The $220 price tag probably didn’t help.
I’ve been using TheBrain (previously called “PersonalBrain”) for more than a decade now and got a lot more value out of its graph-based navigation and spatial linking concept than I would have with any of the text/outliner-based tools that have been popping up recently (although I use some of them too, for different reasons).
But in general, I don’t mind subscriptions as a way to safely try some software.
$220 is on the high side, compared to SimpleMind which is around £30 (one-time).