I’m always looking for the next best thing in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The next best product, the next best app, the next best whatever that will make what I already do easier, faster, more effective.

In the process, I’ve spent my fair share of digital cash on apps and software. A lot of my friends and family proudly tell me they never pay for apps. They own $600 unsubsidized smartphones and likely pay $75+ a month for them, but paying a buck or two for an app–come on! They aren’t billionaires. God bless irony.

Sticking with free apps is absolutely their prerogative (and there are lots of good ones out there), but here’s a few reason why I regularly pay for apps.

1. If you don’t buy the product, you (probably) are the product.

Everyone lost their minds in late 2012 when Instagram changed their terms of service to be able to sell your photos and advertise with them without notifying you. Here was my response:

(A) A service wants to sell your data. (B) That service sold for nearly a billion to (C) a service that already sells you. Guys, A+B=C.

— Jordan Shirkman (@jshirk) December 18, 2012

Facebook unashamedly uses us to sell things to our “friends.” Of course they are going to adopt the same model for Instagram.

[Note: Instagram tweaked their terms and clarified to make them less audacious, but they’re still selling your stuff].

I’d rather buy a product than be a product.

2. Developers gotta eat

There are people making phenomenal products and services that make our lives easier, and we want them to do it for free.

Do you work for free? Of course not. These developers deserve to earn their keep if they’re doing great work. No, not everyone is going to make it as an app developer, but the ones who are making apps worth using are worthy of their wages.

3. The current model is broken

As someone vehemently opposed to financial debt of all variety, (no, there’s no such thing as “good debt” in my opinion. That’s like having a good gunshot wound) I can’t understand why a company with a good idea and quality product raises a crap-ton of “funding” (debt, in the form of equity) to support their business as they give away a free product in the hopes of eventually selling out or finding a business model later.

I’m essentially the love child of the Dave Ramsey anti-debt brigade and the 37 Signals philosophy of profitable businesses built (without debt or equity investors) over time that will still be around 100 years from now.

Companies fail every day, everyone loses money and the apps lose support, are never updated again and are unable to be used because the backend falls apart.

Or, best-case scenario, our little leveraged startup that could gets acquired by a behemoth and together they have amazing plans for dominating the world and then the app gets axed from the mega acquirers road map (RIP Sparrow).

I’d rather pay for a service worth using, that is sustainable, and that will be around 10 (or 100) years from now so I can keep rocking and rolling without the hassle of switching to a new system.

4. Freemium isn’t sustainable long-term

Lots of my favorite products and companies, like Evernote and Dropbox, operate on the freemium (a hybrid, like a Prius) model. Free for the majority (upwards of 99% in many cases) and premium (paid) for by the 1%. This model won’t last long. In fact, I don’t think it will even be around for another decade. The idea is to get market share, attract tons of users and then upsell those users once they are convinced of the value of the product.

Limited free trials I understand and support. Taste and see and decide if it’s worth your cash. But Freemium doesn’t work that way.

The problem with the freemium model is that most people will never pay to upgrade. I suppose I’m a part of the 1% now because I recently snagged a Evernote Premium account (bundled with an Evernote Moleskine). I’m normally pro-paid but anti-subscription, because I don’t want to keep paying for something indefinitely and then be out of luck (or music, in the case of Spotify, et. al) when I cancel my subscription.

I’d rather pay for a service and have all the features, and have the company focus on building an even better product instead of trying to upsell me as a free user. It’s a hassle, the customer support is non-existent for free users, and development lags because there are 99 freeloaders for every one paid user. I don’t even mind paying for upgrades when version 2.0 releases, especially if there is enough of an improvement in the software to make it worth paying for again.

5. Ads annoy the socks off me

I can’t take crap ads for online dating and stupid apps popping up on my screen. That’s why I hated Words With Friends but love LetterPress. Is the difference between two games with nearly identical ideas worth $1? Yes, because I’m never getting those 30 seconds back every time an ad for an app I’m not interested in crushes onto my screen like the Kool-Aid man.

If you pay, there are no ads. If you pay for an app and there are still ads, delete that app and find a new one. (That’s one reason I can’t take Hulu Plus–If I’m paying, I don’t want to see an ad.)

6. I spend more on a coffee

A coffee anywhere, even McDonald’s (heck, even ones made at home if you use a Keurig) costs more than some quality apps. I’ll use that app for as long as I have my phone, but that coffee is going to end up in the toilet by the end of the day. And your Vanilla Bean Frappuccino? You could have bought practically any app for the price of that Venti, my friend.

We have a skewed view when it comes to paying for software because we think all digital things should be free. 

Don’t drink coffee? Well that McDouble isn’t as valuable as a $1 app either (even if it is “the most bountiful food in human history“).

But I’m sure you use free apps

I do. I have a Gmail account (though I mostly use my work Google Apps account, which my company pays for and is ad-free). I love Mailbox. I have a free Dropbox account. I use Google Maps and Twitter and Facebook. But these services are going to do one of three things to stay afloat:

1. Have more ads
2. Become more intrusive through data collection (i.e. where I drive, who I’m friends with, pages I like, brands I interact with) or pushing an upsell
3. Fail

Those are the basic options for free. Not ideal.

But aren’t you a deal hawk?

I am. So how do I balance all of this with my incessant need to find a deal? For Mac software, I’m quick to Google “X product” coupon code. For iOS apps, I always check the history on AppShopper.com, which tells me the price history of the app, and I can see if there’s a chance the developer will drop the price at some point.

Remember, my friends: there’s no such thing as a free app.

Question: What makes you pay for apps? Or why do you only use free apps?