Subscription Fatigue? 6 Apps You Can Buy Once

Every app seems to want a monthly fee these days. If you'd rather pay once and own it, here are quality tools with a one-time purchase.

Affinity Photo — Photoshop without the subscription

Affinity Photo is a professional-grade image editor you buy once. For most photographers and designers it does what Adobe Photoshop does — minus the recurring bill.

Things — a beautiful task manager

Things is a polished, one-time-purchase task manager for Mac and iOS. No account, no subscription, just a delightful place to plan your day.

Sketch — design tooling you own

Sketch still offers a one-time licence for its Mac design app — a classic alternative to subscription-only design tools.

Sublime Text — a fast editor that respects your wallet

Sublime Text is a lightning-fast code and text editor with a one-time licence and an unlimited free evaluation.

Final Cut Pro — pro video, bought once

Final Cut Pro gives Mac users a professional video editor for a single purchase — a strong Premiere Pro alternative.

The takeaway

Subscriptions make sense for some tools, but plenty of great software still lets you pay once. Browse the paid one-time options and find your favourites.