In microsaas b2b that targets other startups, the average customer churns in about 4 to 18 months.
So let's say I priced my tool at $15/mo, as many of the competitors. This would mean that an average user LifeTimeValue would be somewhere around $199. Which means that selling it for $199 upfront actually is a better option for me, because I get money upfront and it's exact same LTV.
Some users will pay 199 and stay with for 10 years. But some will close down their site in 3 months. So in average, I will get same outcome.
When it comes to sign ups, if the startup is healty, its signup must be growing Month over MOnth. Not just as cumulative value, but in general, if I had 10 sign ups this month, I must get at least 11 next month, to maintain 10% MoM growth and double every year. In this case, my revenue is not recurring, but if you zoom out and look at the numbers, then it's like a floating window, I get growing monthly revenues, even from LTDs.
So long story short: revenuewise, there is no difference between $199 LTD or $19/mo. But marketing-wise, LTDs are far better, I stand out from all the competitors now and my growth rate is pretty high.