Yearly or Lifetime?

Bunpro
#1

Sorry if this is a topic you guys see around a lot this time, but I wanted to gather some input.

I’ve really come to enjoy Bunpro. It is a great resource to reinforce grammar alongside my classes and other studies and I want to keep using it, so the subscription part is pretty set in stone.

However, I’m not sure if I should jump in and go lifetime or try to do yearly first. Bunpro is really good, but I’m not sure how long I’ll stick around with it for the SRS system. Japanese grammar is something that is much more accessible to me than kanji, and while the SRS system is amazing to get that practice going (especially when you want to get to a level to actually read things and only pause 4 times instead of 10), stuff like reading and immersion would become more accessible as my literacy level increases, and I’d be able to get that practice somewhere else, making the SRS system less efficient.

So I guess what I’m really asking is if you guys found value for subscribing to Bunpro lifetime and use it to the end, if it’s still a good tool even as your level progresses, etc.

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#2

I’ve been a WK monthly sub for long, and barely used the service until I ended up cancelling. With what I paid I could have bought lifetime back in the day. Basically it was never clear to me.

Bunpro on the other side, after a couple months using it became apparent to me that lifetime would be the way to go. Not only for the Grammar, but for all the extra resources and the work that it’s being put. It feels like the service is evolving progressively, and there’s also an excellent team and other Bunpro users that will lend you a hand on the way too.

I think Grammar is in a way underestimated, and people tend to focus way too much on only remembering the Kanji, sometimes by themselves, without usage context or proper vocabulary.

Also take in mind the fact that the current monthly and yearly pricing are discounted, it will not last forever, and with the feature updates is only a matter of time it goes back to the pricing it was intended in the beginning. In fact, if I recall WK pricing was lower back in the day, so it’s not out of the question that it could go up here too. This is all speculation on my part though.

TL;DR: In the end is what it works for you, and while you might get some feedback, it’s up to you. For me the answer was clear after a couple months of usage.

10 Likes
#3

I agree. I enjoy wanikani for introducing me to the kanji system in a neat system, but I find that figuring out how they work and their nuances is part of the fun, and definitely something I’ll do more as I progress.

I really like grammar because it’s how sentences come to life for me (you could also argue that vocabulary does that, but shh). It’s been really fun to delve deeper into it as I study here

Thank you for the reply btw! Really helps

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#4

30 bucks buys a year. All I needed to hear

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#5

Currently the best value is the yearly amount of $30, as the lifetime membership is $150, which would be equivalent to 5 years at the current yearly price.

They are going to increase the price of the membership once the site has more content, so that’s important to keep in mind, and I’m sure they will notify us before they make that switch.

I’d personally go with the yearly membership and switch to the lifetime membership once they announce the price increase. I believe they prorate the amount of time you have left on a membership towards the lifetime membership.

I chose the lifetime membership because I want to support the site, but if I was someone on a strict budget, the $30 year plan is great until they raise the prices, then I’d consider lifetime, if you feel like the site meets your needs.

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#6

Worth noting that in the latest announcement they’ve said they’re increasing the monthly and yearly price to $5 and $50 respectivley.

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#7

The discontinuation of the discount will occur as of March of next year, so it is a really good time to jump on board those sales, depending on what you are planning on doing/how you are planning on continuing with your studies in the future.

I would say that the biggest factor that needs to be considered is your long-term plan for Japanese. If you are really unsure, then the $30 yearly might be best. However if you know that you want to commit to your language learning goal, and be able to come back in 2 years, or even 5 years and be able to start at the same place you left off, then maybe the lifetime would be better.

Edit - If you really really really don’t know, there is always still the monthly! For the year and a half that I was a user before joining the Bunpro team, I was always on monthly.

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#8

Welp, I jinxed it.

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#9

This.

Been using WK for 18 months now, couldn’t tell you what’s changed in that time.

Additionally, whilst waiting to see what happens, with the addition of the SRS for vocab, I might be able to drop kitsun (having 4 SRS would crush my soul).

4 Likes
#10

Thank you all for the input! I think I’ll indulge on the lifetime. I was saving for it anyways, just wanted to gather some input before jumping right in.

I’m also a very slow user (only 1-2 items a day, sometimes I don’t study) since I 1. Copy a lot of stuff to my notebook + extras from DOBJG 2. I work fulltime freelance LOL, so I feel like lifetime will be cheaper in the long run

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#11

Welcome to the studying for a lifetime club!
There’s always stuff to learn!

hyouka-eru-chitanda

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#12

You won’t regret lifetime! I got it after a good while of paying monthly, myself. For me, it was a great incentive to actually keep up with BP in the first place, because dammit I wanted to make the most of that money I dropped. It paid itself off very quickly in worth.

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#13

I went for a lifetime purchase because I have ADHD and I hate subscriptions on principle (no offense to Bunpro’s staff, though; I enjoy Bunpro and we all have to make a living).

I go through Bunpro slowly as well. Each note on Bunpro seems to take me more mental energy than the vocab practice I do on other sites. I’d rather take the extra time and not have to think about knowing everything on this site by a certain date.

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#14

Why not both, get a new lifetime subscription every year. This is also a great way to ensure the lifetime of bunpro is long enough for the lifetime purchase to be worth it.

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#15

:rofl:

Don’t think you could even if you wanted to!

1 Like
#16

Maybe there should also be an isekai subscription for all your lifetimes!

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