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-...

[ryejuan]

well yes at least for 3 years you got lock in to an SSA price in subscription which you are paying already vs paying the regular price of the subscription then after 3 years you gauge if you still want to continue if not just revert back to perpetual license but other than the license part they also offered BIMcloud bundled in so I guess it really depends on the users now but I hope really by doing this move Graphisoft will have 3 years to deliver those "wishes" that the users are asking for. 🤞

[Jp1138]

The problem with the fallback is that, after three years using the program, you have to come back to a much older version to keep the perpetual license. Not very nice for all the work you´ve done during those subscription years...

[ryejuan]

What I understand the perpetual will be the last version you will be using in the subscription... Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Karl Ottenstein]

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@ryejuan wrote:

What I understand the perpetual will be the last version you will be using in the subscription... Correct me if I'm wrong.

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No, that is not correct.  The last perpetual / non-cloud version that subscribers can revert to will be (we are told) version 30 in 2 years.   So, if you are a subscriber and are on what might otherwise be thought of as 34 in 6 years and want to revert to perpetual, you will go back to 30.  All of your files created since version 30 will be unreadable.

[mthd]

@Karl Ottenstein, wrote: “No, that is not correct.  The last perpetual / non-cloud version that subscribers can revert to will be (we are told( version 30 in 2 years.   So, if you are a subscriber and are on what might otherwise be thought of as 34 in 6 years and want to revert to perpetual, you will go back to 30.  All of your files created since version 30 will be unreadable.”

That being the case, if you decided to take out a subscription with a perpetual fallback. Then there is no purpose in doing or starting jobs in latter versions beyond 30. Just stay with V30 perpetual or stay stuck on a sub even after you retired.

Really Graphisoft has to deal differently with existing perpetual license holders and those new subscription only clients. Why freeze the perpetual license at V30 ? ? ? 

[ryejuan]

Thanks for this info, then I guess on the 3rd year we should evaluate if the software upgrades is worth it before proceeding further... Or is there a way to save to lower version? Don't tell me that they will also remove that function??

[mthd]

I would read the updated FAQ’s carefully and speak to your representative. From what I understand, when a converted subscription finishes and you fall back to perpetual you can keep the current version of the software. That is the impression I get from the updated information.

[Jp1138]

Everytime Graphisoft has talked albout this they have been somewhat obscure, but to my knowledge they have never denied the latest perpetual version would be the last SSA served version, that is, apparently, Archicad 30.

Reading all this, the latest perpetual version will be the one at the end of 2025.

It would be very easy for Graphisoft to clarify this, but it seems they don´t want to. And it´s very important in order to make the decision of what to do.

[Jp1138]

The problem with saving back - you can only fall back one version. Will you be able to install Archicad 33, 32 and 31 to fall back to Archicad 30 (if that is really the last perpetual version). It would be seem yes, but who knows.

And every new feature they introduce in this lastest versions would be lost in translation falling back so many steps...

Giving you the option of having three neew versions and falling back to an older one is a no option for me. It makes no sense for a functional practice to take this path.

[mthd]

Very true for me as well. It’s not worth taking the risk of doing any work in the latest subscription versions if you are made to fall back to V30 (The last Perpetual Version).

[ryejuan]

Yes correct, unless you are willing to continue we are just getting the best offer now which is much cheaper that the original price. 

At least they gave you an option to revert back to perpetual if you don't want to continue using the subscription lets see what will be the future updates for the software and we as users evaluate if it is still worth using the subscription or we just fall back and go perpetual. 

[Srinivas]

Namaste,

I need a clarification regarding the conversion program. If we decide to move forward, will we still have access to versions earlier than 25? The FAQ (question 13) mentions that new licenses are compatible up to version 25, but it seems versions below 25 may not be supported.

Could you kindly confirm on this?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[ryejuan]

Yes, what I have understand is that apart from the cloud license that you will get AC28 up you will also have another set of license that is AC25 to lower versions.

[Eric Milberger]

The reason I purchased the perpetual as I am a small firm and working until I cannot.

I bought it to make sure I only had  to maybe pay for updates.

 I thought the agreement for what I purchased was backed by the company.

This is very concerning as it means Graphisoft can change their subscription to anything at any price that they want.

So next year they might might start charging by the hour.  Please correct me if  I am not wrong

[Jp1138]

You are completely right: once you enter the subscription realm, you are at the mercy of GS. That´s why nearly every software tries to go to this model, as it has no drawbacks for them - if they convince their clients to start paying, of course.

[Karl Ottenstein]

True - just as we had no idea what the SSA payment would be from year to year either.  But, Graphisoft is at least offering a known 3 year (to 6 year) contract price upon certain conversion options... giving a predictable budget for that time period:
https://graphisoft.com/convert-ssa-forward-to-archicad-collaborate

[Rex]

Good point Karl - that's why I locked in on a conversion option early on. Been enjoying the Collaborate SAAS improvements

[ryejuan]

Yes, I understand where you are coming from but what I understand is that for the 3 year contract that you will subscribe you will get the almost same price you are paying in your SSA/ Forward (if you manage to get the promo they offer) which is like the same as having a perpetual license then after that contract period you can either decide if you want to continue or just revert back to the perpetual license which they coined perpetual fallback which gives you that current Archicad version.

At the end of the day we are just using their tools and they are in command to whatever they want to do... 

[Koji]

Graphisoft has been unable to understand something very simple. If you intend to make a subscription program by eliminating the perpetual license, at least this subscription has to be really affordable.

Adobe charges €70 per month for its ENTIRE suite (Photoshop, Acrobat, Lightroom, illustrator, premiere) while Graphisoft intends to charge more than double.

It is an absolute shame and for my part my relationship with Graphisoft is over, which I should remember that greed has made larger companies disappear.

[Jp1138]

The example they are following is Autodesk, that charges double of what they are askinig, so in their view they are very cheap...

[mthd]

There is also a big difference between Architectural and Engineering software when you make an honest appraisal. True Archicad is one of the best Architectural solutions out there but not the only option available. I personally prefer to own my software like many others do too. We will see what the future holds. I don’t mind using an older version of Archicad becuase future versions will not exactly be re-inventing the wheel. The new CEO has been recruited as the terminator of the perpetual upgrade of AC. Asta La Vista Baby ! 😆.