Subscription payment vs one-time payment

“MRR is stable than one-time payment revenue”.

It’s never about pricing model.

It’s about whether there’s expanding market (meaning, constantly new customers entering the niche/topic), whether your distribution channels can reach them, and whether your product is worth buying to start with.

If you can achieve all that, you will have a recurring revenue, even if one-time payment.

That’s why I always felt the reasoning from MRR apologists are flawed. It’s not more stable or sticky. You still got to deal with churn with a subscription product.You still got to acquire new customers higher than at a rate they churn. You still got to have channels to reach your customers. Your product has to be good enough for them to want to open their wallets.

Similar challenges as one-time payment products.

The only time pricing model matters is whether there’s recurring costs or value provided. Like internet broadband, or electricity, or data plans. It takes resources to provide those services on a monthly basis. And there’s recurring value provided for the customers. So it makes sense and it’s a fair exchange between both parties. Imagine paying one time payment for your internet – it wouldn’t be sustainable for the company. The problem is when products that are really one-time payment products masquerading as a subscription. Like BMW selling heated seat subscriptions for their cars. That’s just BS.

So, fights about MRR vs one-time payments are just a distraction. Both can work just as well, if the product fits it. One is not better or more stable than the other.