Earlier quoted context omitted.
intellij is functionally the same. Buying a subscription gets you one year updates, and then whatever that last version is remains functional forever.
As I understand it, the IntelliJ version you can keep using forever is the one from the beginning of the subscription. So while the subscription was valid, you got upgrades, and then if you don't renew, you have to downgrade. It's their way of nudging customers to keep paying. It's working for me.
https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240845-What...