How can I set plans to be exclusive but not mandatory?
Using conditionals as configured on the Workflows tab of your plans. First set your plans as non-exclusive then set conditionals to hide/show based off other plan selections.
In other words, a user subscribe to plans not during registration, but only after.
It means that there are registered users that can navigate some parts of the website without having any plan subscribed.
But if he want to subscribe a plan from the list available, he can subscribe only to one of them.
Just set none of your plans to display on registration or have an exclusive free lifetime plan for them to pick.