Why are they trying to extort cash? Usually, you only pay if you have a branded site with ad support.
I'm part of a larger forum than this one is and they don't charge anything there.
They have made their plans very clear. Once their sales of Tapatalk declined, they'd get their money either by charging the sites, or by running their own ads on each site (which will begin soon).
I need to run ads to pay the bills, and they say no, unless I pay them, or let them run their own ads too. To me, that's extortion, and I won't pay, or let them run their own ads at my expense.
Bottom line: I'll be installing Forum Runner soon. I may continue Tapatalk, but only for registered users who are frequent posters - maybe - but probably not even then.