[ Update: I wrote a long post trying to explain some of what it takes to keep Simplify running and why a one-time payment wouldn't keep the lights on: https://on.simpl.fyi/p/complexity-of-simplify ]

I appreciate the balance and candor in your review. It is totally understandable that making something that was free not free isn't a positive experience.

I agree it is a switch. I disagree it is a bait-n-switch. You didn't pay for one thing and get another. Just just got it for free for 2+ years.

I'm not sure of another way to have done it. When I first launched v1, I thought maybe it would be easy (aka very little work) to maintain or that others would chip in. It is not easy to maintain and others did not chip in. So either I just stop maintaining it and it slowly dies or I needed to find a way to afford to keep putting in the hours. And given it is mostly the ongoing maintenance you are funding, an ongoing payment (e.g. a subscription) made the most sense to me.

I think the default setup gives you optimal line-lengths but I've learned that some people get a lot of large tables or inline diagrams in their email. So I have recently added options to change the max-width on the list and conversation view.