Your life's work is only worth what someone will pay for it. You can't sell a $100 C compiler when the free one works just as well (or better).
If you want to make software that is valuable, you should compete for market share by doing it better than anyone else. Otherwise, your work kinda is worthless. Stallman noted this in the 1980s, acknowledging that the cost of manufacturing software is only limited by the cost of storing it on-disc and transmitting it over the internet. He was right.