I've done similar things in terraform in the past. But you eventually end up spending way too much time on it. If the tool isn't value enough for paying the premium, chances are there are other good alternatives, or we don't really need the tool to begin with. I just look at the individual plans as if they're student tickets for a conference.

Now lets talk about SaaS providers that don't offer any other way than paying by credit card. Not even pre-paying with a wire transfer. If you've ever tried to source a company credit card in a huge organization you know how hard that can be. And no way in hell I'm going to put $10k/month for various services on my personal credit card and expense it every month. It sometimes feel like they don't even want to run a business.