Subscription Lifestyle

In today’s fast-moving constantly-changing economy, ownership is quietly giving way to access. From transportation (Ola, Uber, Zipcar) to entertainment (Netflix, Spotify), clothing (Rent the Runway), housing (Airbnb), and furniture (Fernish, Furlenco, Rentomojo), the subscription lifestyle is now common. Amid this shift, one question remains important: what is worth owning?

The subscription economy1 is growing fast. Zuora’s Subscription Economy Index showed a 435% rise in nine years. It grew much faster than the S&P 500.2 People like access because it is flexible, convenient, and requires less money upfront.

Younger generations, especially Millennials3 and Gen Z,4 are leading this change. Many cannot afford to buy homes. They prefer flexibility over permanence. Subscriptions allow seasonal wardrobes, travel without mortgages, and scalable digital tools.

This shift is happening globally. In the UK and Europe, subscription models are thriving. Cazoo offers car subscriptions. Grover, based in Berlin, rents electronics. Scandinavian users choose furniture and clothing subscriptions as part of the circular economy.

Asia also shows strong growth. In Japan, minimalist culture supports services like airCloset, which rents AI-selected clothing. China saw a surge in platforms like YCloset, which scaled fashion rentals before its acquisition. In India, startups like Furlenco, and RentoMojo rent furniture and appliances to young urban professionals. These services offer both ease and affordability.

Rent Everything

The core idea behind subscriptions is the freedom they offer. Philosopher Byung-Chul Han, in The Burnout Society, (pdf) described modern people as constantly optimizing. Subscriptions fit into that mindset. Why keep something heavy when you can trade it for something new?

There are practical reasons, too. Renting reduces waste and overproduction. It lets more people access premium products. Subscriptions are efficient in a fast-changing world.

In Europe, the EU promotes circular economies.5 The European Green Deal supports sustainable, service-based models. In India, urban migration and high living costs prompt people to opt for renting. In China, apps like WeChat make managing subscription services easy.

What Should We Own

Even minimalist cultures value permanence. The Japanese idea of wabi-sabi6 sees beauty in used, imperfect things. Danish hygge7 celebrates comfort and familiarity.

Some possessions are worth keeping:

Choosing to own something can be an act of care. Philosopher Albert Borgmann, in Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life, described “focal practices.” He said meaning comes from effort, not convenience. Cooking your meals or fixing your bike creates deeper connections than renting tools. Ownership builds intimacy. You can repair and rely on things you own.

In the UK, rising prices are making people anxious about their subscriptions. In Japan, durable goods are still valued. In India, families often pass down heirlooms, such as furniture or jewelry. Ownership means tradition, function, and care.

ChatGPT Prompt: A super-clean high-resolution wide landscape 16:9 picture depicting minimal ownership of a workspace in a cozy room. Think Scandinivian style meet Japanese minimalism. However, have a Herman Miller Aeron chair and a solid walnut desk with storage drawers.

A Middle Path - the Sweet Spot

A balanced approach may be best. Subscribe to things you use rarely, or that lose value quickly. Own items that reflect your identity and support your goals. Curate your space with intention.

Minimalist writer Joshua Becker says minimalism does not mean owning anything. It means owning only what adds value.

The subscription lifestyle offers freedom, flexibility, and simplicity. But the proper meaning may lie in what we choose to keep. In a world filled with temporary plans, owning a few meaningful things can remind us of what matters.

Not everything must be permanent. But some things should be. Knowing the difference is the real art of living well. Know what to keep and what to walk out from.

  1. The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It is particularly common now for digital products, which lend themselves more naturally toward a subscription model. Subscriptions can be a more convenient, hassle-free transaction for consumers. ↩

  2. The Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and includes approximately 80% of the total market capitalization of U.S. public companies, with an aggregate market cap of more than $49.8 trillion as of March 31, 2025. ↩

  3. Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. Most millennials are the children of Baby Boomers. In turn, millennials are often the parents of Generation Alpha. ↩

  4. Gen Z, also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2010s as ending birth years with the generation loosely being defined as people born around 1997 to 2012. Most members of Generation Z are the children of Generation X. ↩

  5. Circular economy is a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. The concept aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The main three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. ↩

  6. In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘び寂び) centers on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It is often described as the appreciation of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.“ ↩

  7. Hygge is a word in Danish and Norwegian that describes a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality. As a cultural category with its sets of associated practices, hygge has more or less the same meaning in both places and in both languages; however, the emphasis on hygge as a core part of Danish culture is a recent phenomenon, dating to the late 20th century. In the 21st century, the concept has also been familiarized abroad. ↩