I think the issue is that Lemmy is still developing and we don't know what it's going to look like even 6 months from now. $20 for unlimited access isn't bad at all if you know you'll get your money's worth. I'm still hesitant with Lemmy because there are features that it lacks. I'm optimistic that they will be added, but I can't be sure.

I have a hard time justifying $20 for a mobile app. I don't think I've spent more than $5.99 on an app and I used play rewards money so it wasn't even mine.

I think people (me included) have a very poor sense of what apps are worth.

Apps, like literally everything else, are worth what people are willing to pay for them.