I was paying up to $30 a month for subscriptions and still had to either upgrade to a costlier tier, or use other apps as well to get what I needed. Every RSS app I tried turned into another inbox. I wanted a private space for my notes without giving away control of my content, or reading pages of privacy policy to work out where my data was going. So I built what I wanted, then kept going until each app was good enough to open up to others.
That is the short version. The longer version is that the subscription model, the way most software works now, has a structural problem for small tools. A monthly price often funds servers, accounts, syncing, support, and the next round of features you may not want. All of that gets paid for whether you use it or not, and your data often has to live on someone else's servers for the sync to work.
I think there is room for something different. Apps that run on your Mac, keep their data on your machine, and do not need an account. You can still buy one particular Tiong Creative app for $10 USD once, with future updates to that app included.
So why launch a membership? #
There are now nine apps, and I am still building. Some people want one or two specific tools, while others want to try several of them and get whatever comes next.
I did not want the second group buying each app separately, or having to work out which bundle made sense every time I released something new.
Tiong Creative membership is $39 USD a year and includes all nine current apps, new apps and updates released while your membership is active, early access to builds, and members-only apps such as IdentityPractice and Music Discovery.
It does not replace one-time purchases. Someone who only wants Content Checker Pro or Lists & Notes can buy that app once and keep getting its updates. The membership is the simpler option when you want four or more paid apps, the members-only apps, or the things I release next.
Local-first still means local-first #
The membership changes how you download the apps and receive updates, not how the apps work. Your data stays on your Mac, there is no Tiong Creative account inside the apps, and versions you download during a paid membership period keep working after the membership ends. Downloads and updates stop, so keeping a copy of the installers is a good idea if you may need to reinstall later.
Some apps have optional AI features. For those, you bring your own Anthropic or OpenAI key and use your own account.
I build these apps using Claude Code and Codex, combined with what I have learned across product management, agency ownership, SaaS support and product enablement. They are tools I use myself, and that matters because I notice the small annoyances and keep improving them rather than building something for an imaginary user.
There are trade-offs. There is no cloud sync or web version, and the membership does not keep providing downloads after it ends. For some people that rules these apps out entirely, and that is fine. If you want a small tool that does its job and keeps your data on your own Mac, you can now choose one app or the whole collection.