I think you are being a little naive about this.<p>I am sure (much like the cable company does with &quot;introductory&quot; rates) that JetBrains was careful to set an initial price point that makes this a competitive offer.<p>The problem (as better stated elsewhere) is that the relationship is changed going forward.  If they decide to raise the rates you are now left with the decision to continue at a less advantageous rate or have no product at all.<p>In addition, you assume that a major release per year is an inevitability.  There may very well be no compelling reason to update... but it won&#x27;t matter in this instance because you will pay no matter what.<p>teacup50 did a better job describing this...