Is Qt Mobile Edition costs too high for independent developers?
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Hello all,
I was doing some rough calculations of the costs of creating a commercial iOS app using Qt and I started questioning its value.
Let's do the simple calculations together to estimate the minimum costs. All values are without taxes:- "iOS Developer program":https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/: $99/year or $8,25/month
- "Qt Mobile Edition":http://qt.digia.com/Try-Buy/Qt-Mobile-Edition-Plans/#SelectPlan: $150/month
Total: $158,25/month
Not too bad but for my situation, which is pretty common amongst other people, that is just 1 developer, working on spare time trying to have fun creating an small app and maybe make an extra buck on the end of the month; the total costs becomes a big challenge to beat.
Suddenly, other free cross platform options become much more interesting. Like:
- "OpenFL":http://www.openfl.org/
- "Adobe AIR":http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/air_for_ios.html
- "Haxe":http://haxe.org/
- Some smart combination of free HTML Web App framework and a native WebView.
Not even to mention that the cross platform requirement could be easily dropped since I'm targeting only iOS.
I realize that Qt Mobile Edition provides many advantages over the free options provided, but I'm still not sure if it's worth it.
Do you guys think it's worth the price?
Should I make open source apps (using LGPL license) and try some in app purchases or another kind of revenue model?
Should I be thinking bigger in terms of whenever I want to go cross platform, Qt will be a big plus?
But then, if I want to target desktops or Windows RT/Phone, I would have to acquire the Qt Enterprise license which I don't even know the price.
The way I see it, Qt Mobile is not really attractive for developers in a situation similar to mine.
Please share your experiences and opinions. I like Qt!
Cheers. -
Hi,
Qt Mobile Edition is targeted at medium-to-large app development studios, not independent developers.
The common understanding is that LGPL does NOT force you to make your app open-source. (Note: This is not legal advice)