I think jetbrains really got it right. Everyone I know has been giving jetbrains money forever, and I don't think I've ever heard a complaint about their pricing or business model.
The switch to the current pricing model was anything but smooth. The uproar was so bad they had to come back with a revised plan. A lot of people were still upset with the revised plan after it launched.
In they end they listened to their customers. I use clion regularly for personal work. It's not eggregiously expensive and new features are always comming in so I feel like I get my money's worth and it's not cost prohibative.
Not my site, but this blog entry explains what happened: http://muppetgate.github.io/the-jetbrains-subscription-blood...