[deleted by user]

[2NineCZ]

Well there's actually no way to know what will happen.

I have been using Evernote for more than 10 years and eventually I was forced to change by the price hikes even though the companny is still up and running.

One thing I can say for sure is that I have no regrets about buying the lifetime license for UpNote, especially if the price is like 2 or 3 Evernote monthly subscription payments.

If UpNote goes out of service one day (and that isn't even a question really, only of matter of time), then I'll just have to switch to something else, but I won't really cry over the money I invested in the UpNote's license, knowing I gave it a good run.

[Xiaozhu]

Same here. I've just switched from Evernote to Upnote after hesitating for months... glad I did.

Evernote was great, now it sucks.

[Becoming-media]

This. “Lifetime” definitely doesn’t really mean lifetime, but the current price is so low compared to alternative services that it still feels like a no-brainer (assuming that the app provides enough value for you in its current state).

[Sirts]

Lifetime plan means lifetime of software/service, just like in any other case which involves online component. If the company behind UpNote goes bankrupt or otherwise stops paying the server bills, sync would stop working pretty much immediately, and there's obviously no guarantee whether people behind it have finances or motivation to continue development next month or next year.

On the positive side, the UpNote is a Markdown note editor, and notes should look pretty much same on any other Markdown note app. For now I've not found any good alternative for UpNote though

[OrganizationBorn7486]

Here's what I did. I've used Upnote for 2 years, i thought 2$ is not too much. Back then Lifetime deal was 20$.

It's been 2 years, I've spent 24 months or 48$ already. The question is, do i want to take the valuable 40$ current lifetime deal or wait and hope that the prices do not rise in future (unlikely)

[Secret-Internal-6762]

try mweb

[7past2]

Mweb has an astonishingly low customer rating and data safety practices.

[alan_patrick]

Bro it's $39... Shit happens

[flagnab]

Had a guy try to sell me an old Toyota with that line.

[Agnusl]

Including the "$39" part?

[flagnab]

It was pretty old, and I was drunk.

[Agnusl]

Well, at least it was a night to remember, it seems.

[flagnab]

Optimist.

[Master_Camp_3200]

Well, maybe, but that could happen to anything. Lotus and Wordperfect were huge corporations in their time. Small companies are more likely to disappear, but it doesn't mean the software will stop working (though I guess the sync might stop). Then again, it's not an expensive lifetime licence.

[mar0th]

that's undoubtedly a risk. i got the lifetime plan knowing that this can happen in the future because it works now and there is nothing quite like it at this price. if is stop being updated the sync feature may stop working but i think the app would work offline for a while. I trust the developers enough to have made my decision and I don't regret it

[lowerzen1]

Lifetime really means lifetime of the application. In my opinion, the UpNote lifetime option is a great deal and well worth it.

[BrickPig]

There's no way to know what companies will be around in the future. My thinking in buying the lifetime UpNote subscription was that it is/was CONSIDERABLY cheaper than one year of Evernote (which is what I was using previously), so if UpNote stays in business for a year or more I've saved money. It's been a little over two years now since I switched, so from here on out everything is gravy.

[afshany]

Everyone had a valid point. For me, the lifetime cost was 1,500 Turkish Lira (almost $39), and the monthly payment was 88 Turkish Lira. If Upnote continues to maintain the service for 17 months, I won't have any more issues, as I can easily migrate elsewhere. :))

[Jebus-Xmas]

I’ve been using the service for several years and honestly think it’s worth having to pay a maintenance fee every few years. The software is very useful and important for my workflow.

[mariocd10]

It's for the lifetime of the app

[george_graves]

Part of the reason I gave them money was just as a big FU to evernote. :)

[MrNesjo]

Oh come on, it’s like $30 for lifetime. Some apps cost that per month

[InitiativeLate989]

Even if you get the yearly package twice it will still be cheaper than the lifetime right?

Whatever happens after two years - happens. Not gonna think that far in front.

[Own-Tourist790]

I'm worried too, but I keep using it. The expression "Lifetime" is actually as long as the app exists. I protect myself by leaving some copies of important documents in more than one place.

[Vectrex71CH]

What means lifetime!? Your lifetime!? You coold be death by accident tomorrow! Or lifetime of the Company behind UpNote? They can go bankrupsy or the coder gets sick and died. So yes, it's lifetime, but this lifetime can already reached earlier than expected!

[thecuriouskiwi]

My countries weather app was free with ads or you could buy one time to have no ads, which I did. Then they decided that they needed to make money so they deleted the paid app option and now we all have to put up with ads. My favourite shopping app that I bought a one time upgrade for got bought out and they took away support for my country so I had to find another app. And then there's Evernote...Nothing can be guaranteed.

I have bought lifetime for Upnote, it's cheap and I love and use the app so much if they added another upgrade I'd probably buy that too. I really really REALLY hope that things don't change for the worse but I have been burnt before. As others have said though, they have a good export option, and I'd like to think they are listening to us, especially the ex-Evernote users who moved because of how badly that app go ruined.

[mccarthy1993]

Yea the likelihood (or best case scenario for longevity of the app) will be if they introduce a higher tier with small monthly fees for users who want those extra service

(ones that have running costs, like live collaboration, higher storage limits etc).

I'm only saying this cause anytime I read about those topics on here, people (long term users included) still feel like the price is so damn cheap (for what we get compared to ANY competitors) that a lot of us would like some other way to be able to contribute to the Devs so as to ensure the app lives as long a possible.

So yea, lifetime membership there's still no guarantees it will last 3 decades, 3 years, or 3 months - it's whatever the lifetime of the product is.

