FairClone

Enshittification

/en-shit-ih-fih-kay-shun/ noun

The predictable pattern of how platforms decay. They start good, get you hooked, then gradually make the experience worse while extracting more value from you.

Coined by Cory Doctorow →

The Pattern

Stage 1: Be good to users
The platform offers great features, low prices, and respects your time and privacy. They need you to grow.
Stage 2: Abuse users to benefit business customers
Once they have enough users, the platform shifts focus. Features degrade, prices increase, ads appear. They're squeezing value from the user base they built.
Stage 3: Abuse everyone to benefit shareholders
Finally, they turn on everyone—users and business customers alike. The experience becomes hostile. They're maximizing short-term extraction before inevitable decline.

How It Shows Up

You've experienced this if you've ever said "this app used to be so much better." Here's what enshittification looks like:

Price changes
Sudden increases, new paywalls, forced subscriptions for features that were free
Features removed or degraded
Stuff that worked before now doesn't or is gone entirely
Ads and monetization
New ads, more intrusive ads, sponsored content everywhere
Worse user experience
Harder to use, dark patterns, forced app usage instead of web
Privacy and data concerns
More tracking, data selling, policy changes buried in updates

Why This Matters

Enshittification isn't inevitable—it's a choice companies make when they prioritize growth and extraction over users. The pattern repeats because there's been no consequence and no alternative.

Until now.

The age of AI and modern development tools means small, self-funded teams can build and run viable alternatives without venture capital or shareholders demanding perpetual growth. These teams can stay principled because they're not under pressure to enshittify.

When users signal demand for better alternatives, developers can see exactly what's needed and build it without guessing. No massive user acquisition costs. No pressure to "grow or die." Just sustainable products built for people who actually want them.

That's what we're changing. FairClone connects frustrated users with principled developers who can build alternatives that don't follow the enshittification playbook.

Learn More

Tech writer Cory Doctorow coined "enshittification" to describe this exact phenomenon. His 2023 essay on how platforms die resonated because we've all lived through it.

Read Cory Doctorow's original essay →

Want to dive deeper? Explore our curated resources on platform decay →

Ready to call out enshittified products?