The LTD Paradox: Why Smart Indie Hackers Embrace Lifetime Deals in 2025

Do not index

Canonical URL

Hide CTA

Related to Authors (1) (Content)

Turning down $1000 cash might be the worst business decision an early-stage indie hacker makes.

I know that sounds crazy. But hear me out.

When I saw a fellow indie hacker proudly announce they'd rejected a $1000 lifetime deal offer for their product, I couldn't help but think - "You might be making a mistake."

Not because lifetime deals are always right, but because dismissing them outright might be holding your business back.

For Elephas, we've always had an LTD plan. And it's been one of our smartest growth decisions.

The Religion of Recurring Revenue

Most indie hackers treat subscriptions like gospel.

They've been taught that MRR is the holy grail, that lifetime deals attract cheap customers, and that sustainable businesses are built on recurring revenue alone.

They dream of that predictable monthly revenue chart going up and to the right.

They want to be able to forecast next quarter's revenue with certainty. And they just want to build a "proper SaaS" like everyone else.

But I asked myself - does following the conventional playbook make sense when you're bootstrapping from zero?

Is turning away eager customers with cash in hand really the smart move?

The answer was a clear no.

The Subscription Fatigue Nobody Talks About

Here's what most indie hackers miss: subscription fatigue is real and it's getting worse.

I feel it myself when buying software for my business. Another $29/month here, $49/month there. Before you know it, you're managing dozens of subscriptions, constantly evaluating what to keep and what to cancel.

Customers are exhausted. They don't want to worry about future payments. They just want to "pay once and forget about it."

Yet we keep forcing the subscription model on them because that's what we've been told "real businesses" do.

The Math Most Indie Hackers Get Wrong

Let's talk numbers. If your average customer churns after 7 months, and they're paying $50/month, your actual customer lifetime value is $350.

Now someone offers you $500 for a lifetime deal.

You just made 43% more money. Upfront. Today.

But most indie hackers will refuse this because they're chasing the dream of that one customer who might stick around for 3 years.

Most won't.

Why LTDs Can Accelerate Your Growth

For Elephas, lifetime deals have been a growth engine, not a liability. Here's what that cash injection allows us to do:

1. Boost cash flow immediately - No waiting 7-12 months to collect the full customer value

2. Reinvest aggressively - That LTD revenue goes straight into marketing, letting us acquire more customers faster

3. Hire better talent - We can offer bonuses and competitive salaries because we have cash on hand

4. Build confidence - Nothing beats having money in the bank when you're bootstrapping

Many of our customers try Elephas for a month or two on subscription, then upgrade to lifetime. They're happy, we're happy.

Win-win.

When LTDs Actually Make Sense

Not every product should offer lifetime deals. But more should than currently do.

LTDs work best when:

You have low recurring costs per user

Your LTD price exceeds your actual (not hoped-for) customer lifetime value

You're in early-stage growth mode

You need cash flow more than perfect unit economics

Your customers are experiencing subscription fatigue in your market

Desktop apps, Chrome extensions, and one-time utility tools are perfect candidates. High-compute SaaS products need more careful consideration.

The Cost Structure Reality Check

"But what about AI costs?" someone asked me recently.

Yes, we have AI costs at Elephas. But here's our approach: we offer the "average" models directly because they're cheap enough to serve profitably. For the most expensive models, users bring their own API keys.

The average models deliver great output quality for 90% of use cases. We can offer them without incurring losses, and customers get the lifetime deal they want.

Not every product can do this. If you're building a video editing tool with massive rendering and transcoding costs, your unit economics look very different. One indie hacker told me their video processing costs dwarf their LLM costs by 10x.

Know your numbers. Understand your cost per user, your infrastructure needs, and your margin structure. Only then can you make an informed decision about LTDs.

The Elephas Playbook

We've continuously raised prices on all our plans - subscriptions and LTDs. Our lifetime deal started at $99. Then $199. Then $249. Now it's even higher.

And our LTD revenue has only gone up.

Customers who find value are happy to pay more for the peace of mind of never having another subscription. They budget for it differently - it's a one-time purchase, not an ongoing expense.

The cash from LTDs has directly funded:

Our SEO content strategy (now driving significant organic growth)

Performance improvements that benefit all users

New feature development

Team bonuses that keep talent motivated

Would we have grown as fast on pure subscriptions? I doubt it.

Alternative Models for High-Cost Products

If your cost structure genuinely makes LTDs impossible, consider alternatives:

Credit systems: Buy 1,000 credits for $X, use them over a year

Hybrid models: Lifetime access to basic features, credits for premium processing

Annual-only plans: Reduce payment friction while maintaining cash flow

The goal is to meet customers where they are, not force them into the model that's most convenient for you.

The Future Belongs to Flexible Monetization

I think new monetization models will need to evolve as subscription fatigue grows. The winners won't be the ones religiously following the SaaS playbook from 2015.

They'll be the ones who:

Understand their actual unit economics (not theoretical ones)

Listen to what customers actually want

Are willing to trade "perfect" business models for sustainable growth

Can think beyond the subscription-only dogma

Questions Every Indie Hacker Should Ask

Before you reject that next LTD request, ask yourself:

What's my actual (not hoped-for) customer lifetime value?

Can I price an LTD above that number?

What could I do with 12 months of revenue collected today?

Am I turning away eager customers because of dogma or data?

What are my true costs per user over their lifetime?

Building a sustainable business isn't about following a predetermined playbook. It's about understanding your costs, knowing your customers, and being flexible enough to meet the market where it is.

Sometimes that means offering lifetime deals. Sometimes it doesn't.

But dismissing them outright? That might be the most expensive principle you ever hold.

The game really changed for me when I stopped treating business advice as gospel and started thinking from first principles about what actually works for my specific situation.

Your business isn't a case study. It's a living thing that needs to adapt to survive and thrive.

Maybe it's time to reconsider those lifetime deals you've been rejecting.

Want to learn more about monetization strategies?

Make sure to sign up to my newsletter - Superframeworks, and join my free community - Indie Masterminds.

Cheers

Ayush 🙏