Warning: The following is a useless rant.
Every now and then, I think I should get a Roon lifetime license.
And every time, I find it too expensive.
Then I make up my mind and come back to it, eventually willing to jump the step...
To discover that the price increased ridiculously.
I like Roon idea, but hate you need a dedicated server running 24/7 for it.
I also hate subscription fee-based licenses.
I'd be ready to invest in Roon at $500 for a lifetime license. Maybe $600.
But now it's $830.
No way.
And since that will lead me nowhere, I'll stop my subscription.
Totally understandable. In my case, I already had a NUC running 24/7 anyway, so that wasn’t an issue. I had started a subscription after the initial trial ended. Shortly after it started is when they announced the price increase. I already had a USB drive with over 1TB of music on it, and Roon had me hooked.
I agree with you on subscription pricing for software. It kinda rubs me the wrong way, too. So, on the eve of the price increase (I was still in the first 30 days of my subscription), after arguing with myself briefly, I pulled the trigger and upgraded to the lifetime by convincing myself I was already in for the first year, so it was almost like a percent off coupon to buy the lifetime. Oh, the things we do to justify our purchases even to ourselves.
I don’t regret my decision at all, but it definitely doesn’t make sense for everyone. Maybe I’d feel different if I‘d had one of the support experiences I’ve read about here, but so far, any issues I have had were easily resolvable with a bit of searching.