Well it's still free you're just not free to use all our resources for free. Remember with increasing player base not only does Minehut need to invest more money but also allowing every server unlimited plugins puts strain on the network as a whole. Remember is cost Minehut money to host your server so using the free plan and an ad blocker means we lose money on that player. If you wish to develop and run a larger server especially a monetized one yes it will cost money and should cost money.
You don't need 12 plugins. There is skript and many plugins you don't need there is many discussion on this already.
As for external servers I advise against it because Minehut supply's a player base and it would cost you money in advertising of your own server most of the time costing $100s
We do care about the opinions and feelings of our players but, the update won't be changing I am sorry if you are unhappy with us and our services, we hope you continue to use Minehut in the future.