Because of bonus extensions I got with a couple of hardware purchases my subscription is paid up through April 2024, so jumping on the lifetime sub before the price increase doesn’t really make sense for me.
Also, y’know… I’ll be nearly 72 by that point so I guess it’ll be year to year for me in this as in most things. 
Is that tongue-in-cheek? If not, then I read it as a threat that if you don’t go for lifetime now, you will regret it later.
I am new to the Roon family having taken the plunge to a year subscription only last week, I also invested in a 2nd hand NUC onto which I have installed Rock, but I haven’t had much time to use and play with the system and I’m not sure whether to just stick to it for a year or take the plunge and buy the lifetime pass as I am still within my first 30 days and I could get it for $580. It is a lot of money and a bit off putting. But also nothing is permanent so noone knows if Roon will be here in years to come or if it will be taken over by a big conglomerate who might then change the subscription plans and cancel the lifetime passes people have already purchased.
Roon Labs turnover was $5 million in 2021, not too bad for a small company. It can definitely be an acquisition target for a bigger player.
It was not tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not a threat either. There is no desire for pain or retribution. I’m only stating the thought process, and how we considered the exchange rates when setting this price.
That said, on Jan 1, 2023, prices go up to $829 for the lifetime. This has been announced (currently being shown on Pricing - Roon Labs) and also has been emailed to many people. In the future, the lifetime may go up again, or the lifetime option may be killed off completely.
A similar warning was often mentioned last time before lifetime went up. A lot of people regretted not heeding it then too.
In a way, I wish you had killed it off already. Then I would not have to agonize over it.
Today’s lifetime price compared to the new annual price means it’s worth 4.67 years. That’s quite a long time in the hi-tech industry. Who knows what will happen in that time?
My wife says we should stay on the annual plan, even though it will be going up 25%.
Nah, lifetime is a great option - pay once, and never agonise over it again 
Buy it and you can stop agonizing as well
This is a bit like people agonizing over when to enter the stock market because next week or next year could be better:
However, you never know, and the best time is always “now” compared to “never” caused by always agonizing over it.
Exchange rates work both ways. When I bought lifetime at $499 the UK exchange rate was really good. I didn’t get anyone using dollars throwing rocks at me.
A couple of thoughts:
it would be better to allow annual subs to move to the lifetime sub at any point before their annual renewal date (instead of before the Jan 1, 2023 deadline). (Obviously, the total cost is the same… but users on an annual sub would be given more time to decide on the annual/lifetime route)
when people move to the lifetime sub, they lose the benefits of any bonus sub included with future Roon Store purchases
My annual sub renews in June, but I’ll wait until Dec 31 to buy the lifetime sub.
Just checked with Management. 
I paid via PayPal for my Lifetime subscription. I had multiple options with PayPal on how to pay.
pay the full amount in one go
pay over 3 months (no interest %)
PayPal credit with 4 months at 0% interest, after that interest is applied (your interest rate may vary to mine)
The 2nd and 3rd options softens the blow rather than paying the whole amount in one go.
After you’ve contacted Roon and expressed your wish to pay via PayPal, they’ll ask for your email address linked to your PayPal account. You’ll then receive an invoice via PayPal and your payment choice is up to you.
It didn’t take long for Roon to organise this for me, but be patient as if a number of you approach them it could take a little longer.
Wjat´s the difference? Once lifetime starts it is lifetime. You still need ro sibscribe/pay this year.
What’s the chance of Roon removing Lifetime subscription for a certain version?
Example. Version 4.0 is a MAJOR update, and it would require a new subscription, so we’re killing lifetime with version 4.0. Once version 5 is released, you’d ask to take out a new subscription (yearly/monthly).
The answer has always been that lifetime is lifetime.
And, yet… We hear it all the time with it being killed off with software. Lifetime isn’t lifetime, it never has and never will be. The amount of times I’ve seen it happen and been burned myself.
Zero.
We just released 2.0 and it kept working for lifetimers.
You’ve heard it from me. If you don’t want to believe me, that’s fine, but don’t go spreading misinformation on our forum.
From the horse’s mouth: An original Roon “lifetime” license purchaser will always get what a Roon annual/monthly purchaser would get, for no additional cost. Neigh.
It’s interesting that some - possibly most - of the angst expressed here is caused by the lifetime option. If the options were simply monthly or yearly, people might be annoyed by the increase but they wouldn’t have to wrestle with the complexity of the choices and the consequences of choosing (nor not choosing) lifetime versus the alternatives. I’m a lifetime subscriber but I wonder why this option is continuing to be offered considering Roon’s ambivalence and the sense that it’s contributing to the issues here, not helping with them.
Roon is as essential for me as any other piece of music gear or any other recurring service I pay for. It’s a fascinatingly complex thing - as a software and services guy for 30+ years, I’m constantly amazed at how much tech there is in Roon. Cores on various runtimes, apps across platforms, integration with Sonos/Linn/etc., RAAT, DSP, really robust database management including backup / restore, extensions, streaming service integration, library management, in-place update, and more. Plus, in my opinion, a uniquely gorgeous user experience with a coherent design language across fontography, layout, controls. I feel like I get my money’s worth and even though my lifetime sub insulates me from this price increase, I understand it.
The only thing I’d ask for is an increased commitment to quality. The Linn and ROCK issues this week are an example. Even though the bits that can break are running on infrastructural components hosted in people’s homes, Roon should still operate as a “service” with a reasonable number of 9’s in uptime. It can’t go “out” for a week or more as a result of an update. I hope you folks think about this as you go forward - you have scale issues and you’ve made your lives really tough by being so generous in your support of platforms and runtimes. It’s super tough to be “dial tone” when your product is as expansive as Roon and you choose to sim-ship everything. Minimally, you’d benefit from an increase in support activity on this forum as well as a better model for communication about issues and incidents. That would be a helpful start.
In any case, I do love the product and I’m grateful for it - it’s worth every penny I paid and I’m glad to see you making changes to increase the likelihood that you’ll be successful and stick around for a very long time.
I understood that Roon’s preference is that we do not purchase a lifetime subscription: an earlier explanation was that the company needs to live from recurring revenue and lifetime subscription was only there to generate a good cash position at the start of this adventure.
As a relatively long time supporter, paying annual subscription fees since 2017, I would like to understand if and how Roon rewards loyalty.
Took the opportunity to go lifetime US$ 699. Been on subscription for 3 years now and hope I can break even before I expire…