Just in general, compared to most hobbies, a cost for a premium membership of about $30 per year is incredibly cheap. And having been in the IT business, hosting and maintaining a website with a few million entries does cost some money.
The premium members are the ones supporting the basic members who still do get a lot of service for free. That's OK, because people need to initially get involved for free. But then complaining about something as trivial as $30 a year to keep the thing going is silly. In comparison, what does your Smartphone data plan cost you each month? Makes $30 a year seem cheap.