It is unlikely I pay money for a desktop web browser unless most of the free browsers become unreliable, and sell users' data to the government, advertisers, and other companies and people.
I think paying for a VPN is like paying for an internet connection, or web hosting where you pay to use the connection, or hosting files online where you need to use the web host's connection to upload your website files, and allow visitors to download your website files, or view your site on a web browser.
I may pay for an ad-free version of a web browser if web browsers start using ads on their new tabs page, or homepage like free antivirus software which sometimes contain ads to upgrade to their paid antivirus, or buy other products.
I think some people may pay for a web browser, or donate to a web browser's website if they have a special membership badge on the web browser's official forum, so other members know they bought the web browser to help support the makers of the web browser.
I never paid for a web browser before. There are some other options now to have instead of paid browsers. And I don't think I'll be doing that in near future unless Chrome or Firefox become one.