Next phase of subscription transition announced

[Richard Doll]

Dear Community Members, 

Following my recent Graphisoft Insights post on the Subscription transition update, we know how important this topic is for you as our clients and anticipate your comments and questions. To streamline communication, we’ve created this thread to gather everything in one place. We’ll also use it to identify topics that may need further clarification, which we’ll address on our FAQ page.

Please note that while we cannot respond to individual questions in the forum, your local representative is available for personalized support.

Best regards,
Richard

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

[StefanV_BCP]

So much conflicting emotions about this. 

One thing is for sure - I don't like this, because you are changing the dynamic between customers and the company.

Before, we had some mutual agreement, partnership if you will. Now I feel that you treat us simply like an ATM, which is ok if you are ready to take an extreme heat from the users.

The room for mistakes, and justification why something is not working or its missing will be almost none since is only fair that we demand the tool for our money worth.

Personally i believe that you should leave the choice to the user Perpetual+ SSA, or Subscription. 

Cheers,

Stefan 

[Florin Luca]

I have to say that I agree with most of what you said, except for the “taking the heat” part. They don’t care and we are not organized enough to take them on. Please forgive me if I am too jaded, and definitely don’t intend any offense to you Stefan, but how on earth are we going to make them feel the heat?

I have one issue: I find the proposed subscription model appalling. Why? Because if I stop paying I have no software and I have no way to use my files, and ultimately I have no business. I resent becoming an indentured servant! That’s just me, I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. /s

I have a small residential firm, and if this is what it takes, I will go back to hand drawing. I don’t have that many years left anyway. But all the people coming after me, better consider this seriously. Varoufakis was right when he said we are in an era of techno-feudalism. And we all know how much fun the original feudal system was!

Before any of you jump on me, defending this great GS proposal, I would like to add that when the news about switching to a subscription model came out a few months back, the perpetual license holders were assured by the company, and by some moderators, that we are fine. That we get to keep our original agreement, we have nothing to worry, nothing will change.

Well, it doesn’t look that way, now does it? And no, I’m not that naive, I was sure they will find a way to nail us, but it feels good to point it out.

That being said, I actually have no problem paying a monthly fee — after all, under my SSA/Forward agreement, I pay $1,000+ per year to get new releases, which is another form of subscription. The difference being that I get to keep the software if I stop paying!

Why can’t we have a subscription model, albeit at a higher price then the current SSA, that allows us to keep the software when we stop paying?

Structure it such that it can only take effect after a set amount of time to avoid gaming the system (paying one month or so and then stopping).

Too simple a solution to consider? Thoughts?

[Rick Thompson]

I totally relate.  I have been using AC since the mid 90's developing a catalog of plans I sell.  Since I have a perpetual license at least I can work on them as long as the hardware/software permits.  I will stay on AC26.  I too am at the end of my time here, but for the sake of my kids I have saved all plans (and all versions of each- foundation types) as PDF's and DWG files so they can continue selling them through all the 3rd party vendors that I use.  Their new business model completely disregards the user who supported Archicad for decades.  Greed kills eventually.  

[Eduardo Bell]

Dear Stefan,

I agree, except that I believe there are a few things we can do about it.

For starters we are taking them on right here.

Why not join a class lawsuit?

Why not report this to the local Better Business Bureau?

Why not report this to the local Fair Trade Commission?

Why not take on every opportunity, in every media, at colleague meetings, at industry gatherings, to comment about this wrong. Bad publicity is their worst nightmare and an ill most smart decision makers will try to remedy.

While we are at it why not do all of the above against our local distributors as well.

I used to have a high opinion of Graphisoft until now. This new approach stems from a few GS employees within the company, and they are who we are trying to convince to reconsider.

Please fellow ArchiCAD users, keep on commenting, replying and liking, don't forget, don't let this go away. Don't let them get away with it.

[Bricklyne Clarence]

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@StefanV_BCP wrote:

......

Personally i believe that you should leave the choice to the user Perpetual+ SSA, or Subscription. 

---

If they did that, the vast majority of license holders right now would choose to go with Perpetual, and we all know why.

And more importantly, they (GS) know why.

They've done nothing in the past several versions to justify to the basic user, the premise of just handing over to them money every year for "new" versions that show almost no valuable return on that investment (at a higher cost, no less), and which if anything, and if trends are to be followed are only likely to show diminishng returns going forward.

At the same time, they justifiably can't keep operating at the current state when most users on perpetual licenses only upgrade when they see version upgrades worth their money (or to keep from falling to far behind), which is becoming a rarer and rarer occurance now with the years passing by. Meaning every other or every other two or three versions.

That's why they have to force everyone into Subscription, whether they (the users) like it or not.

They do need the revenue,  but on the other side of that coin, there's nothing we're seeing being done with that revenue that justifies them getting it, and certainly in the terms they're demanding it.

