It doesn't actually have to be lifetime to be well worth it, though. For services with recurring fees there's obviously a break-even point that's simple to calculate. And often you can expect that recurring fee will increase at some point, so that break-even point will often come sooner than expected.

I bought an Emby Premier subscription 8 years ago for $120. You can also pay yearly at $55 dollars. So even if it's not _actually_ a "lifetime" it's been well worth it and pays for itself in a little over two years.