IMHO, there are issues on both sides. Using words like "lifetime deals" entice customers but also sets expectations which might be hard to maintain. Especially

IMHO, there are issues on both sides. Using words like "lifetime deals" entice customers but also sets expectations which might be hard to maintain. Especially when when companies they oversold their promises and the generated fees might not be enough to hire devs and keep the product running. Personally, I think lifetime should at least include 5 years of service, irrespective of version changes. From the looks of it, the lifetime plugin sold very well and Appsumo realized later that web app and subscription model are a much better fit. So, I doubt they knew 3 months ago that they might end up doing this. On the flip side, companies do grandfather existing customers to newer and potentially expensive plans. So, if the webapp is better and faster then I think asking people for more money isn't wrong. If the wordpress plugin continues to work and is updated then it is an expected solution.