> For someone who has probably never paid $20/mo for a piece of software in their life, $20/mo is kind of a big commitment

I could see this being true for a high school student or college freshman eating rice and beans in their dorm room. Many of us have been there.

For someone in a software development career, $20/month for tools is a trivial expense.

I think some people have a strong aversion to paying for any tooling, but I don't think the people carrying around their $3000 MacBook Pros are going to avoid paying $20 for a month to try something new if they're using it daily.