As I tend to go for the long game and expect to use it for years, I went for the lifetime (in my case it'll pay off itself within about 3 years), I was using Google Cloud storage buckets for longer than that so you know - financially for me, it works to replace the monthly fees for Google Cloud which was already a concrete cost. These types of pricing agreements are usually not sustainable for a company long-term, I go into the agreement with eyes open and I've got rclone ready to move the data again if I have to migrate.

My actual expectation is that at some point, 500G will be "small" in provider terms and they'll offer upsells to 1TB, 2TB etc. over the life of my account trying to get me to the next level or some other features (which they already have - you can buy add-ons). Nothing wrong with that, I still get my portable 500G "for life" (of the Product) which suits my current space needs. I have enough portable space now that I can upload a hundred gigs of Music, something I wasn't able to do before (increased cost) and use that 500G space. (I had uploaded everything to Google Music over a decade...so... yeah)

(edit: typos, wrong word/replaced)

I am not here to do advertising of pCloud, but I´m 2TB lifetime user of pCloud and I'm using their Encryption add-on as my work position need this extra security for my working stuff. The investment is not high for 2TB, since I’ve been using pCloud for 3 years already, it paid for itself anyway. At the beginning I had some concerns losing my data in case of bankrupt of the company. But here I am – 3 years later, and so far, I’m happy with their services. And to be honest, in these uncertain times we live, I’d rather take the chance and try something new and useful than asking all the time “what if”.