For the current major version, yes. You never pay again for what you bought.

Is this a good model for everything?

No — for team collaboration platforms, subscription is honest. For a personal encryption tool, perpetual license is the right fit.

Answers/The movement queries

The case for buying software once and owning it forever

For thirty years the norm was 'buy the box, own the software'. For the last ten it has been 'pay every month, or the software stops'. Both models can be honest — subscription pays for continuous work; perpetual license pays for a finished thing. The question is which shape fits which kind of software.

What subscription earns

Cloud infrastructure. Cross-device sync. Real-time collaboration. Continuous engineering. If you use those, the subscription is fair. Nobody keeps the servers running for free.

What perpetual license earns

Durability. Ownership. The right to not upgrade. The right to keep using the version that works. The freedom to walk away from the company and keep your tool.

Elba's shape

One-time purchase. Price falls every year until 1 January 2030, when the source becomes free. You own the file. No account, no server-dependency, no upgrade nag.

Questions people actually ask

Do I get updates?: For the current major version, yes. You never pay again for what you bought.
Is this a good model for everything?: No — for team collaboration platforms, subscription is honest. For a personal encryption tool, perpetual license is the right fit.

Take the island

Elba is one HTML file. It runs locally in a Chromium browser, seals a folder with AES-256-GCM, never phones home, and becomes open source on 1 January 2030.

€49MMXXVI· now ·
€39MMXXVII2027
€29MMXXVIII2028
€19MMXXIX2029
FreeMMXXX2030

the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030

Take the island — €49

pay once · no account · nothing leaves