I Love GP. After spending money for other themes, I ended up using GP for several of my websites. GP’s solid-built framework and a world-class service forced me to do this.
I personally do not like yearly fees but it seems like many businesses are following that model! Some services do not provide any update and support just after 6-12 months unless pay yearly! I, however, recognize that company need money for support staffs and product updates. Yearly fee make sense for businesses but a customer who is making one or two websites for their own can be taxing.
I wouldn’t mind seeing GP Premium at a ‘premium’ price though. But hesitant about yearly subscription! How about both options? Elegant themes and many others have both options.
At the end, pricing is about business model as well as philosophy. Whatever the outcome, I will be forever happy loyal customer of GP as long as the product, service and Tom all are in good shape and flourish in future by making most of the customers happy. 🙂