Aligning Value with Sustainable Development at DoubleMemory

DoubleMemory's local-first architecture means your library works even without a dev-hosted server. We're "default-alive" software. But writing code, polishing design, and answering questions still take real energy and money. The challenge is funding that work without nudging the product in the wrong direction.

The real problem we're solving

Most reading apps make it effortless to bookmark an article and forget it. The pile grows; the value doesn't. We judge success by consumption and recall, not by the number of items captured. If you never revisit a saved highlight, we failed.

Principles for an aligned model

1. Free core – Capture and browsing stay free. Our local-first design keeps the marginal cost near zero, so everyone can build a private library without friction.
2. Subscription for value-generating features – Future AI-based retrieval, organization, clustering content, or different ways to consume the content (like text-to-speech) are the true value unlocking features we hope to deliver. When these features help you learn better, we earn our keep.
3. No feature bloat – We ship only what deepens learning or removes friction, not what looks good on an upgrade banner.

Why a subscription beats a one-time sale

A one-off payment tempts us to chase new customers with glossy add-ons instead of improving the core experience. A modest recurring fee aligns us with your long-term success: if you cancel when the app stops being useful, we have every incentive to keep it useful.

The ask

If DoubleMemory already helps you turn reading into lasting knowledge, becoming a subscriber is the most direct way to keep the project healthy. It lets us stay small, independent, and relentlessly focused on helping you remember what matters.

Thanks for being part of the journey.