Transitioning into a paid community

Does anyone have experience transitioning their free community into a paid one? I believe i've built my free community up large enough for it to provide value to people that pay to join once I transition. I would like to keep lifetime access for all existing members and only charge for new members.

I don't want to cheat my community by charging them after they've had it free and supported it from the beginning. I also don't want new members to feel cheated when everyone who joined before are getting it for free and they have to pay.

Some anecdotes or current strategies that are working on the platform would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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