What's the idea behind premium memberships?
A key goal for Player FM is to make the best podcast app without compromise. This means an elegant interface, cloud sync, and full control, all without dumbing things down. To do so sustainably, we believe a recurring subscription model is the way to go.
Server and development costs are substantial, so a one-time "unlock" fee is a false economy and simply means upgrades will at some time grind to a halt as the burden of maintaining service for existing users, who are no longer paying, would overwhelm efforts to keep improving the app.
By making the subscription cloud-based, we can also give members the best experience on all supported platforms, while still continuing to evolve the free app. We have released our iPhone app, meaning users can seamlessly switch between all three platforms, and all future platforms, without paying a new fee each time.
Longer term, we also aim to work with publishers to bring premium content to members. In doing so, we can also use these plans to help fund publishers in producing more excellent content.