I don’t think so. Even if it’s a guaranteed annual expense, the fact that you have to make the decision each year is key.
One aspect of subscriptions I plan to write about is the difference in what subscribers receive, as suggested by @bva. Some of the types include:
- Access (permissions-based access to an app or service)
- Maintenance/upgrades (only receive changes if you subscribe)
- Issuance (receive new content while subscribing)
- Usage (benefit based on consumption, as with cloud storage)
- Insurance (reduced exposure to high-impact events)
- Convenience (bundles to reduce cost or increase convenience)
Software generally uses an access model (where you lose access to the app as soon as you stop paying) or a maintenance model (where you lose upgrades, so the software slowly degrades over time).
You have a little while, since this article will run in TidBITS on Monday, January 26, and then I’ll be writing up the results for Monday, February 2. So if you can get your numbers in by the end of January, they’ll be counted.