OT Looks like Corel is going subscription too

I got a notice that CorelDraw would soon be moving to a subscription only product and I should upgrade during this limited time while you could still get a permanent lisence (for this version, believe). They also wanted to sell you upgrade protection for another $99. It said that this was a subscription and it would be valid for a year. Outside of the offer, it costs $199/per year to use the software. I may upgrade this final time, but I don't really use CorelDraw enough to justify paying that every year. Don't know if any other products will be affected by this move.

So if all software becomes subscription, how many products could you justify having? Not that many, I would think.

Comments

  • gitika1gitika1 Posts: 948

    Thanks for the heads up.  Since I have been content with the 2017 version, I have not been reading their advertising emails.

  • RasberriRasberri Posts: 265
    edited March 2019

    They still have perpetual licenses. I am a little disappointed With Painter and particle shop in that they only come with a select amount of brushes and charge for extra content..that is if you want additional particle brushes or painter brushes.  Personally I love the Particle Shop plug-in.. have had a lot of fun with it lately. I did find that you can import photoshop brushes into painter, so that is nice.

     

     

     

     

    Post edited by Rasberri on
  • Blood-PawWerewolfBlood-PawWerewolf Posts: 297
    edited March 2019
    KevinH said:

    So if all software becomes subscription, how many products could you justify having? Not that many, I would think.

    well, big companies are seeing that "software as a service" is the model that's IN these days. it doesn't make it any cheaper though...

    Post edited by Blood-PawWerewolf on
  • davesodaveso Posts: 6,365

    i've been using Paintshop Pro for a very long time..back when JASC owned it and it was shareware. If it goes subscription I will stick with whatever version I am on, right now X9.
    I'm not into subscriptions. Vue just went subscription as well. 

  • ghastlycomicghastlycomic Posts: 2,528

    Yeah I've been using Paintshop Pro since the Jasc days too. PSP 7 is just so comfy.

  • SixDsSixDs Posts: 2,384

    For what it is worth, here is what I seem to be seeing vis-a-vis their new licencing strategy.

    1. They will still be offering perpetual, one-time payment licences. The difference will be that they will no longer be offering upgrades to a more recent version. If you purchase a perpetual licence that will be limited to that particular version, and if you wish to upgrade to a newer version in the future you will need to purchase a new perpetual licence for that version, or one of the alternative options. Another way of looking at it is that they are eliminating purchasing upgrade licences. So it is not a subscription-only model.

    2. The Upgrade Protection Plan that they offer, based upon an annual fee, will entitle anyone holding a perpetual licence to upgrade to a more recent version. As I understand it, you may opt in or out of the plan at any time. So it is sort of like an upgrade insurance policy.

    3. Subscription licence. By now everyone should be familiar with the typical rent-a-software plans, I believe.

  • namffuaknamffuak Posts: 4,040
    KevinH said:

    So if all software becomes subscription, how many products could you justify having? Not that many, I would think.

    well, big companies are seeing that "software as a service" is the model that's IN these days. it doesn't make it any cheaper though...

    Back to the old mainframe days - where 'list price' was negotiable to an extent and varied (for the same software) based on computational power of the system. And "maintenance" was typically 15% of list annually and upgrading to new hardware could bump list up to that next tier, taking annual maintenance with it. You could, of course, elect to not pay the maintenance - and then a system update comes in, and sort doesn't work correctly. And you need to pay three years back maintenance to get the update to the sort package today or the payroll will be late tomorrow. (And if your systems programmer didn't catch that when he ran the tests on the system update, you need to replace him as well . . .)

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 9,714

    I'm OK with subscription plans with perpetual fallback license, like the one Jetbrains have:

    https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240845-What-is-perpetual-fallback-license-

    Allegorithmic (Substance Painter) have a similar license, thought you have to pay an extra $49 for the perpetual license if you cancel the subscription.

  • davesodaveso Posts: 6,365

    right now I get offers to upgrade PSP X 9 to the new version for $25. Why would i ever want to pay 99 or anything more? They've been offering low cost upgrades for PSP since forever. All their products get pretty decent upgrade pricing for their core customers. Low Cost ... that is the key. Obviously they're not making enough money that way, but they might cut tthier own throats. 

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,140
    edited March 2019
    KevinH said:

    So if all software becomes subscription, how many products could you justify having? Not that many, I would think.

    Pretty much none.....I don't "rent" software ;)

    Laurie

    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • Sfariah DSfariah D Posts: 25,610

    Interesting.  Wonder if subscription will be their only option?

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,142

    If so I'm out.  I only use PSP for a few things..... I have Photoshop sub and I'm quite happy with it!  Gives me the 3D tools too, which I haven't explored enough but nice to know they are there.  

