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-...

[mthd]

Hey @Bricklyne Clarence, I think many of us know who BA Baracus is. I remember a post in the old forum call “Archicad is Dying” or something like that because of the popularity of Revit at the time. Was that your post ? Archicad survived and grew while SSA/FW was the norm. Soon subscription only will be the norm and what happens to Archicad in the future is unknown. Might the diddling with roadmap lately spell disaster for the future of Archicad ? What do you think and are we fooling ourselves by sticking to Archicad in the future ?

[rakurs]

At this point in time, I'm kind of thinking that I am fooling myself by sticking to architecture in the future. By committing a substantial percentage of my dwindling (in times of horrid inflation) revenue to a piece of software in a profession which is losing its credibility, status and any kind of value, I'm shooting myself in the foot on a daily basis.

EDIT: And now I'm a good boy and I received all these notifications how I'm a participant and whatnot.

[mthd]

The Archicad 28 release webinar was certainly focused on using multi disciplinary software solutions. They were all advertising their own particular brands of software. I can’t afford to outsource to so many other expensive software solutions. I would go broke working to pay the software bills in my practice. I will just have to live with an older version of Archicad in the future and see what happens in the future ?

Hopefully a clever company will create a complete CAD/BIM solution in one package and take a serious market share away from all the major competitors ? AI could in the future plagiarise the coding of all these software conglomerates and come up with a better and cheaper solution ? After all that’s what the history of advancing technology is all about.

Lots of the Archicad gurus here can write GDL code, if you could all put your heads together you may be able to come up with a better solution for Architecture than we have now ?

[torben_wadlinger]

I have contacted my sales partner and they have confirmed that

-as of 1 January 2027 my SSA/Forward will no longer be valid (GS will terminate the contracts)

-the existing licences can no longer be updated but will continue to work with the current Archicad version (until GS shuts down the licence servers)

-continuing to work with new Archicad versions or additional Archicad licences in the then current version is only possible by subscription

I've just had a look at what Graphisoft is offering for fun: there is currently only the Collaborate version for Germany, i.e. you are forced to buy Archicad and the BIMCloud Saas, even if you neither want nor need the SaaS solution (because you have your own BIMCloud).

In the USA, GS offers a solo licence, but it can't do BIMCloud.

For me, it is therefore clear that I will stay on the current version from 1 January 2027 and not take out a subscription. If GS comes up with the idea of downgrading my licences to Solo, I will definitely seek legal advice.

This is where a very long business relationship, even a friendly one, ends. I have also personally invested a lot in Graphisoft in the past: I have given presentations for Graphisoft for FREE, written articles and actively promoted the product because I was convinced of both the product and the company.

But under these conditions: without me!

[Barry Kelly]

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@torben_wadlinger wrote:

I've just had a look at what Graphisoft is offering for fun: there is currently only the Collaborate version for Germany, i.e. you are forced to buy Archicad and the BIMCloud Saas, even if you neither want nor need the SaaS solution (because you have your own BIMCloud).

---

You should find that from next year (2025), there will be a subscription offer for 'Archicad Studio' - this does not include the BIMcloud SaaS.

Maybe ask your sales partner about that.

That will be offered but only as a 1 year contract at the same price as your current SSA/Forward support.

But as I understand, that price will increase yearly to 2028 when you will be paying the full subscription price for Studio.

The Studio subscription (I think) should end up being a little cheaper than the full BIMcloud collaboration, but I suspect by not very much.

But we won't know about that until next year, and by then it will be too late to take out the 3 year deal for BIMcloud collaboration at the same price as SSA.

That too will only be a 1 year contract increasing to full price in 2028.

I really don't know why it is all so hard.

This is what I think it should be like ..... (just my thoughts - not what is actually happening)

New users that can't purchase a perpetual license any more, must sign up for collaboration (i.e. rent the software).

Those of us that do have perpetual licenses, still keep paying our current SSA/Forward support fees (yes they will increase every year I am sure).

The last perpetual license can still be version 30 (2026).

Perpetual license holders can still keep paying SSA/FWD fees beyond 2026 (as they have already paid for the software) and they can upgrade to future version.

But should they stop paying support, then they fall back to the last perpetual license at version 30.

That would be so much simpler in my eyes.

Barry.

[Martin Jules]

Here's what I understand about the process change over time (timeline). SSA > Forward > Subscription (ArchiCAD Studio or Collaborate). Perpetual WibuKey > Perpetual Codemeter (hardware key) > Perpetual Codemeter Act (software key) > Perpetual Cloud Licensing (It's coming): 

As technology evolves, none of those processes are really perpetual. All of them or all processes are generally dynamic. It's now up to Graphisoft to convince us on this.

