[jon-wood]

Not the OP, but for me it's a combination of factors. For subscription software I like knowing I can cancel easily and will keep that subscription til the end of my current term. More generally it just means I know it'll be accessible to me in the future, regardless of whether your company goes bust and stops paying for the license activation servers.

[lenkite]

They are less accessible in the future. Apps on the macOS App Store (as well as iOS, iPadOS, etc.) are taken down / removed from availability if the developer stops paying the Apple Developer Program subscription.