Add to all this the Intellectual property concerns with our work getting locked into their cloud-server based ecosystems, with them increasingly spending licensing revenue on (nonsensical) tools no one wants or asked for - which for us translates into wasting resources - and the precipitously eroded and diminished trust that users have in them as a company, (particularly with these latest moves and how they've carried them out),.......and you end up in the sad state of affairs we currently find ourselves in.

[Barry Kelly]

I feel really bad about this decision to end SSA/Forward subscription.

Because I was saying at every opportunity, “don’t worry, you are not being forced into the subscription, you can carry on with SSA/Forward”.

Seems that this is no longer the case.

Graphisoft have changed their mind, which of course is their right to do.

Whether this works out good or bad for them I don’t know, I just hope they have done their research.

So now we have a perpetual license available only until end of 2026 (version 30).

After that, subscription only.

For the company I work for, after the discounted swap over to subscription (if we choose to go that path), we will be paying approximately 5 times the amount in subscription (we have yet to see if there will be any negotiating of this with our distributor) as we do now for our SSA.

So paying 5 times as much to run software that we have already paid for up front – I am not sure that is going to happen.

And that is for each license that we have.

Then comes the issue, if we switch to the discounted 3+3 year subscription, then at some point in the future we decide to cancel (so say in 6 years at version 34 or what ever it is then), we wont be left with version 34, but only 30 instead.

Or maybe it will be 29, as that is the version we would be on when we start the subscription (FAQ says this is what we will fall back to?)

Either way, at best we will be left with version 30 after working for years on projects up to version 34 or so.

If we cancel the subscription, we can’t save back to 30, because we no longer have access to the newer versions to save back.

Pending negotiations with our distributor, my recommendations to my company will be to renew our subscription this year and again at the end of 2025.

This will take us to the end of 2026 (version 30) which will be the last perpetual license upgrade.

Then I recommend that we don’t switch to the subscription (that will be too expensive anyway), and we carry on using version 30 into the future and Graphisoft will be getting no payments what so ever.

I would much rather that we carry on paying our SSA support and upgrading year on year, but it seems Graphisoft do not want this.

As I said, we are yet to talk with our distributor to negotiate any deals, if that is possible.

I recommend everyone else to talk with their distributors as well to figure out what is the best option for them.

Maybe Graphisoft have factored in that they will lose some old customers like us, but with subscriptions at approx 5 times the cost of SSA/Forward support, they will make up for it.

Again, that is their decision.

I just feel let down as a long time customer (since version 6.5), paying up front for the software (100+ licenses over the years) and support fees every year.

I really hope Graphisoft is listening and might reconsider cancelling SSA/Forward support, but I am not holding my breath.

Barry.

[jl_lt]

We know your intentions were good Barry, but no one believed for one second Graphisoft would do the right thing. 

Why would they??  they either invest to offer a better product and maybe then go into suscription, OR they dont invest a single dime and keep their faulty product as it is (which is forgivable within the context of the current perpetual model, but inexcusable under a subscription model)  and they just milk us as long as they can before AI takes over architectural practices.   

This is a big nice middle finger to all of us.

If they couldnt keep their word on this, who can expect they will actually offer a better product just because they got a little bit more cash (a positive flow that will last for 3 years at best).  Having more cash doesnt mean youll offer a better product; youll just have more cash.  

[mthd]

Uh Oh ! Not a happy announcement but I saw it coming from a representative who gave me a little hint a couple years back that SSA/FW was likely to be replaced by a subscription only going forward. This announcement just confirms it. Let’s put this straight, AC is not perpetual, that is not the correct terminology because it does have an eventual end.

Well it’s a more open playing field now and we will just use what we have or find something else that is truly perpetual ? I cant see how this move is in the interests of AC/GS but it certainly is for Nemetschek who have other CAD packages available in their stable.

I can’t go back to a drawing board because that is not feasible for me. I can however keep my options open and repay this company by not using any other of its other CAD packages. I am only a customer of truly perpetual software from now on.

The future of Archicad and any other CAD products that are subscription only, is greater competition. It will force all these CAD products to improve or be the best in the business or you will not get hired.

Welcome to real the world of competition for business !

[Koji]

I think moving solely to a subscription model is a very bad decision, the perpetual license option should remain.

If version 2026 is the last version with perpetual license, that will be my last version of Archicad. Afterwards and when it runs out of support I will explore other options more extended in the BIM field.

If you really want to satisfy users, the subscription option, which is valid for many, should coexist with the perpetual license option that until now distinguished Archicad from other software on the market and now makes it one more.

If there is not the loyalty that a perpetual license implies, there is nothing to stop you from leaving Graphisoft's platform and jumping to the competition.

Hopefully Graphisoft will reconsider this decision that is focused solely on pleasing investors and shareholders, subscription models are a problem that has spread to all platforms in all markets.

[Jp1138]

Surprise, no surprise 😅😅

The very big problem with SAAS shows its ugly head here: you are at the expense of a company having a change of mind and all your bussiness is left on the air. After repeately telling SSA would continue on, now they tell us that no, that that was only a joke.

