What exactly do you mean by lifetime here?

The upgrade between 3 and 4 was not free, but if you purchased 3.x a little time before 4.0 came out it would have been a free upgrade.  This is the same as v5 is free to those who purchased v4 recently.

Stardock have never sold a version of any software to the best of my knowledge which includes all new major versions for free.  How it works is you buy Fences 3 and you get all of the 3.x updates but a 4.0 is a paid extra (unless within the free upgrade window).  This is how it has always been.

Slight discrepancy in the wording here........

THIS IS A RIP-OFF!   

I'll look for alternatives, I won't buy any more products, it's just cheeky how people are being ripped off here

I agree with the previous posters.

Another thing that adds insult to injury is that there is hardly any innovations in the products,

so you get even less bang for the buck.

Stardock used to be innovators and I loved their software, but nowadays they just rehash the same old stuff.

Fences 5 has only a few more gimmicks in comparison to 4. Not worth the upgrade especially at those prices.

Some products have even lost significant features, for example Windowblinds which has become totally useless.

Thank god for "Rectify11" and "Mica for Everyone". Finally a completely dark OS, but not thanks to Stardock.

I do like Start11, but StartAllBack is equally good if not better. I'm still not sure which I will choose.

I wish Stardock could buy up Bins from 1UpIndustries and make a Windows 11 version, because it is the most brilliant app ever made. It should have been incorporated in Windows years ago.

I'm even considering moving back to W10 just because of missing the functionality of Bins. Everything that I did with one click now takes two or three clicks. It works on StartAllBack, but it crashes every minute or so. Sigh.

And I'm not even off topic because the original programmer of Bins is the same guy who programmed Fences. ))

This all is a hot topic for sure, I will attempt to actually give advice on it.

I would put staying with Fences 4 for the duration of Windows 11 as one of my top recommendations right now. Fences 4 should always have a 100 percent compatibility on Windows 11.

A permanent Fences 5 license is definitely priced as a luxury item and should be considered one. If you are able to dish out lots of money on software per year it could be considered. I wouldn't expect the average stardock user to purchase this though. I really do hope a Fences version loses it's luxury price tag eventually (maybe on steam)

If anyone does want Fences 5 then my top recommendation by far would be through object desktop. It is actually a great deal for anyone that has had a OD subscription in the past.

In my opinion, the idea of annual subscriptions just for Fences is very fuzzy right now and would be considered my least recommended way to get Fences 5. I will explain why. Windows 12 is expected to be released later this year and with it comes a bunch of unknowns. No one knows what Microsoft will be changing and no one knows what compatibility may be broken if any at all. Along with all the unknown's from Microsoft comes an equal amount of unknown's from stardock marketing strategy on how they will deliver their software to Windows 12. A potential problem could be this; All stardock software may become subscription based. If you want multiple software you may get trapped in single subscriptions with multiple products. This makes zero sense. The only sensible option with multiple products is object desktop as all software is bundled together

So my best advice to users is to either stick it out with Fences 4 and see how the Windows 12 landscape shapes up or to get Object Desktop which is more clear cut and dry with what you are getting.

I have written the company with the same complaint... What do you mean by lifetime.  IF for only Fences 5 then it has to last for 3 years to equal out or its not equitable.  I did a survey and got a 20 percent discount, but I guess I didn't wait for the server to update and I was changed the 9.99 ignoring the discount.  So I've asked for my money back and an explanation of what lifetime means.
I'm on 4, my wife's new machine is on 3 cuz I can't buy another 4 and the only difference is that 3 doesn't lock!
BTW 3 was offered to handle 3 machines, 4 a single machine.  Will see what they do.  Its not the 9.99 that matters, its
this subscription model.  Between Godaddy and all the updates yearly and other software companies, subscriptions are a headache.

Quicken went that route with a difference.  used to be 69.95, now 49 a year but there are no more versions like 11, 12, 13.
They just continually upgrade their product.  That works out well.

The issue is now that the life span of each version is now much shorter.  Taking that into consideration they have clearly priced it to try and drive people into the subscription model.  

Stardock are clearly trying to ensure that you don't "own" your software anymore unless you pay them an ongoing fee. From a consumer point of view, many many people don't consider this customer friendly. 

There should be an "upgrade" sku. Making people purchase full price for a couple of additional features is not cool. Someone could argue there is not enough change in 6.x to deserve a major version bump.

Bye, bye fences - we have had a nice time ...

Much to expensive! This functionallity ist for me 5€/year worth. 18€ - sorry definitly not.

I will deinstall.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please review this guide: https://forums.stardock.com/486311/accounts-and-activation-support-faq#keepsaskingactivation.

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.