I’m new to the site, but thanks to the creators of this site and another page they made previously, I was able to learn all of the hiragana in just over a day’s time. Thus, I’m using this site as my next step into a larger world and so far I’ve really enjoyed the process, despite the slow start (I’ve come to appreciate the timed lesson system though). That said, is it worth buying the lifetime membership? I haven’t started paying at all yet since I’m still level 1, I won’t be attending law school until september and I’m only working part-time until then so I have plenty of time, and I’m quite excited to learn. Thanks for your time and answers!
I had a hard time deciding as well, so you might find this thread helpful:
Right now, lifetime is $199, which is like buying two years of annual subscriptions. Most people are going to take at least two years to finish WK. So if you’re serious about finishing, then yes this is a very good time.
But it’s a very long way from level 1 to level 60, and you never know how you’re going to feel at level 10, or 20, or 45.
The problem with waiting to decide, of course, is that Lifetime will be $300 again soon, and likely won’t be discounted again for another year. It’s kind of a tough time to be making this decision for a new user.
If you’re not 100% sure, maybe start with annual, then upgrade to lifetime at the next discount? It’ll come out to about the same as buying $300 lifetime membership now, but without the immediate full commitment. (There is the small chance they never offer the discount again but it seems like a pretty reliable thing.)
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That thread was a great help! I really appreciate your time and input, thank you!
I appreciate your input here. It kind of laid out the pros and cons better than I was doing on my own. Thanks!
I just started out as well and once I finished the free levels I had to decide what subscription to go to for. I got the lifetime on sale because I thought there might be times in the future where I might not have enough time and a lifetime subscription will probably save me money in the future.
This is how I saw the decision. It has worked for me as I have had to reset my level now once due to life happening.
Lifetime is an investment. I know I would not get the most out of this site without a lifetime option. Just the way I learn, and with the investment I have made I am determined to get my money’s worth whether I like it or not. This also helps keep me going when I want to stop, the fact I am cheap and feel the need to extract every ounce of out of the box since I bought it. To use a juice box metaphor.
I have lifetime since I know my study habits, I have a life a job and such, and will redo this site until I feel I get my money out of it or it goes down. It does not matter how long it takes me, I understand some people learn faster than others, I am not those “some people.” Also you have to budget the time you have between Kanji, grammar, reading, listening and speaking. It is all about how much you know yourself and understand how you work. Then layer your budget on that and if yearly or monthly is better since you have needs like food or rent or other sites you want to use then go with those. Good luck with whatever you choose.
Same as the people above - I was nearly at lvl20 but life happened and look where I am now XD
Life membership lets me take things at a pace that I’m comfortable at and not feeling as if I have to rush things?
I think you do need to be realistic about this though, it’s not a small amount of money and if you’re only going to use WK to learn all of JP it’s not going to work. It’s meant to help you with kanji not the grammar and other stuffs. So I guess think it out, if you’re using it to learn kanji I’d say go ahead!
But also figure out whether this is working for you - not everyone works in the same way~
Edit:// Ah also, I think if you’ve already paid for one yearly subscription it gets taken off lifetime or something like that? Not so sure, but I remember hearing something like that.
Only the money for the remaining time of your subscription gets prorated to the lifetime subscription. So if your yearly subscription is almost running out, you won’t get much discount.
ahh that’s what it was - thanks 
Knew it was something vaguely like that
I started mid January 2017, got the yearly subscription in February, and almost immediately after knew I’d want the life subscription. The day the sale happened I upgraded, and got about $12 off from what was left of yearly. So all in all I’ve paid about $270 for WaniKani.
I’d say, a year in, that it is definitely worth the price, and if you can get an additional $70-$80 off what I paid by biting the bullet now… might be worth it!
It only depends on you. The product is good and will lead you to where you want to be. The question should be “Do you really want to learn Japanese or are you dropping in less than a month?”. If it’s the former, then I highly suggest you to go for it 
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Having lifetime helps me not feel rushed. I’ve been taking a ‘break’ for I think three months now, only doing reviews. If I was paying monthly, or yearly, I’d feel the need to ‘get my monies worth’.
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Like many have said, it depends on you, your commitment, your study goals, etc. Some have mentioned not feeling rushed or not being able to predict what will happen in the future with your time commitment, but I purchased it due to my propensity to forget anything I’m not constantly practicing.
WK sets things up so the only thing you have to do is open the web app and learn. The fact that I could leave the content timing to WK took a lot off my shoulders. Now that I’ve reached level 60, I’m at liberty to restart anything from scratch if I’d like to in the event that I’m not reading as much as I am right now. Provided that WK will still be available 10 or 20 years from now, my rate has been locked in at the price I paid when I became a lifetime member.
So even if I use WK during the time I’m living in Japan to keep my skills sharp, it’ll still be worth the money.
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