[mthd]

@Barry Kelly wrote: 

“The last perpetual license can still be version 30 (2026).

Perpetual license holders can still keep paying SSA/FWD fees beyond 2026 (as they have already paid for the software) and they can upgrade to future version.

But should they stop paying support, then they fall back to the last perpetual license at version 30.”

Hey Barry, do you have confirmation of this ? The way I read it, is that AC29 will be the last version we can have because from 2026 AC will only be available by subscription only. Yes we will have our contracts serviced past 2026 but not renewed during that period for another year. Have I got it wrong ? I will find out when CI calls me in the future.

[Barry Kelly]

---

@mthd wrote:

@Barry Kelly wrote: 

“The last perpetual license can still be version 30 (2026).

Perpetual license holders can still keep paying SSA/FWD fees beyond 2026 (as they have already paid for the software) and they can upgrade to future version.

But should they stop paying support, then they fall back to the last perpetual license at version 30.”

Hey Barry, do you have confirmation of this ? The way I read it, is that AC29 will be the last version we can have because from 2026 AC will only be available by subscription only. Yes we will have our contracts serviced past 2026 but not renewed during that period for another year. Have I got it wrong ? I will find out when CI calls me in the future.

---

No, I  was saying that is what I hope would happen.

I don't know why all of the offers and licensing has to be so hard to deal with.

Keep it simple and GS should look after their existing customers that have already paid for the software.

Why should we have to start paying for it all over again.

Barry.

[mthd]

@Barry Kelly wrote: “No, I  was saying that is what I hope would happen.

I don't know why all of the offers and licensing has to be so hard to deal with.

Keep it simple and GS should look after their existing customers that have already paid for the software.

Why should we have to start paying for it all over again.”

I agree with you “that keeping it simple”. As we all know that treating your existing customers fairly is imperative in any business dealings. These will determine if they will continue to do business with that particular company or not. Every person will have different circumstances and needs and will make a decision to suit their business model.

Right now Graphisoft could be doing the correct thing by not terminating SSA/FWD contracts at all. They can certainly offer subscription only to new users and to anyone who has SSA/FWD and who also wants a subscription. When we retire and no longer need to use Archicad the SSA/FWD can cease when we stop using it or it dies with us so to speak.

I think that Graphisoft are going to deplete their market share with these new subscription only arrangements. What I am more concerned about is that the roadmap has been drastically altered now and that will also have an impact on future sales of subscriptions.

I can see Autodesk gloating at Graphisoft for following the same subscription policies as them because they will swallow up most of the disgruntled customers. In the end that is their decision to make and we will see the results in the near future of these decisions that have already been made by them.

[torben_wadlinger]

Architects:

Welcome to the first and only Architectural Software Debate in front of the next main decision of what software to choose. My first question goes to the Nemetschek-Party, represented by their leading product Graphisoft Archicad.

Graphisoft Archicad, what is your future licensing plan?

GS:

Well, I have a concept of a plan …

[Martin Jules]

I am not sure you will get a specific answer from Graphisoft here. As per my understanding, SSA/Forward users should be ready to convert their current plan into an annual subscription one. Either ArchiCAD Studio or ArchiCAD Collaborate. The company will bypass the legal aspect of the issue by providing SSA/Forward users with a perpetual Cloud Licensing. Hopefully ArchiCAD Studio will offer equivalent features, benefits, updates, and upgrades for a comparable price to that of SSA/Forward.

Mandatory internet, privacy, and cloud security to protect our projects from hackers are some of the issues we'll also have to face with in the future.

Here are some benefits expected from ArchiCAD Studio:

[torben_wadlinger]

First of all, Archicad Studio is 'til today not available in Germany and not announced. Second, AC Studio only includes Bimcloud Basic! That’s a totally no-go! By now I pay something like 15 or 17 EUR per Bimcloud-license. In the future I have to pay 47 EUR per license to use my bimcloud (not basic).

[Martin Jules]

Take a look at this press release from the Nemetschek Group. It seems ArchiCAD Studio subscriptions will be available for the "same price as SSA/FWD."

In your case, a special BIMcloud service should be negotiated with your local representative for your multiple licenses.

[Koji]

My distributor has confirmed to me that although the cost will initially be the same as the SSA service, it will increase progressively each year until it is equal to the new subscription service. It´s a trap!

