model. Roam Research is an example of this model. Companies choose this option for many reasons: they want the price to reflect the value of the product, they want to offer a high-care experience (and thus they can’t afford to dedicate resources to support a “free” tier of clients), or they other structural/strategic constraints such as a limited demography of clients (think of specialty apps that only work in one industry).
Always free; sell services or ads Some offer “everything is free all the time” and make money offering support and consulting or serving up ads in their product. Red Hat–now part of IBM–famously did the former with its Linux distros. Microsoft and Google apps (including their task- and note-taking offerings) do the latter.
These aren’t the only three models. Companies will mix and match to make something they think works for them and the people they serve.
They need to align their business model with their strategy, values, and long-term success. Thus we see companies adjusting their model over time as their markets and strategy change. Evernote has gone from a model like Obsidian’s to a model like Roam’s. We also see companies struggle when they don’t align their model, values, and strategy for the long-term. A friend of mine started his career in a consulting company that helps companies set their pricing/business models. He says, “This is just as much an art as it is a science.”
Regarding WF’s choices, I can only guess that–because they have been around for so long–they have wrestled with their business model. Evidence is that they can compete, deliver on their strategy, and stay true to their values for the long-run. Do they think it’s perfect? Prolly not. Will they ever change? Prolly; most companies do.
As users, we also get to choose the combination of features** and fees that work for us. I find there are no “perfect” products and choosing the ones that work for us is also as much art as science.
* FWIW, my insights here come from being a lifetime student of and consultant to technology and services companies. I have no knowledge, for instance, of WorkFlowy’s business apart from what I can see as a long-time user. Others know far more than me–generally and about WF. ** Some of the features we consider are intangible. We consider things like the vibe of the company, the marketing, the look and feel, etc. in our calculus.
IMHO, Workflowy stands up beautifully against the competition.
It has features available in no other outliners, with more being added each month ~ and, after reviewing countless apps over the years, I’ve found no equal for my own task management.
As for pricing, the app must charge enough for the business to be sustainable ~ and the free version provides just enough capacity for users to determine if they want to go all in for a paid account. This all seems quite reasonable to me.
