Pushbullet is one of the most useful mobile apps out there at the moment, to the point where I’d even say it’s essential for people who use both a computer and a smartphone regularly. Now that it has a large enough userbase, the service has decided to adopt a freemium model in order to start making money, but that shouldn’t dissuade you from giving it a try. Most of the features are still available on the free version, but those of you looking for a bit more functionality will now have to pay $4.99/month to get it.
Your grandfather was right: there really is no such thing as a free lunch. Consider Android fan favorite Pushbullet, an incredibly useful app that just unveiled a “Pro” level subscription service. Some of its best tricks, like the universal copy and paste feature, will now require a subscription of either $4.99 monthly or $39.99 per year. Most of the features will hang around at the free level, though with some limitations. For example there will now be a cap on storage space for files, messages, and total storage. It’s a pretty straightforward equation: if you want to keep using everything Pushbullet offers, you’re going to have to pay. Good software and services deserve monetary support, but it’s always kind of a letdown when you’ve been using a free service for a while and suddenly you’re asked to start paying a monthly fee. It’s a good thing to keep in mind when you check out that next hot app that’s artificially propped up with venture capital money.
