Question about HexOS long-term sustainability / business model

[zavock]

Hi,

I’m one of the happy lifetime license holders for HexOS, and overall, I’m really excited about where the project is headed. But there’s one thing I’m worried about: long-term sustainability.

I get that selling lifetime licenses is great for upfront cash flow, but how do you plan to keep the project financially healthy in 5 or 10 years? Honestly, it reminds me a bit of what is happening with Plex, and that’s kind of worrying. For the same reason, I’ll never buy services like pCloud with “lifetime” storage.

I assume you have a strategy for this—maybe optional subscription services (like cloud backup, premium/enterprise support, etc.). Could you share a bit about it? Are you confident that these income streams will be enough? Even though I’ve already paid for my license, this actually affects my decision about whether to start my main server on HexOS. Long-term viability matters more to me than the initial cost, to be honest.

I’m not trying to be critical—just looking for some clarity to feel more confident about the future.

Thanks for any insights!

[Todd Miller]

People have been hearing about the monthly support option for many months so that seems to be a possible primary long term income.  After that I will be very surprised if anyone answers this post beyond statements like look at the quarterly docs to see the future plans.  Deep down I don't blame them considering the general level of company communication not tied to support.  They may not even have the team built out to answer those questions in detail because today, they don't really need to.  There may be a lower income ceiling than the team realizes but I think it is much more likely they would get bought out or merged with a new startup then to fold up.  What that means for lifetime subs is not worth stressing about today.  Pay services are a cop out because it takes away from the core product but we will see what the next group of buyers say.

[Mobius]

The team has previously mentioned that they may also provide a subscription service for additional features that have ongoing costs

[Todd Miller]

Can you please tell me where that mention is?  I must have missed that.

[zavock]

Thank you all for your replies!

I understand that you may already have plans in place, even if this isn’t the right time to discuss them publicly. However, the sentence “they may also provide a subscription service” is not very reassuring at the moment. I would have preferred to read “they will” or “they must,” as that would sound more realistic and proactive to me.

This thread was simply about whether the team is being realistic about this. I’m genuinely trying to be constructive here — I really want this project to succeed!

[Cantos]

The point is that Eshtek is trying to be fair.

Until they provide a service, which has ongoing costs (such as cloud backup/storage), there is no reason to charge subscription for HexOS.

The base license will remain a one time purchase. It is just a piece of software that you should be able to run more or less indefinitely as is. Sure, they could charge you for that, but why would you want them to?

[jonp]

First, let me start by saying I actually really appreciate this question and I hope my answer gives you faith in our long-term sustainability, exactly as you mention in the title of this thread.

The lifetime license model is appropriate for a very particular type of customer with very specific priorities:

• Bring your own hardware
• Doesn't want an ongoing subscription
• Will mostly support themselves

It was the appropriate model to launch with as well because it allowed us to inject a larger cash infusion at the start.  However, we see multiple additional revenue streams available to us in the future:

1. Subscription-based licensing.  A lower price of entry for customers that aren't ready to make the lifetime commitment.
2. Support.  A more premium support model that can help you on a 1:1 basis when you have issues with your server.
3. Cloud-based Services.  Things like cloud backups (as an alternative or in addition to buddy backup).  There are other cloud-assisted services such as reverse-proxy/relay that may warrant a subscription as well.
4. Hardware products  We will never force anyone to buy a specific hardware product to use HexOS, but we may offer some for those that don't want to build their own in the future.

We actually have a few other ideas for additional offerings as well that would add additional revenue streams to Eshtek, but those are a little premature to discuss at this point.  Bottom line:  we don't just have a product plan, we have a full business plan for the future of this company and it has been designed to ensure a few key things:

1. We don't run out of cash.
2. We don't have to take on outside investors.
3. We can remain true to our mission and vision.

I hope this answers your question and gives you more confidence in our plans for the future.  And if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

[Todd Miller]

I'm personally hoping there is some consulting in the mix as well.  I man above what would be deem to be general support issues.  For instance, every app I run is accessed by HTTP not HTTPS.  I would love someone to point me to suitable options that would help secure my system.  And as an example, and only an example, it could dramatically increase my satisfaction with HexOS without actually making any changes to the core product.  And if they develop a great solution for someone they can make it available for anyone who needs it either as contract work or as an addon service.  It can all mesh together improving my experience and many others overall.