All Archicad Perpetual Licenses Terminated at the end of 2026

[mthd]

After the end of 2026 we are all required to proceed with a subscription only for Archicad. We will probably be left with last perpetual upgrade version that we have acquired while our SSA/FW contracts are still active ?

There has been an official announcement that has been sugar coated as I see it and put forth for discussions. Maybe hoping to somehow soften the blow for up and coming mandatory subscriptions after 2026 whether we approve of it or not.

Here is a link if you haven’t already read it from the main community page.

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Graphisoft-Insights/Important-update-Next-phase-of-subscription-...

I personally do not approve of this move and feel like I am being coerced to accept it by a process of gradual announcements. I am not interested in changing to other CAD packages but if Graphisoft comes up with more significant improvements after 2026 we are now required to take out a subscription.

How do others feel about this up and coming change that we have no control over ?

[jl_lt]

dont worry. As it has been speculated elsewhere, the overwhelming odds are they wont come up with any significant improvement. At least not something that puts you at the forefront of AI assisted modeling or anything trully innovative, because its too much of an investment. 

If that was the case, they would have already shown something to lure new users into this suscription model. Right now, they have only been alienating old users 

[mthd]

We can only go off the current roadmap and what is proposed and a few of those things seem quite good. What makes the cut before 2026 ends, remains to be seen ?

Larger Architectural firms would probably welcome the change because they probably don’t want to keep all their eggs in the same basket. Hire users who are trained in different CAD systems and widen your business to use different platforms. It’s probably the smaller businesses that will be mostly affected by this change ?

All the older generation of perpetual licensing users will soon retire and die out and thus have no need of upgrading their product. Ownership is important to that user base. 

I guess we all have to accept it, like or not that the CAD rental roundabout is here. Pick your ride and go for a spin and spend your time with large learning curves. Pay for extra training to use a different product or stay with the one you know best ?

In the end the best product will be chosen over the others, forcing all CAD systems to compete for more business. We will see who becomes the winner of more business ? It would be a slap in the face for these companies once they see the prices drop all because of stronger competition.

[Lingwisyer]

I would not be surpised if they decided to drop a couple of long term wishes into the first sub-only version...

[mthd]

Seems a likely lure to accept the sub only along with the taking up of the sub early benefits ?

[Lingwisyer]

If you have not already dropped your SSA due to lackluster updates and bugs, time to pick up the new sub price...

[mthd]

Right, BuggyCAD ! It appears to be the “Multidisciplinary Philosophy” governing these changes in the BIM/CAD industry. Not really suitable for sole traders or very small firms. 

CAD/BIM/360/Spherical, the universal CAD/BIM biosphere or something like that developing in the future. The closer cooperation of 3D/BIM model sharing with minimal data loss or leakage between platforms.

Architects and Designers are not easily tricked that’s why there is no big uproar here. We all see the trend and most of us have seen it and accepted it and have moved on. Like we say in Australia “I am over it”.

[Barry Kelly]

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@Lingwisyer wrote:

If you have not already dropped your SSA due to lackluster updates and bugs, time to pick up the new sub price...

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But be prepared to stump up 3 years worth of fees in one go, or annually with a 10% surcharge.

Maybe at the end of the 3 years you will get the option to extend for another 3 years - that is a good deal.

Carry on for the next 6 years at today's SSA prices.

But at the end of the time, it will jump to full subscription price.

And if you cancel the subscription, you will fall back to the perpetual version you were using when you took out the subscription (28 right now and 29 in a week or two?).

I like the 6 year deal, but no way can I afford the subscription at the end of it.

And I wouldn't want to drop back to 28/29 at the end if I have been working in version 34 or what ever it will be in 6 years.

You can't open a 34 file in 29 and there will be no way to back-save as toy don't have a 34 license any more.

So it looks like I might just carry on with SSA until end of 2026 (version 30), then when I can't renew I will cancel everything and stay on version 30.

