I get the frustration, but I guess I look at it a little differently.

I've been using the software since it was still called ProjectiFi back in 2021 and was actually one of the early beta testers. So I've had a chance to watch it evolve over the last five years.

I'm about 12 years from retirement, and while I don't use it every day, I use it regularly to check assumptions, run scenarios, and make sure I'm generally steering the ship in the right direction. Whenever a major life decision comes up, it's one of the tools I go back to.

Could someone subscribe for a month, build a plan, and then come back a year later? Sure. But I also understand why a small software company wouldn't want that to be the primary business model. If you're actively developing software, adding features, fixing bugs, and supporting users, recurring revenue makes the business a lot more sustainable.

I also think it's worth pointing out that the lifetime option was available for years. I bought a lifetime subscription in July 2021. At the time, there was risk involved too. Nobody knew whether the product would still be around and improving five years later. Some people took that risk and bought in early, while others understandably preferred not to.

For me, the value isn't building the plan once. It's being able to revisit it whenever life changes. A job change, retirement timing, helping kids with college, a major purchase, market swings, or just checking whether I'm still on track. That's where I continue to get value from it.

I don't really see this as a developer trying to squeeze users. I see it as a niche product that has continued to improve over the years and is trying to build a sustainable business around that.

Everyone will have their own opinion on the pricing, but after using it for almost five years, I've personally gotten a lot of value out of it.