I understand the appeal of a one-time purchase—I'm not a fan of subscriptions myself. As a solo developer, I genuinely appreciate the desire for a lifetime option. However, for a project like Syncler, offering a lifetime license simply isn't viable, and here’s why:
If, for any reason—whether burnout, changing regulations, or unforeseen circumstances—I’m forced to shut down the project, anyone who purchased a "lifetime" license would understandably feel shortchanged. I could technically cover this with fine print (e.g., “valid while the service is operational”), but ethically, I don’t want to make promises I might not be able to keep.
Even if I price a "lifetime" plan assuming five years of use, from year six onward I’d be funding the infrastructure myself. Server costs fluctuate—dramatically so in some regions, as we’ve seen with geopolitical events like the war in Ukraine affecting European hosting prices. Without external funding or investors (as platforms like Stremio have), this isn’t sustainable.
I’ve explored alternatives—like offering 5- or 10-year access keys—but they come with similar problems. If the project ever needs to be discontinued, I’d either have to keep it running out of obligation or find a way to issue refunds, which is especially complicated without access to payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe due to regional restrictions.
I understand this perspective may not resonate with everyone, and I may lose some users because of it—but that's a trade I'm willing to make. I’ll always choose integrity over short-term profit.