How do you handle users who expect your product to be free?

We recently got this message after offering a 50% discount to our beta users:

“Only 1 year discount? I expected a lifetime deal as an early supporter…”

This person used our product completely free for an entire year. Their only “support” was filling out a short, 30-second form that promised a discount, which we honored. They’ve never provided feedback, reported a bug, or engaged with the product beyond that form. Now they’re pushing back, saying the discount isn’t enough and they expected a lifetime deal. The entitlement has me seeing red.

It’s hard. We want to support early users. We want to be generous. But we’re a two-person team, not a VC-backed juggernaut. Every line of code, every fix, every product decision, it’s all us.

I don’t think users always see that. They assume we’re just another faceless tech company trying to extract cash. But the truth is, we’re just trying to build something meaningful and survive doing it.

So I’m genuinely curious:

👉 How do you explain the reality of indie software to users who expect everything for free?

👉 How do you handle entitlement without sounding defensive?

👉 And how would you reply to that email?