I wonder if one sustainable business model on the "lifestyle" side in the age of commoditized software may be based on long-term support of stable tools. Like, I can cheaply DIY a tool for my needs, but I won't have attention to polish its UX or fix incompatibilities with future API changes; conversely, there might well exist a polished tool for the same task for $5/month subscription that does exactly what I need, but I'd have to take a risk that they won't go bankrupt in half a year or (more likely) "extend" and enshittify the product beyond recognition.
If said tool was sold by a company with reputation for long-term stable support and a track record to match, I'd be willing to consider it. And nowadays such a company may support 100s of small tools, each $10/year or so for which you buy security patches and adaptation to OS/API changes. The problem is, as always, getting the initial fame.
This model appears to exist in music production software, with effect plugins.
If said tool was sold by a company with reputation for long-term stable support and a track record to match, I'd be willing to consider it. And nowadays such a company may support 100s of small tools, each $10/year or so for which you buy security patches and adaptation to OS/API changes. The problem is, as always, getting the initial fame.
This model appears to exist in music production software, with effect plugins.