My Opinion: Lifetime licenses are not good value

[Ink]

From On Sale! - Windscribe VPN: Lifetime Pro Subscription (ending in: 6 days)


Original value of $900? Oh please.

According to Windscribe's website (Pricing), the most popular subscription is the Yearly Plan of $49 USD per year.

Most Free tier users won't have thought about parting with $49 for a VPN, especially if they are satisfied with the current service.

In my opinion - these Lifetime offers are quick grab for cash. Not good value. And it's also safe to assume Neowin earn a commission from selling astronomical mega-saving deals.

"Why sell for $49, when you can make a quick $59".

Disclaimer: I'm not saying Windscribe is a bad product. It's your money, spend it how you like. This is my view/opinion on lifetime licenses offers.

*Let's say prices are fixed for that long.

 

[upnorth]

Hear hear!

I feel a bit sad when I see good products/vendors going down this road. It smells desperate IMO.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Also things change fast these days.
Software you like today may not be that great in one year from now.
I wouldn't recommend buying a licence for more than one year.

 

[Atlas147]

I feel that companies can only provides an certain amount of years of good service before they start losing money from lifetime licenses. Not sure how they are earning money through the lifetime licenses especially if the service requires a server to be up 24/7 365 days a year. Maybe after a certain amount of time they'd just close shop and revoke all the lifetime licenses?

 

[3e6-16hn]

I feel that companies can only provides an certain amount of years of good service before they start losing money from lifetime licenses. Not sure how they are earning money through the lifetime licenses especially if the service requires a server to be up 24/7 365 days a year. Maybe after a certain amount of time they'd just close shop and revoke all the lifetime licenses?

You can read their explanation about lifetime here Lifetime Subscription FUD – Windscribe

 

[Atlas147]

You can read their explanation about lifetime here Lifetime Subscription FUD – Windscribe

ah I see, that would make sense but what is a little worrisome is that if the company keeps having a lifetime license deal over and over again

 

[Deleted member 178]

Lifetime licenses are short business/marketing plan, they are made to create and consolidate a user base for a newly/not-so-known company, then once set; lifetime licenses are abandoned in profit of monthly/yearly ones.

 

[Moonhorse]

Im too paranoid to buy anything online anyways, so im always just sticking to free products

People buy games to play them
term is buy to play
so isnt game a license aswell

 

[Azure]

You can read their explanation about lifetime here Lifetime Subscription FUD – Windscribe

We will have to wait and see. If the company is still around in 5-10 years while promoting lifetime license, it means their business model actually worked despite the perceive limitations by some.

 

[Atlas147]

The only software which lifetime licenses are worth it for are software that don't require any server usage or regular updates. Something like mail clients are a good example of lifetime licenses because they don't require constant updates and don't require connection to a server 24/7.

Other products like VPNs and cloud storage which rely heavily on servers and use a ton of bandwidth on them are not great for lifetime licenses because over the long run the company is sure to lose money no matter how many licenses they sell.

 

[509322]

From On Sale! - Windscribe VPN: Lifetime Pro Subscription (ending in: 6 days)


Original value of $900? Oh please.

According to Windscribe's website (Pricing), the most popular subscription is the Yearly Plan of $49 USD per year.

Most Free tier users won't have thought about parting with $49 for a VPN, especially if they are satisfied with the current service.

In my opinion - these Lifetime offers are quick grab for cash. Not good value. And it's also safe to assume Neowin earn a commission from selling astronomical mega-saving deals.

"Why sell for $49, when you can make a quick $59".

Disclaimer: I'm not saying Windscribe is a bad product. It's your money, spend it how you like. This is my view/opinion on lifetime licenses offers.

*Let's say prices are fixed for that long.

Read the terms. I'd bet that in the terms they can cancel a license at any time (for price refactoring).

 

[Weebarra]

I don't trust them. When i see lifetime, i expect it to be MY lifetime not what they deem to be a lifetime. I don't have much money so i can't afford to lose my money should that business fold or decide to move on to another project and abandon what i paid good money for.

 

[Deleted member 178]

I don't trust them. When i see lifetime, i expect it to be MY lifetime not what they deem to be a lifetime.

hahahaha it is Your misconception, "lifetime" was never about yours, it is the one of the product/version.

 

[TairikuOkami]

When a lifetime licence costs less than 3-5 year licence, it is worth it, otherwise not really.

