I’ve been a paying user since 2015. This makes me sad, as it’s one of my most beloved utilities and this isn’t a good look. I’ll keep running it without updating until it stops working or I find a replacement that I like. Also:
https://sixcolors.com/link/2024/06/bartender-has-a-new-owner/
It’s a common enough pattern where a reputable app is sold to a shady third party company, which then increases prices, and fills the app with ads and/or telemetry. It’s not really publicly known who the company is, and the company has shown no signs of transparency, which is the root of the trust issue.