“Most of what I'm having people pay me for in WidgetSmith are things like weather data, tide data, some graphical assets — things I have to pay for, there are ongoing and tangible costs. I can't make those free because then I go out of business.”

Only Charge for Features With Real Ongoing Costs

David's paywall philosophy: charge for what genuinely costs money to provide and give away everything that doesn't. This creates a paywall that feels fair rather than arbitrary — users paying for weather data understand they're covering a real API bill, not an artificial restriction. That authenticity reduces the friction of asking for money.