The price of software you do not own can change

Software you subscribe to can get more expensive whenever the vendor decides, and you rarely get a vote.

Examples from the last few weeks show how far this can go. A note-taking app raised its top subscription tier from $130 a year to $250 a year (Ars Technica). A markdown-based note-taking app doubled its subscription price in 2024, from $5 a month to $10 a month, or $50 to $100 a year (Ars Technica). A media-server app went further, its one-time lifetime licence price climbing 525 percent across two increases since March 2024 (Ars Technica). None of these buyers agreed to a fixed price when they first signed up. They agreed to a right the vendor kept to change it later.

Who sets the price after you sign

This matters for any business that runs on software it does not own outright. A subscription or licence agreement is rarely a fixed price for life. It is a price today, and the vendor's discretion tomorrow. Once a tool is part of how you invoice, store records or serve customers, you are exposed to that discretion for as long as you depend on it.

The practical fix is to read the renewal and price change clause before you sign, not after the first increase lands. Ask what notice you get, whether you can lock a rate for a fixed term, and what it would cost you in time and data to leave if the price moves against you. For a commissioned system that Yunaris builds for you, the code and the data are yours to keep. Running costs can still move, hosting and other third party services are priced by their own providers, but you are not locked into one vendor's subscription tier by default.

Malaysia is tightening who answers for software costs too

Malaysian policy is moving in a similar direction, treating software spending as something to track rather than leave open ended. A new government fund for media companies lists software and technology adoption as one of 5 eligible spending categories, alongside 2 newly added categories for news service subscriptions and media content (The Star). Separately, the government will soon require foreign e-commerce platforms and their vendors to issue e-invoices and open local offices, specifically so they can be monitored (NST Online). Both moves point the same way. Who controls a cost, and who can be held to account for it, is becoming something regulators and funders want written down.

This week, pull up every subscription your business depends on and check the notice period for a price change, and what it would cost you to switch away. If neither is written down anywhere you can find, that is the gap to close first.

Sources

1. From cheap tool to premium subscription: When a beloved app's price skyrockets, Ars Technica, 27 October 2026
2. Media Innovation Fund 2.0 to boost digital transformation for local media, The Star, 1 November 2026
3. Foreign e-commerce platforms to face e-invoicing, must open local offices, NST Online, 28 October 2026