Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

Question

Are people still building desktop apps? More specifically, can you make a living (or earn some side money) in 2023 by selling a desktop app?Asked previously -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30027925

jokethrowaway · Accepted Answer

yes there are some indie makers doing itopen up twitter and look for mentions of MMRit can work, but B2C is more ruthless than B2Binstalling a desktop app is more friction than opening a website

fuzztester · Answer

Thanks for asking.Interesting to me, and I'm sure, to many others too, although HN seems heavily web-tech-biased, for well-known reasons, which I won't get into.There are sure to be some, if not many, people building such apps and making money from them.Check HN user desktopapp's post on HN a while ago in a similar thread, in which they mentioned that they were making 750k per year from their app.Andy Brice (hermitcrab on HN) has made a good living for years with his QT-based app PerfectTablePlan. His blog is successfulsoftware.net.There are other examples, too, and I'm sure some will not be visible because they don't want competition.

hightrix · Answer

Yes. In an industry where PHI and PII must be protected at all costs, sometimes it makes more sense to build a desktop app.That isn&rsquo;t to say we only build desktop apps, far from it. But the skill set is needed.

mortallywounded · Answer

There are a good number of people making a living from desktop apps. However, many of these desktop apps are actually web apps in disguise (Electron, Tauri, etc).The number of actual desktop applications making money are shrinking, but non-zero...

Anyone making a living building desktop applications?

Are people still building desktop apps? More specifically, can you make a living (or earn some side money) in 2023 by selling a desktop app?
Asked previously -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30027925

yes there are some indie makers doing it
open up twitter and look for mentions of MMR
it can work, but B2C is more ruthless than B2B
installing a desktop app is more friction than opening a website

Yes. In an industry where PHI and PII must be protected at all costs, sometimes it makes more sense to build a desktop app.
That isn’t to say we only build desktop apps, far from it. But the skill set is needed.

There are a good number of people making a living from desktop apps. However, many of these desktop apps are actually web apps in disguise (Electron, Tauri, etc).
The number of actual desktop applications making money are shrinking, but non-zero...