I’ve never understood this argument that hobbyists or ‘semi-pros’ need or deserve a cheaper version.
My wife trail runs and does these stupid long distances. Her yearly budget for shoes, gear and clothing is more than what SKP pro costs. Add in train tickets and passes for gondolas / lifts / etc., not to mention the trip we took this year to the Azores for her run, or last year when we did an overnight in a holiday apartment… it costs way more than SketchUp. She’s not a pro. Salomon doesn’t discount her shoes. The SBB doesn’t discount her train passes (and she even buys a ticket when the dog goes…).
I do quite a bit of photography (for myself). Sony doesn’t give a ■■■■ that I’m not a pro when a buy my lenses and bodies. And I subscribe to software for image editing, storage and sorting. That hobby costs me more than SKP.
I also paraglide. We won’t discuss that budget.
When we lived in the US I belonged to a maker space to use the wood shop and 3d printer. I joined at a mid tier level so I would have access all day, and I would often do my paying work from the shared studio / work rooms on my laptop. I joined because I missed having my wood shop - but I sold everything except my hand tools when I moved states and didn’t have access to a full heated garage anymore. That maker space cost more per year than SKP.
When I outfitted my wood shop, or bought tools to get household work done - no one asked me if I was a pro or a hobbyist. When I bought some nice maple for the cubbies at home the supplier didn’t have a price for me ‘because I’m just a hobbyist’ - in fact I bet his pro guys that were in there all the time got better pricing than I did…
None of these arguments ever made sense to me… I have hobbies, I pay for things. Sometimes I choose things based on how much I will use them, or what features they have. If a brand or tool doesn’t do what I want at the price I want to pay I look elsewhere.
Google screwed this up by offering it for free and now forever going forward we will have these discussions every year or two.
¯_(ツ)_/¯