It's certainly a lot more competitive now. There is very little customer loyalty in the industry, especially for the average joe. "Why would I pay $x/month when I can get lifetime account with NAME_GOES_HERE VPN". We did sell Lifetime accounts for a bit, 4+ years ago, they sold like hot cakes, but if you keep doing it, you're screwed long term.
For us, biggest cost (no surprise) is infrastructure and staff, which is split ~50/50. Our ad budget is $0, however the same is not true for the big snakeoil sellers out there. They burn CRAZY cash on ads, which is why the renewal terms in fine print (at least for Nord) would make American telcos salivate with jealousy. "Buy X years for price Y, get Z months free" - you don't get any "free" months (basically a lie), and it renews at 2.5x the price, if you read the fine print.
It's really disgusting.
