I hate all the subscription-based tool and cloud-based tools requiring internet connection just to be able to open and can’t view your former data in them, which I may or may not use once very week or month. (I find them excessively unnecessary, as the scammy WeWork.)
I’m still using the former king of keyword desktop tool, **Market Samurai**. It has been around since 2009, and I have been using it consistently since 2013. I would probably consider this my BEST investment for SEO. It’s only a one-time fee around $100 (and even cheaper if they have deals going on). This is the only tool I basically use for keywords, and it has other built-in features that are free that you would pay a subscription for from other greedy tool providers.
Everybody is pushing these subscription-based, cloud-based, and RENTING (not OWNING) software so they can get their recurring affiliate commissions. OWNING is always so much better than RENTING, plus it’s a software not real estate, so you as an owner don’t have house maintenance. That’s pretty the case with Market Samurai, with it used to be talked about a lot and raved by marketers UNTIL these subscription products started coming out so it’s not enticing for them to promote these one-time cost products.
Overall, if these words are involved “subscription” or “monthly/recurring/yearly payments,” I avoid. I don’t mind paying for the updates when I find myself using the software again, but not when I’m paying every month and find myself only using it a couple of times a year.