Fantastical announced a new subscription model on Wednesday. The Premium Subscription brings all parts of the productivity and scheduling tool into a single platform. It costs $4.99 a month, or a yearly subscription of $39.99.
All of Fantastical – All on One Platform
There will be no more downloading different Fantastical apps for different platforms. In a blog post, the company said:
Unifying Fantastical into a single platform — one product across macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS — simplifies and improves the experience. It also means that everyone who values our work and efforts can now pay a single, simple price on an ongoing basis. This also means we no longer need to worry about the “every few years” upgrade old school nonsense. It also means we can now implement new features as soon as possible.
Premium Features
A free version of Fantastical remains too but has limited functionality. Features restricted only to Premium include:
- Full task support, including iCloud Reminders and Todoist
- Unlimited Calander sets and set syncing
- Travel time and time to leave notifications
There are also a variety of collaboration tools. These include the ability to propose multiple times for an event and to combine duplicate events. Furthermore, there are some iPad and iOS specific features, such as customized notification sounds and home screen icons.
Let me get this straight for subscription value comparison: Apple Arcade charges $4.99/month for 100 game apps, many of which are excellent, running on iOS, macOS and tvOS. Now Fantastical wants $4.99/month for a single calendar app that runs on iOS, macOS and watchOS?
Sorry, no.
Goodbye, Fantastical – it has been OK knowing you, but this cash grab stinks.
I am a paid user of Fantastical but will be deleting it since I have no interest in paying for another subscription, particularly for software I purchased already.
A proliferation of subscriptions, particularly per-app subscriptions, is simply not sustainable. The madness has to stop.