I am undecided if to go for the lifetime subscription or the yearly one.
My question is if I go for the lifetime one how can I be sure Roon will still be going in a few years time?
Basically four years is the breakeven point. Roon is a lot stronger than it was when I joined in Spring 2016. Eight more months and I’m playing on the bank’s money.
Edit: Like anything it’s a gamble, but IMO it’s a pretty safe bet.
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How can you be sure you’ll be going in a few years time?
Nothing’s guaranteed.
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Well if i go my kids are guaranteed to get my money.
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Yes (well hopefully most of it) but not your Roon license as that’s not transferable 
Death is part of all of our futures.
No one knows if today is the last of their lifetime.
Impermanence is life.
I think we may be straying away from the topic here.
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The lifetime subscription to Roon is the cost of an entry level component. You can always start with an annual subscription and convert to lifetime. All you would lose is the months used on the annual subscription. If you decide after four months you want to go lifetime, you’d purchase the lifetime subscription and get a refund from Roon for 2/3 of the single year annual subscription. Only you can decide which option is better for you, but there is a pretty large user base, so I don’t see Roon going under anytime soon. It’s a $500 risk which decreases each year you use it until its paid off. It’s like my Solar PV system I installed in 2010. It was an Upfront investment, but I’m now on the “near free” electric bill program.
Back to your original post, a few years time (just over 4 years) would be a break even deal.
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Good point Robert.
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I have had a lifetime subsription for just over 4 years now, so I have reached the break-even point. It really did not seem that long. I don’t subscribe to any streaming services, so Roon is only managing albums that I own. Looking back, it’s software that I probably would have used almost every day, so it’s certainly been worth it. I hope that Roon thrives for at least another 4 years. I think it will.
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I think it’s a good bet. I still use Audirvana a bit, but have basically abandoned JRMC. Roon has a great interface, and in less than a year (joined April 2016) I’ll be on the house’s money. I use both Qobuz and Tidal, so the Roon interface is ever helpful there. I don’t see Roon folding, but its being sold is a possibility… maybe even to a big company, like Apple or Amazon…
I just ticked over 4 years, so it’s pure profit from here on in !
cackles maniacally
A deteriorating exchange rate and introduction of GST on foreign software licence payments have also made the lifetime decision look good.
And this is the fly in the ointment for Roon viability. Although, I suppose the ratio of lifetime to yearly is low enough to not make this a concern.
BTW - I’m going into my 3rd year.
It’s less of a problem than it might seem because, as I understand it, the licensing fees Roon pays are also on an annual/life basis per user. So Roon is not making a loss on me.
I also only use Roon for my own collection.
I don’t know if it is my mind playing tricks but to me Roon sounds better than JRMC as well as better interface,
So, like much corporate software, licensing is on a per seat basis. Never considered that.
Still, continued lifer licensing seems a little short sighted, but I guess that’s easy for me to say.
On the plus side, no lifer option would stop this agonizing over what license to get and the inevitable schemes of how yearly fees should be converted to a life time license.
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There are no guarantees, of course. I was asking myself the same thing four years ago when I purchased a lifetime sub at a slight discount. It has now paid for itself and I no longer ask that question.
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given the preponderance of roon ready gear these days I reckon 4 years is a good bet for the sake of $500.
Based on the quality of the product it should be around. For me, well worth the lifetime price. If it went away tomorrow we would still have the software and with the seamless integration of Qobuz I could live with the current baseline.
If roon did go away I’m pretty sure Qobuz integration would go with it as it needs continuous online updates and control which would no longer be there. Not that I see it happening unless there is a major shift somewhere.