Imagine spending months building an app. You launch it, get a few paying customers, and then someone releases a free version that does the same main job.

Would your customers stay?

The ArtCraft team has put out seven free, open-source creative apps covering image editing, video, PDFs and other workflows associated with Adobe's products. The team describes them as rebuilt from scratch. Several are still in development; others are early alpha. They haven't proved they can replace a professional's entire setup. ArtCraft

Still, seeing that lineup makes the question feel less hypothetical.

ArtCraft shows independent software rebuilding. The game project below shows AI helping with modification. Neither proves that AI can reproduce a mature app on demand.

Is it a good idea to build a subscription app right now?

SaaS means software sold as a service, usually through a subscription. The “SaaS apocalypse” fear is that AI makes alternatives easy enough to build that the monthly fee becomes harder to justify.

I think yes. But I'd want a much better reason for someone to keep paying than “look at all these features.”

I am Alex. Welcome to ShortCu8 by Innov8.

Let's Dive Deep.

Imagine someone releases a free version of your app tomorrow. What would your customers still pay you for?

Ask that before you spend another month building. Your answer should describe something the customer would miss, in their words.

PhotoCraft doesn't need to satisfy every Photoshop user to be worth watching. A useful question is whether it can eventually do enough for someone who only needs a small part of Photoshop's capabilities.

That is a different test from “is this better than Adobe?”

And the pattern extends beyond creative apps. Universal Modder brings AI agents together with existing tools for understanding and modifying games. Its repository documents examples involving Terraria and Age of Empires II. This is game modding, not evidence that AI can perfectly clone any commercial game. Universal Modder

My reading of these projects: we should take the possibility of cheaper alternatives seriously, while being honest about how much still needs to work.

Take a hypothetical booking app for a small clinic.

Someone could recreate its calendar, booking form and reminder button. But the clinic might also be paying for help moving its old appointments, reminders that arrive when they should, and someone who answers when tomorrow's schedule disappears.

The free version still has to earn that trust.

This isn't an argument for making it difficult to leave. Customers should be able to take their records with them. It's an argument for being useful enough that they choose to stay.

“We have a calendar” is a weak answer to why a clinic should pay you.

“Your receptionist spends less time chasing appointments, and we help when something breaks” gives you something concrete to prove.

Write down the main thing your app does. Then imagine a competitor offers that thing for free.

Would people pay you because your product fits their particular work? Because it connects to systems they already use? Because you've made a difficult task dependable?

Those are possible reasons. They need evidence from customers, not just confidence from the founder.

Ask someone who might buy it:

If they struggle to answer, don't immediately add more features. Ask which part of their work is still painful, and what a good solution would have to handle.

For someone building a first app, I'd start with one specific problem I can help a few people solve well. Then see whether they come back and pay. A polished demo alone wouldn't convince me.

ArtCraft's apps are available as open-source projects, but its own website labels them early alpha or in development. EffectCraft's repository describes an independent reimplementation of After Effects workflows. That establishes what the team is attempting, not equal quality or compatibility with Adobe. EffectCraft

Universal Modder likewise offers documented examples, not a guarantee that every game can be rebuilt.

Neither project proves the end of SaaS. They do give us a useful reason to examine what we're charging for.

I'd still build software today. I'd spend more time finding a customer with a problem they care about before building a large feature list.

If a free copy arrives, I want that customer to be able to explain why they're staying.

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