Software as a Service (SaaS) is a practice, where the customer usually gets access to a certain piece of software by paying on a monthly basis. Said access is only available for the duration of an active subscription. Often do we pay monthly, to get updates or even use any kind of program that might be part of our daily lives. The standard used to be different. Software was something people would purchase to own, and we think that software ownership is important to this day.

It primarily started with a sudden realization at work. We wanted to install a purchased Adobe Creative Suite 4 license and then upgrade to Creative Suite 5. At the time, those software suites even were sold as physicals in our local tech store. To our dismay, after trying to install and activate the package, we were told that the authentification service for the older Creative Suite editions was shut off. They explained that it was for "security reasons", without explaining in detail what this meant. Our ownership technically means nothing. We were kindly pointed towards the Creative Cloud instead, an equivalent which you get charged for by the month. Having used it for a while now, not only has it ran worse than what we originally bought, but it also began forcing AI tools as suggestions into the workflow. By the end of it, Photoshop CC refused to boot outright, leaving us stranded at work.

In short: We paid monthly installments to remain with the software/brand we know, while being under the impression that the delivered quality seemed worse.

The SoldSoft Library, or SoSoft as I like to call it, is meant to act as a guide for people that value ownership in software they intend on using. The goal is to catalogue as many programs as possible to reduce long-term costs and give creatives a chance to start out. The focus here is to ensure that all items listed are free or purchasable to then own. No matter if you are a hobbyist or try to build up a set of tools for work, nobody should be hindered by hefty monthly payments to be able to perform.

Being an ongoing passion project, there are no referral links or other shady analytics. You don't have to sign up for anything or have to worry about ads that will be shoved down your throat. We are purely driven by our frustrations with this current landscape. Software as a Product (SaaP) is the way to go.