PLAIN TEXT; PAPER, LESS — PRODUCTIVITY DIGEST

PTPL 113: Some Free Tools Cost Too Much

Put these features in order of importance and you’ll know what to do

Plain text, Paper, Less (PTPL) Productivity Digest, text-based image by the Author

This week I discuss free versus paid apps, how every option comes with a burden to bear — generally a feature limitation or a monetary cost — and how to decide which one is right for you. Learning the Command Line: I’m finally able to use hledger at a basic level!

No AI here; all words, ideas, and faults 100% human made. While paid subscribers are enormously encouraging and help me to keep writing, non-subscribers are always welcome to read for free.

Should every tool be free?

Here’s a question for you: should every software tool be free? What about every feature of tools that have a freemium model — should those ideally be free, too?

I started thinking about this (again) after reading

Michael Swengel

’s recent piece (Medium article) on how frustrated he is with Obsidian at the moment. So disappointed with how poorly it performs on his iPhone (where using iCloud isn’t optional), in fact, he’s contemplating returning to Notion.

I get it, Michael, truly! Before paying for Obsidian’s Sync service I felt the same. The pain is…