Free.
Public infrastructure. Tools that should never have cost money.
The category exists because some tools belong in the commons. A lossless FDX converter is plumbing. An open-spec inspector is plumbing. Plumbing should be free, and the studio that ships it should say so out loud.
Free forever. No tier. No upsell. Public goods.
- Plumbing belongs in the commons.
- Free tools seed every paid conversation.
- The studio that builds public goods can charge fairly for the rest. The studio that doesn’t, can’t.