I bought 2x annual don’t plan to renew afterwards. I hit 60 within a year, no breaks. A subscription kinda motivates me to do things faster compared to lifetime.
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I second that.
starting from level 30 onward I spend so much time going through backlocks before I even start kanji from my new level i end up with 30 days level ups or something.
(and i also make some stupid mistakes over and over and over 
)
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helpful thread, I’m in the same boat. thanks helpful people
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I really don’t think that completing in less than a year is reasonable. Most people will take a break. The speed at which my brain learns, like actually learns not just memorizes, two years is the minimum. Then again the way that yearly is priced versus life time. I still haven’t seen lifetime as worth it, yet. I also bought two annuals like sarzorwyn. I plan to get to level 60 at about a year and 6 or 7 months. I don’t think I will burn everything before 2 years though.
I might buy one more annual just to un-burn and re-burn everything.
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I forgor lmao 
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I haven’t reached level 60 yet, but I will eventually, and because I bought the lifetime subscription, the length of time it will eventually take is no longer an ‘issue’ for me in the sense that I don’t have to worry about using my time ‘optimally’: Since I deal with a low-level but chronic anxiety (called generalized anxiety disorder), eliminating extra ‘worries’ like that was important to me.
And, since I bought the lifetime subscription during the Christmas/holiday sale (which they usually have each year – it’s either on right now, or they will start it fairly soon, I imagine), that means I only paid one time. I forget the original price and discount, sorry; it was over two years ago now. In fact, that purchase price has already ‘paid for itself’, since it was equivalent to roughly two years (or maybe just a bit more) of year-long subscriptions.
I’m currently on level 12, but actually I previously had gotten up to level 28. However, I had ‘rushed’ to get to that high of a level, which turned out to be a mistake overall (see my post about resetting to level 7 if you’re interested in why and how I decided to do that), and the fact that I had purchased the lifetime subscription was a big factor in making that decision much easier: I didn’t have to worry about “Oh! I’ll have wasted so much time/money if I reset! 
” Instead I was able to just think about what’s really important to me: I really do want to learn Japanese, and I want to be able to enjoy the experience while I’m doing it. Having a lifetime subscription separated out any connection between those important goals from any concern about money or time. Personally, I’m very glad I went with the lifetime subscription. Just my own personal experience. Your mileage may vary, as they say.
Recently, around the time I reset to level 7, I found a thread on the forums called 
Let’s Durtle the Scenic Route 
, and since then that’s the perspective/philosophy I’ve embraced going forward. I’m no longer concerned with just ‘playing the SRS game’ to get to ‘level 60’ per se. Instead I’m more focused on my real, main goal, which is really learning Japanese and also being able to enjoy the process as I go. Again, your mileage may vary. Different people will have different goals and different approaches to learning. This is just from my own personal experience.
Hope this info provides a helpful perspective, though! 
Cheers, and Happy Durtling! 
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Took me 1 year to get to Level 60. No breaks and rushed through WaniKani as fast as possible in order to finish it before I enlisted for National Conscription in my country. It was a good decision as I’m able to read and understand about 95% of Kanji in novels written by Higashino Keigo. I spent about $108 last year on monthly subscriptions before getting the lifetime deal with the discounted offer for $200 last December. I have to admit that I’m unable to read quite a fair bit of the Kanji in the Level 50s at the moment because most of them are just that rare and I almost never encounter them in the wild.
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I believe it was close to 4 years, but it had been long enough ago where I can’t clearly recall since that’s been several years ago. I also think I was on the original lifetime subscription offer, which at the time seemed really inexpensive. Let’s just say, I’ve really gotten my money’s worth and even though I only spend a few minutes a day here now, I do still use WK.
I would generally say that if you have good follow through with sticking with a plan that lifetime is well worth the price. If you give up on stuff frequently or switch plans, then go year-to-year. I would also say that WK is the ONLY Japanese study method I’ve stayed with over time.
I think between WK and Bunpro, you’ve got some decent bedrock to build upon and they are the only two methods that give you both depth and breadth. Build around these two and you’ll do great.
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LMFAOOOO 
Thank you guys so much! There was so many replies in such a short time, you’re the best!
Anyways, I think I got my answer and well, it’s much more simple than I thought: Lifetime subscription.
Also it was nice to see that people who’ve been here for such a long time like Thud (8 years) are still active and finally finished it.
I guess the average time you spent here is what? 2.5-4 years? So yeah, the lifetime subscription would be probably the way since I might take some breaks because I’m still in school (3 years to finish it).
And again, thank you!
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One year, lifetime price, still worth it anyway.
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Just shy of 5 years 
I bought Lifetime at Level 1, full price.
You are lucky enough to be just before the sale, so would wait.
I started February 2017, and just finished this month.
And reaching lvl 60 is just part of the hurdle. Actually learning the newly started items is worth having a subscription past level 60 too, and they keep adding new stuff.
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Yay, I got to add myself now!
Oww, it’s been locked… I think it is worthy of asking for an unlock. It’s a great way of collecting the lvl 60 posts, mostly lost in the sea of threads. Many of them are both fun and educational, or simply motivational.
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Don’t use me as a metric, but this is an avenue for me to brag so I will add that I did it in 344 days. Please don’t do it this fast.
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Do wait to see if Tofugu will announce the Christmas promo because it’s $100 off, I believe. Until then, you can sub for monthly I guess.
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Dear @mods, it was brought up in this thread that “Level 60 compilation” thread is locked:
Can you please unlock it, I’m sure many people would like to add to it.
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Sure thing! It’s open now 
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Just came across it again!
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Technically, the most cost effective way is to subscribe for a year, get to level 60 in under a year, and then upgrade to lifetime. Once you hit level 60, you can upgrade to Lifetime for only $60. In my case, it cost me only $105 ($45 for one year with the secret half price sale + $60 to upgrade).
However, speedrunning is certainly not for everyone. It’s a major time and schedule commitment.
Also, even when you do hit level 60, I definitely recommend upgrading to Lifetime anyway. In my case, I raced through WK in under a year, but then forgot most of it later, so I’ve gone back and have been slowly working my way through the review mountain a second time for the last year.
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Thanks for remembering! Really interesting
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