Ok. I supposse we will stick with Archicad 30 until we transition to something else. Bonsai Blender or Rhino seem better options right now. Even Cype Architecture, while not very pretty, is an option now, being free and integrated with their other apps.

Many of not so old Archicad users came here because they wouldn´t use a SAAS as Revit, and stayed because the software was good. Now the search for other software that began when the transition was first announced must intensify, as they aren´t able even to keep their word from some months ago 😥 No way we can trust them not to make a misuse of this new model where every user will even more be tied to their not so stable plans.

[Ransom Ratcliff]

Ending the perpetual license option removes a priceless quality of ArchiCAD because we create our intellectual property in this format, which is inaccessible without this tool. This intellectual property can represent many years of great effort and personal human inspiration.

Note that the operative words here are, "our intellectual property." And it is unlike a car or apartment that we might buy, rent or sell.

As long as we own and control the key to the vault (PLN), we are willing to pour our heart and soul into this format. Even if we fall on hard times and lose our business, or Graphisoft goes out of business, at least we have some hope that we can still access our life's work and maybe even rebuild from the ashes.

ArchiCAD has continued to be the most elegant and powerful BIM authoring tool that money can buy.

But if a future version/format transforms me from an owner to a renter, I doubt I will be willing to put anything of serious value behind that kind of paywall. Even the Pay-Per-Use licensing that enabled me to afford switching to ArchiCAD in 1995, would not close the door on our intellectual property, if left unused for some time.

There is time in the coming year for Graphisoft to refine this proposed business model in a way that works better with the human factor and their customer base and the unique profession of Architecture. While we may not fairly understand the pressures on your side, Graphisoft's passion and talent over decades, has made customers into allies.

Let's keep it up. 🙂

[mthd]

Intellectual property can be covered by being able to export our models into the various file formats even if some data is lost in the translation process.

There can be collusion between Nemetschek and Autodesk who have the same subscription only policy goals for the future past 2026. I am not sure if that will apply to all of Nemetschek’s CAD packages ?

Legal implications can result from a transition like this by forcing perpetual license holders into a subscription only future. Why would you issue perpetual licenses till the end of 2025 and then at the end of 2026 render them void ? They are letting us hold an older version of Archicad as perpetual and that is as far as it goes for now.

I think that these companies should be under obligation to upgrade perpetual licensing indefinitely. Certainly because they are now requiring us to not let our payments stop so the license can continue to be upgraded.

I think we haven’t heard the end of this story and the treacherous dealings by these CAD companies. Government agencies can intervene and allow for fair trading to protect us customers of perpetual licensing.

[Martin Jules]

Time will tell whether you've made the best or worst decision on this!

[MinhNguyen]

I see this one coming, but didn't think it was this quick. And looks like AC29 or 30 would be the last that can run perpetual licenses? Why can't they just specify it so that we don't have to guess?

So GS is forcing people to subscription, and also shutdown BIMcloud paid version to replace it with BIMcloud Saas? Nothing has been said about its fate so far.

Reading through the FAQ, there is some conflicting information as well: in questions 10 and 11, there are 2 different answers for the same issue: fallback option - what exactly do we get here? So someone who made the conversion in 2024 can still run newer Archicad, but those who choose to convert in 2025 will have to stay with AC29/30?

Funny enough, in all announcements, GS keeps putting the responsibility to address these concerns onto local representatives and chose not to participate here directly, but like a week ago (or 2), our local representatives (both in Vietnam and Australia) still have no idea about all of these changes

[mthd]

Yes it would be good if they could exactly specify but probably will in time. They have said to the end of 2026 so that would include AC30.

Graphisoft can take the lead and make any necessary changes to continue offering perpetual licensing to their loyal customers as well as subscriptions if they really wanted to. Even if it meant the changing of the companies structure. After all, who really owns the intellectual property of the ArchiCAD coding ? Future AI could easily plagiarise any code and re-create a clone CAD system of any of the big CAD/BIM players. 

Architects are fully aware of the plagiarising of their designs and after all you can copy a style but not and exact floor plan with copyright laws in our land at least.

[Eduardo Rolon]

At this point AC30 is the final perpetual release.

[thesleepofreason]

Which could well be nothing much more than 28.2 if they decide to focus on subscription only cloud services. I don't think we should expect them to get things in order before they ride off into the sunset just for old time sakes. Just two more chances for GS to pull the football on us - good grief!

[Eduardo Rolon]

actually 26.4…

[mthd]

Not if they decide to cheat us and downgrade us back to an older version for not taking up a subscription.

I really feel disappointed that a company that we all invested in is now using bullying tactics against us and punishing us with downgrading our licenses.

[MinhNguyen]

Answer from yesterday FAQ: last perpetual version is in 2026. No specific version number is mentioned, so it could be AC28.2 or 29.5 or anything available then