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,878

    I am personally content with PSP 9.  If I need to paint, there is Krita, and its free.

  • As a software engineer at my primary job and home buisiness, I don't mind at all what companies are doing.  I started in the days of Poser 1.0 and Photoshop 3.0.  If I analyze my yearly payout back in the 90s vs today, it's really about the same.  Back then, I typically dropped lots of cash on lots of smaller items (e.g. numerous Photoshop plugins).  You then needed to purchase updates for the applications every-so-often anyhow.

    Ultimately it boils down to having a business income outdo your business expenses.  Do some cost-analysis and see if keeping up-to-date with the latest toolsets will provide dividends.  For me, they truly do.   Futhermore, the entire software industry is moving forwards; it's thus quite difficult over the long term to keep old software around and expect it to continue to function.

  • davesodaveso Posts: 6,365
    rsharp said:

    As a software engineer at my primary job and home buisiness, I don't mind at all what companies are doing.  I started in the days of Poser 1.0 and Photoshop 3.0.  If I analyze my yearly payout back in the 90s vs today, it's really about the same.  Back then, I typically dropped lots of cash on lots of smaller items (e.g. numerous Photoshop plugins).  You then needed to purchase updates for the applications every-so-often anyhow.

    Ultimately it boils down to having a business income outdo your business expenses.  Do some cost-analysis and see if keeping up-to-date with the latest toolsets will provide dividends.  For me, they truly do.   Futhermore, the entire software industry is moving forwards; it's thus quite difficult over the long term to keep old software around and expect it to continue to function.

    as a hobbyist, its all outgo

     

  • nicsttnicstt Posts: 11,714
    Taoz said:

    I'm OK with subscription plans with perpetual fallback license, like the one Jetbrains have:

    https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240845-What-is-perpetual-fallback-license-

    Allegorithmic (Substance Painter) have a similar license, thought you have to pay an extra $49 for the perpetual license if you cancel the subscription.

    Yeh, the jetbrains licence is good.

  • hacsarthacsart Posts: 2,024

    and then there was Amdahl with their "accelerator" key...   and for sort issues, there were always user exits that a good sysprog could run up. MVS Assembler,  - loved and hated it...

    namffuak said:

    Back to the old mainframe days - where 'list price' was negotiable to an extent and varied (for the same software) based on computational power of the system. And "maintenance" was typically 15% of list annually and upgrading to new hardware could bump list up to that next tier, taking annual maintenance with it. You could, of course, elect to not pay the maintenance - and then a system update comes in, and sort doesn't work correctly. And you need to pay three years back maintenance to get the update to the sort package today or the payroll will be late tomorrow. (And if your systems programmer didn't catch that when he ran the tests on the system update, you need to replace him as well . . .)

     

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,517

    ...hmm, PSP going subscription?  Makes no sense as it's competitor PS Elements is still a perpetual licence.

  • Db3dDb3d Posts: 248
    From a business stand point, expenses cost you more tax-wise than capital investments. The latter can be amortized and can qualify for tax credits in some cases. One shows in the expenses.category while the other shows in the assets category. Arguing it is a business expense doesn't make sense when a perpetual license is a capital investment. Given a choice between an investment (perpetual license) vs expense (subscription) and I'll take the investment. It's one of the reasons one of my Fortune 10 clients dumped Adobe products when Adobe came out with CC.
    rsharp said:

    As a software engineer at my primary job and home buisiness, I don't mind at all what companies are doing.  I started in the days of Poser 1.0 and Photoshop 3.0.  If I analyze my yearly payout back in the 90s vs today, it's really about the same.  Back then, I typically dropped lots of cash on lots of smaller items (e.g. numerous Photoshop plugins).  You then needed to purchase updates for the applications every-so-often anyhow.

    Ultimately it boils down to having a business income outdo your business expenses.  Do some cost-analysis and see if keeping up-to-date with the latest toolsets will provide dividends.  For me, they truly do.   Futhermore, the entire software industry is moving forwards; it's thus quite difficult over the long term to keep old software around and expect it to continue to function.

  • Db3dDb3d Posts: 248
    edited March 2019
    One of the reasons Adobe went subscription based was they stopped beta testing and adopted the philosophy that most of their customers don't mind being guinea pigs. (The smart ones turn auto-update off and wait for the dust to settle.) I had nothing but trouble with LR when they started doing this and eventually dumped all Adobe products.
    Post edited by Db3d on
  • Db3dDb3d Posts: 248
    Can you provide a link to this information ?
    KevinH said:

    I got a notice that CorelDraw would soon be moving to a subscription only product and I should upgrade during this limited time while you could still get a permanent lisence (for this version, believe). They also wanted to sell you upgrade protection for another $99. It said that this was a subscription and it would be valid for a year. Outside of the offer, it costs $199/per year to use the software. I may upgrade this final time, but I don't really use CorelDraw enough to justify paying that every year. Don't know if any other products will be affected by this move.

