The recommended extensions/features definitely is annoying. Luckily you can easily turn them off. I'm not sure about the recommended extension especially, what if a bad extension somehow made it's way onto the list?
So far the premium service offers a built in VPN (likely with ProtonVPN) and cloud storage. I also saw on Reddit they're experimenting with it blocking ads and then using that subscription to directly pay the site owners, although no idea if that will be part of it. They really have been trying to make money independently somehow though, since they don't want to rely too much on Google's funding.