 

[Weebarra]

hahahaha it is Your misconception, "lifetime" was never about yours, it is the one of the product/version.

That as maybe but recently i had the need to contact a big company regarding a product i bought 3½ years ago and out of warranty (not IT or software related) which broke down on it's 3rd use. On the companies home page it states "***** - invented for life" (i starred that because it seems unfair to name them) and i asked them what life meant to them as i don't constitute life to be 3 uses or even 3½ years, after some emailing back and forward, they sent me a new product as they are the ones who said it was invented for life ... not me.

Maybe i'll try it again with some lifetime license (JOKE)

 

[SumTingWong]

Lifetime licenses are the quick way to get bankrupt. How the company will pay employees for the next 2 or 3 years if they are selling lifetime licenses?

 

[ForgottenSeer 69673]

I been using Windscribe for along time. I use the free version. You get 1 gig of data but if you give them your e-mail address, you get ten gig of which I have never used because I don't run the VPN full time. I could see paying for it if I lived in one of the countries the free version doesn't support.

 

[uduoix]

Lifetime licenses are the quick way to get bankrupt. How the company will pay employees for the next 2 or 3 years if they are selling lifetime licenses?

Company disappear and show finger to lifetime buyers. Some of them come back with different name and continue with 'work'

 

[ForgottenSeer 58943]

I've had amazingly good luck with Lifetime Licenses..

1) Malwarebytes - yup, I still have 8 of those lifetimes, all work fine.
2) Stickypassword - multiple ones, still working great.
3) Zemana - still have that one, works great!
4) Adguard - still have a stack of those, working nicely.
5) Password Generator (undisclosed name) - working great.
6) Encryption tool - working great, I use it almost daily.
7) Revo Uninstaller Pro - working great, still updating fine.
8) STAMP (for moving from music service to music service - working great, years later.

That's just off the top of my head.. The only ones I have been burned on was PasswordBox who was bought out by Intel, which offered a paltry 1 year free for their stupid Truekey, which I declined. Admuncher, Murray Hurps is a felon that hosed everyone. Otherwise, everything else has gone fine.

I've recently added 8 lifetime Heimdal licenses and 2 Windscribe Licenses. Windscribe is very nice, speedy, I'm pulling 300-400Mbps sustained on their VPN when I need it. I bought extras for when we're all on the go. It's as good as PIA for the most part but PIA won't offer lifetime so I switched away. Heimdal is going nowhere, and I have that on good authority, their business is BOOMING right now.

Also note. Windscribe lifetime only lasts 10 years and your account is closed UNLESS you notify their customer service in advance. At which point they will extend it another decade. That process must be repeated every 10 years. But really, at $59? It's a no brainer to buy into it because they offer a very nice, speedy service.

 

[ForgottenSeer 69673]

I've had amazingly good luck with Lifetime Licenses..

1) Malwarebytes - yup, I still have 8 of those lifetimes, all work fine.
2) Stickypassword - multiple ones, still working great.
3) Zemana - still have that one, works great!
4) Adguard - still have a stack of those, working nicely.
5) Password Generator (undisclosed name) - working great.
6) Encryption tool - working great, I use it almost daily.
7) Revo Uninstaller Pro - working great, still updating fine.
8) STAMP (for moving from music service to music service - working great, years later.

That's just off the top of my head.. The only ones I have been burned on was PasswordBox who was bought out by Intel, which offered a paltry 1 year free for their stupid Truekey, which I declined. Admuncher, Murray Hurps is a felon that hosed everyone. Otherwise, everything else has gone fine.

I've recently added 8 lifetime Heimdal licenses and 2 Windscribe Licenses. Windscribe is very nice, speedy, I'm pulling 300-400Mbps sustained on their VPN when I need it. I bought extras for when we're all on the go. It's as good as PIA for the most part but PIA won't offer lifetime so I switched away. Heimdal is going nowhere, and I have that on good authority, their business is BOOMING right now.

Also note. Windscribe lifetime only lasts 10 years and your account is closed UNLESS you notify their customer service in advance. At which point they will extend it another decade. That process must be repeated every 10 years. But really, at $59? It's a no brainer to buy into it because they offer a very nice, speedy service.

are you using the free version of Heimdal or the pro version? I used it for a while but found I did not need it with my current config.