Yeah the rental/subscription model is what turned me away from CLion. It was cool while it was still in free-trial mode and I'd have happily paid for it as an app that doesn't require a subscription.
I really dislike it and every time my license expires I somehow end up getting screwed over. I'll be using version X, then pay for a year license, use version X for the entire year, never upgrade, and then after a year when the license expires all of the sudden I'm locked out of version X and told my "fallback" version is some version older than X. Why isn't my fallback version the latest stable version at the time I purchased the product?
The money is entirely worth it, to me. And I pay for it out of pocket rather than billing my employer for it, even. And I'll still be able to use the latest version I had at the time the sub ended.
You should consider having it paid by your employer, even with some chargeback on your pay you would save on taxes.
I don't like having my employer pay for tools that I also use for my own open source IP.
you are not renting but paying for updates. The latest version when your subscription ends is what you are licensed for. I think it's after 1 year though.