I need to buy a work tool that I own and can update if I wish, I do not want to rent an architectural design service.

End of the road for my long adventure with Archicad, what a pity

[Martin Jules]

You will "own" a perpetual Cloud Licensing 😃.

[mthd]

I also do not want to rent an architectural design software tool that I should own outright.

If I want to upgrade to the latest model, then that latest model should be mine. If I buy an expensive sports car I own it and if I buy the latest model I still own it.

Commercial greed has taken over many of the CAD software vendors thinking that we are hooked to their product.

I will keep my options open after SSA/FWD upgrading ceases.

[Martin Jan Rosa]

"This offer was designed to help SSA/FWD customers take full advantage of Graphisofts subscriptions offerings at a very preferential STARTING PRICE (!!!)." 

As an SSA/FWD customer, I would also like to see a roadmap of when and where the price will realistically go after this offer expires so I can make a truly informed decision on what strategy to choose.

Switching to Collaborate/Studio looks like a reasonable move in the 2026-2029 timeframe. If only GS had clearly communicated the real differences between the two versions, though. So far, one could logically think of the difference primarily in the cloud (BIMclud SaS vs Basic being the clearest). It's just that by currently making AI Visualizer available only to Collaborate subscribers, GS has pretty much scooped it up - it's already truncating a feature that is more about using Archciad itself (though of course it runs in the Cloud). And the question remains as to what further chopping of functionality GS will resort to in order to "force" customers to switch to the most expensive plan.

At the same time, I myself am still unclear whether I will also lose my permanent license by switching to a subscription (logically, it looks like I will). Otherwise, it would make more sense for me to stay on SSA/FWD until the end of 2026 and then have one permanent license of the "latest" version of Archicad (in my case with an extra HW key) + another license for the subscription from 2027 (or wait three years on Archicad version 2026 and still save money).

If we lose our permanent license by switching to a subscription, any discounts offered are not discounts - but rather "buying back" our permanent license by GS (and for significantly less than we put into it over the years).

There is a huge communication confusion around this - which our local distributor has promised to shed some light on in a week's time. Hopefully at least he will have really relevant information from GS.

[Eduardo Rolon]

Time for a re-read…

https://every.to/p/breaching-the-trust-thermocline-is-the-biggest-hidden-risk-in-business

[jl_lt]

This is an excellent article. Graphisoft trully had plenty of time to take preventive action to stop this from happening. Actually they didnt need to do much, just continue to be (or pretend to be) "the underdog that could" with continuous developement of their tools.    Instead of wasting 5 years now chasing structural and MEP chimeras, by now they would have much more refined architectural capabilities making Archicad an even more specialized software which paradoxically would serve a potentially very big market, i.e. architects, of which there are plenty to populate new planets.

At somepoint , someone at graphisoft thought that Architects were not enough and that they could compete with revit in the engineering department WHILE promising great growth, wasting plenty of resources in the process. At yet another point, they realized they would not.be able to pull it off (because they diluted themselves on too many fronts) and now are in damage control. And of course, we are going to pay for it

[Kalib Stewart]

This is almost verbatim exactly what has happened. 

[mthd]

Breaching the “Trust Thermocline” will be reached at its coldest point so to speak. That’s is when SSA/FWD ceases and add to it that the original roadmap has been drastically altered. The coldest point will then be reached and trust will be further breached.

What will be the new “Tik Tok” CAD/BIM that people will flock to in the future ? Time will tell.

Not to understate that Autodesk Revit and Nemetschek Vectorworks Architect are also being plunged into a “Trust Thermocline” with the introduction of subscription only policies. True some of those users may have come over to Graphisoft Archicad but they may be disillusioned because they now discover that it also is scheduled to become subscription only.

Users may choose to keep AC29 in the bag and spend their subscription money on another product like Revit or similar ? Time will tell where they will actually flock to next. I think Graphisoft already understands that the future of BIM is all about a “multi disciplinary” approach for bigger companies. They can already afford to use many BIM products at once.

The smaller businesses and sole traders are a different kettle of fish and they may settle for AC29 and not take out a subscription in AC 30+. They may instead spend their money on something else because the current roadmap doesn’t suit their business model.

If GS had stuck to its original roadmap, I certainly would not be phased about taking out a subscription for the future. I will be keeping a close eye on the roadmap in the near future and then see what I will do from there. An excellent roadmap is the key to avoiding the coldest point when SSA/FW ceases.