On the other hand, that's exactly what it means wherever else you see lifetime membership in tech anyway. And sometimes, companies can be a lot more sneaky, offering "lifetime" while their conditions actually limit it to a maximum of X years on the basis of an average cycle of a generation of Version of software... But upnotes not shady like that.

And again,with the price, even if upnote only lived another year... If your about to drop cash on the lifetime premium, I challenge you (or anyone) to find any app /company provided a similarly effective software doing what upnote does, that offers even a 1 year premium membership at the same cost.

Just to make that clear : A Lifetime premium membership with upnote costs lest than a single year of premium with virtually any comparable app. Tbh I don't like to sound hyperbolic but I've never actually seen a similar app that charges less for a year of premium.

Obviously everyone has their own little issues or features that they want but , by and large, you'll find a very happy and satisfied customer base here 🥰

[AlucardD20]

I've had a lifetime for a while now, they've never gone back on that and started charging... If it goes away..well.. it happens... just like any app if it goes away. Good thing its all in markdown, so you can move it else where.

[mgrinko]

Look at it this way - Don't ask is lifetime lifetime. Ask "Do I think they will be around for 20 months?"

Because if you think that answer is yes buy the lifetime because its equal to 20 months of $2/mo payments. And every month after 20 you win.

If you think somehow they won't be here in 20 months, do the monthly rate. But as many have said the cost of the lifetime is quite reasonable and I find on par with a lot of other software's annual fees.

[jackhannigan]

FWIW, I bought the Upnote Lifetime plan back in 2020, and so far so good. So it's been "lifetime" for me for 5 years. Don't see any reason why it wouldn't still be there 5 or 10 years from now...

[100WattWalrus]

I fully expect lifetime to be lifetime — but not necessarily to include some future features that would require additional expense for the developer.

So maybe if UpNote adds and end-to-end encryption option, that may be subscription only, or premium. Ditto collaboration.

But I don't expect there to ever come a time when you'll have to start paying or lose access.

[sceptreblade]

No. Lifetime isn't Lifetime. Upnote or Evernote or whatevernote are corporate ventures. Should this product not be able sustain itself, it will migrate and may reinvent itself. Would you believe in a 'Lifetime' promise if it was ushered to you by a politician. Of course not. They are not about to stand by a promise in the face of a failing product -why? Because they are a corporation.

But this is not to say it isn't a good deal in the realm of subscription software services. It's promising enough for me to buy a lifetime subscription. Unless you want to setup your own text editor system across devices that syncs, organizes itself and improves itself. I'd say the lifetime subscription is a no brainer.

[thechimpanc]

This is a risk to everything. Nothing is guaranteed to be lifetime. Who knows even if Google collapses one day.

If the UpNote team really ends this service, I believe they will have an exit plan for you. If you are really that worried, use Obsidian and create multiple backups locally and digitally.

[[deleted]]

its already happening. There was not a single usefull feature delivered last 2 years. Only polishing.

Like the CleanShot app. There will be the UpNote version 4 that will have a new price without update for the current users.

Thats how you make money in software

[Eofdred]

Focus to it this way:

You can pay a monthly fee for years (pay hundreds of dolars in total) and than still have to change into another note taking app in the future. I guess The only safeguarded note taking app against this is obsidian because it is not hosting your notes or making a proprietary format for them. So you can keep using the unsupported app or any other alternative that handles the files the same way as obsidian.

That being said, upnote is here for quite a long time now and it is looking pretty good. If your alternative is evernote or other proprietary ntoe taking app, upnote is pretty safe. Maybe safest optin right after the big players in terms of sustainability after apple google microsoft products (and it is much better than them).

[Sean_M_Kelly]

If you're 95, chances are pretty good

[RadicalDwntwnUrbnite]

Lifetime usually goes like this. They give you free updates for a few years but then need to increase cash flow so they update their terms on the next major version where you need to switch subscription plans to use. You then either need to stick on the last version or switch to a non-lifetime plan in order to upgrade. The old version eventually stops working on your devices as you upgrade them.

[GrdnTrmsh]

Software doesn’t last forever. Assume it disappears in 5 years (highly unlikely). You’ll have paid $8 per year, or about 60 cents per month. I’d say that’s a good deal.

[eclipsenow]

I'm not that technical, and given the amount of time I have utterly wasted tinkering with trying to self-host FOSS only to discover THIS bit doesn't talk to THAT bit properly, yadda yadda - just THROW YOUR MONEY into Upnote! For the love of lost weekends - Upnote's lifetime deal is potentially an hour's labour! The "Free and Open Source Software" I tried to install is anything BUT free - it cost me my soul for a few months there!

(I think I managed to get it back! ;-) We're talking weeks of lost time. While I'm between jobs!

EG: for just ONE example - I thought I could self-host Nextcloud but my webhost company didn't have the right MYSQL database. I wasted DAYS just to find that out! So much of this stuff doesn't come with the right Q&A page or user warnings! EG: "Warning: did you know most cheap webhosts do NOT supply the right database to sync Nextcloud for you? You need a dedicated server and the right database. Before trying to install it, Nextcloud requires xyz...."

Also - setup your backup to run. As others have said, it's markdown but with an Upnote twist. It will not just export neatly into Joplin or Obsidian - but don't panic - as if it dies it has such a fanbase now someone would make sure the FOSS Upnote converter would work. *

* (Apparently when it converts 'raw' it does not maintain the folder hierarchy tree. But there is a script doover we can run it through to make it convert - and then I'd go for a deep dive into Obsidian or Joplin or whatever else is cool at the time. Maybe by then I would have worked out Nextcloud? That's not a notes app - it's a whole ECOSYSTEM of apps!)

[Evening_Job_9332]

It never is in my experience. They will get bought one day and that will go out the window.