Subscription models only make sense for an app/service that have recurring costs. In the case of Lemmy apps, the instances are the ones with recurring hosting costs, not the apps.
If an app doesn’t have recurring hosting costs, it only makes sense to have one up front payment and then maybe in app purchases to pay for new features going forward
That’s one possible future. Or you could go out of your way to not get subscriptions.
I have two digital subscriptions, Netflix and Disney+, and I’m considering cancelling them.
For music, I just buy what I want to listen to. I watch far less TV shows now because I find them very repetitive and low quality. I don’t watch many TV shows because I find video games and books more satisfying. And so on.
If a car requires a subscription, I’m not going to buy that car. If a TV comes with ads or a subscription, I’m not buying that TV. And so on. Unfortunately, the subscription model is very popular, but if enough people push back, alternatives will continue to exist.
I’m trying, but I see this going the same way as MTX in video games.