I have little sympathy for that kind of argument, imagine a carpenter complaining that they have to buy wood and nails. Besides, a Qt license for small businesses is nowhere near thousands of dollars. Only in software development do we expect quality tools to be given to us free of charge with no strings attached.

It's especially hard when the application you're building isn't yet proven. As there's no guarantee that it will get any sales, let alone enough to cover the Commercial Qt expenses.