    So if all software becomes subscription, how many products could you justify having? Not that many, I would think.

  • Db3dDb3d Posts: 248
    KevinH, It appears you misread this. CorelDRAW will still have a perpetual license option. CorelDRAW has a perpetual license upgrade insurance that is $99/year. (The insurance is a subscription.). One can still purchase a perpetual license. The difference between a CorelDRAW perpetual license with a $99 download insurance policy and a subscription is this...

    With the perpetual license you own it. It's an asset. The $99/year insurance subscription means any upgraded are at no additional cost. If you cancel the insurance, you still own the software.

    With the subscription based license you do not own the software. It is not an asset. If you cancel the subscription, you can no longer use the software.

    KevinH said:

    I got a notice that CorelDraw would soon be moving to a subscription only product and I should upgrade during this limited time while you could still get a permanent lisence (for this version, believe). They also wanted to sell you upgrade protection for another $99. It said that this was a subscription and it would be valid for a year. Outside of the offer, it costs $199/per year to use the software. I may upgrade this final time, but I don't really use CorelDraw enough to justify paying that every year. Don't know if any other products will be affected by this move.

    So if all software becomes subscription, how many products could you justify having? Not that many, I would think.

  • Here is a link to the page. https://www.coreldraw.com/en/product/coreldraw/#purchase-options

    This refers to CorelDraw only. No other products were mentioned at this time. It says at the top that later this year that download and box will no longer be available. And I quote...

    Upgrade now before purchasing options change!

    Later this year, upgrades (download and box products) will no longer be available. Add Upgrade Protection to your purchase to get future versions at a fraction of the cost or choose a subscription, to always stay current.

    To purchase Upgrade Protection, simply add it in-cart when you buy CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019.

  • Klaus Vossen...A Corel Employee...gives this explanation on their forum...

    Corel is committed to provide both subscription and perpetual license options going forward. 

    The information provided on the Purchase Options tab on the product page is meant to provide a heads-up that going forward (i.e. "later this year"), discounted Upgrades from all older versions of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite will no longer be part of the offering. So now is the chance to upgrade your CorelDRAW Graphics Suite to the latest CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019, leveraging the Upgrade pricing while it's still available.

    What happens in a year from now? The most affordable way to stay up-to-date and also keep software ownership of the latest version for perpetual use will be the Upgrade Protection Program as it is now. With an active Upgrade Protection you receive future versions at a fraction of the cost of what the Upgrade product is currently offered at. Yes, you need to stay on Upgrade Protection to keep that option to stay up-to-date with the new versions for perpetual use.

    We will continue to offer promotions to current version owners of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite with future version releases. Customers who own the current version, will be offered the opportunity to purchase the new (next) version without having to pay the Full version price. However, Upgrade Protection will certainly be the best-price option you can get, plus you receive the new version at the time of its release.

    Customers will still be able to purchase new licenses for perpetual use - there is no intention to stop the software ownership purchase options in the foreseeable future. 

     

    It sort of sounds like you might still be able to buy the next version if you own the latest version. But that is not what the official document states. At least not to me.

  • I'm onto paintshop pro 2019 ultimate have a few versions installed on my computers and offered cheap upgrades several times. Their biggest asset they always have promoted was their price AND not a subscription product and was not going the subscriptin route

  • Ron KnightsRon Knights Posts: 1,723

    My experience with Corel goes back to the 1980s. I absolutely had to own it. In the early 1990s I was using OS2 Warp. Corel sold a "Warp" version of the Corel suite. The head of Corel at the time promised they'd continue to support OS2 Warp. They didn't.

    I never learned most of the Corel programs. Now I won't even consider them.

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,140
    edited March 2019

    And Affinity Photo is surprisingly good and only 50 bucks. Takes PS brushes and plugins and you own it - no "rent", no "insurance". ;)

    Just sayin'.

    Laurie

    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,142

    I don't think PSP is going that route though.  I mean they sell it at such discounted prices most of the time (Corel is in a perpetual sale for most of their products it seems.. LOL ) but what would they charge monthly for something like PSP? Like $5.00 LOL  Photoshop, a big player is only charging me $10.00 a month.  Heck you can't buy much for ten bucks any more and as I said above I have access to all the PS 3D tools for that price.  No complaints.  

  • Hello all! I'm one of the CorelDRAW Masters, so I can confirm that Corel DOESN'T move to subscription only. The perpetual licence is still available and it will be available.If you buy the program, it's for a lifetime. There's a Subscription option, jsut as a cheap alternatie for those who can't afford the full version

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