Of course I need to have a chat with my distributor, but that is what it is looking like at the moment.

Barry.

[mthd]

Spot on @Barry Kelly.

[Lingwisyer]

We dropped SSA several years ago when business in our main sector basically vanished, and did not find the costs involved to catch up worthwhile when things improved. There was a suggestion to get new licences through our Indonesian office. By the time we did consider it, and our rep was pushing us, the rumours of the incoming subscription change halted that...

[Djordje]

So glad to be an ArchiGeezer...

... you young people have to decide, I will be nagging even more and working less (I HOPE! :D) soon...

... but the "give me the money and **** you afterwards" attitude in today's world on anything is too pervasive... it is definitely time to stop. The people currently in their 20s and 30s (looking at my daughter and the people she is in touch with) do not like a lot of current attitudes, or appreciate the "take it or leave it" approach. Considering that THEY are the ones that should be spending the money to feed the corporate greed (no, it is NOT good, and the movie "Wall street", that the reference is from, was a warning, not a manual) in the near to mid future, as most of us boomers will be dead anyway, it does not look good for this type of approach.

Yes, I could lament on the old days of Graphisoft in a small villa in Mexikoi Ut, or on the party in the just finished Graphisoft Park without the interior, or... but that is all gone. The corporate monsters and their shareholders don't care about any of us, as long as we are paying. Graphisoft, or anyone else... it is the modern attitude.

Smell the flowers. The storms, droughts, and famine are coming for all of us. Good tools for good built environment creation are important. You cannot breathe, drink, or eat money, nor you can buy something that does not exist, like clean air, clean water, and good food. Or a new planet.

Boomer ArchiGeezer out.

[mthd]

@Djordje, a very true story and a very intelligent comment by you. I wholeheartedly agree with you on all of this. There is always a ray of hope after the greed takes its toll.

[mthd]

I would like to make a final plea about that this company carefully reconsidering how it is treating its customers in going forward. Please forget about what Autodesk and the others are doing to their customers. Have you heard the saying “that you catch more bees with honey” ?

If you decided to continue to offer perpetual licenses to anyone who wants one and to be fully upgradable, would you stand out as the best CAD solution in the world because of the way you treated your customers ? I would definitely think so and you would become the first choice Architectural software in the world because you treat your customers fairly and with deep respect. Not just using the word dear So & So and not really meaning it. I think your future growth would be fully guaranteed by not following the lead of other CAD like Autodesk etc.

[Barry Kelly]

I am just annoyed that those of us who have purchased perpetual licenses, will now have to 'rent' the software at the same full subscription cost as a new user that never had the initial outlay (after conversion deals expire).

Look after your old customers.

Fine have a subscription and no more perpetual license upgrades (although I would like those to stay), but permanently reduce the cost of the subscription for those that have already purchased the licenses.

Barry.

[mthd]

That would be a sensible thing for them to do for a transition to a subscription only license.

I am waiting till my distributor informs me about what my options are. Considering that perpetual licensing is definitely friendly for a small business or a sole trader like me.

I am not going back to using Chief Architect because that is more suitable for timber framing, construction drawings, quantity take off and estimating. I will just use my last version that I am allowed to have with GS for now.

[Nader Belal]

I have had this type of conversations with some friends, which can be summarized in the following points:

1. Some had real issues, because even if they retire now, they will still have civil responsibility for the project's they have designed for 10 years after it's completion, so what will happen to their project files if they need to consult something for any legal reasons that may arise in the future.
2. Others have commented, that the issue is not about Archicad per se, but for the whole system of the software applications landscape. A side of the economic expenses that they have to pay just because they have the business, they too have to pay not only for Archicad subscription but also other pelothera of services and apps, which will leave them with a net income per month lower than what is set in the minimum wage.
3. By how things are turning out, many will be forced out of the work force and/or their careers cause even if they learn to use any specific application, they may not acquire the needed proficiency with that application, because the free time of usage for the learning the app was already limited.