I have a software product that began with a traditional SaaS model before I realized that usage was project-driven/sporadic and it was better for the customer t

I have a software product that began with a traditional SaaS model before I realized that usage was project-driven/sporadic and it was better for the customer to do a pay-as-you-go model with no subscriptions. What happened after I made the switch away from subscriptions? I received a bunch of support questions asking for the subscription options back. People were truly confused/upset that hosted software wasn't being sold on a monthly or annual subscription basis - even though per-project was more flexible and cheaper for them. My takeaway is that - for better or worse - the SaaS subscription model is just so expected among buyers these days that to defy those expectations is just going to shoot yourself in the foot.