If features are all you have to go on (not hosting anything, or providing personal support, etc), then the way to stand out is to implement the feature in a way that is more stable, more compatible, and/or faster than your competitor.
All software has flaws, which means there are always gaps to be filled by competition.
As of right now I can’t see it ! Feels like VC funded clients will outcompete the clients with subscriptions
For subscriptions to work, just like the business model for hosting, there is a minimum critical mass needed to operate. Additional users beyond that point are the equivalent to 100% profit, simce the minimum critical mass is covering the overhead.
If you can determine your annual operating costs, and the amount your demographic will pay, then you can calculate what your minimum user base should be.
Seems like you didn’t get my point. We have over 10+ clients on nostr! Let’s say damus integrated free translation (obviously that list will go on, but that’s what we have as of right now) and charging subscription fees, the other clients will offer such options for free just to drag the users out of damus because it’s open source environment!
In other words: whatever will be offered via subscription model on one client will be offered for free on another one client
I guess if people regularly released exact Damus clones with the subscription part removed, the way to stay ahead would be to open source older versions. Of course, if you use other open source code, there might be problems.
Brand, loyalty and specific features can be used by the little guys to their advantage and outmaneuver and adapt quicker.
