Learn in the textbookSoftware Distribution and Usage Models
DefinitionSubscription (サブスクリプション) is a model in which you do not buy the software outright but pay for each period to get the right to use it.
ExplanationYou sign up by the month or the year, can use the software while the contract continues, and lose access when you cancel or it expires. Updated versions are often provided during the contract.
AnalogyIt is like renting a home. You can live there while you pay rent, but the home never becomes yours, and once you stop paying you must leave.
Memory hookA magazine subscription uses the same word: you keep paying and keep receiving.