Subscription pricing for Archicad

[Stephen Dolbee]

Well, after reading about Revit's subscription pricing and many negative comments about it, now Archicad is doing the same thing. We just received notice from our reseller the opportunity to "subscribe" for the low price or $495 if done before end of Sept. $695 after that. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad. If promised a major upgrade each subscription year, that might not be a bad thing. I didn't see any comment about that, though. Anyone know?

Steve

[TomWaltz]

Stephen wrote:
Well, after reading about Revit's subscription pricing and many negative comments about it, now Archicad is doing the same thing. We just received notice from our reseller the opportunity to "subscribe" for the low price or $495 if done before end of Sept. $695 after that. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad. If promised a major upgrade each subscription year, that might not be a bad thing. I didn't see any comment about that, though. Anyone know?

Steve

I've not seen anything on the Graphisoft website, or any dealer website with any real detail.

[Rakela Raul]

and the subscription includes some goodies also, i think the ones from cadimage, 3dprofiler, footing, etc. and it is every 12 months not every 18 as it is today....
i would really like to know whats new in the new release ahead of time so i know it is worth th eupgrade.

[Anonymous]

Have been thinking on this last few days also. The promise is of great things to come for the US market as the plan is US only. I wonder if there is a new version promise on the part of GS. I never knew 3d profiler existed that created editable entities. The problem is I already have easy trim and Archiforma.

Decisions, decisions.

[TomWaltz]

Rashid wrote:
Have been thinking on this last few days also. The promise is of great things to come for the US market as the plan is US only. I wonder if there is a new version promise on the part of GS. I never knew 3d profiler existed that created editable entities. The problem is I already have easy trim and Archiforma.

Decisions, decisions.

The add-ons they are offering are all CADImage products.

[Stephen Dolbee]

Introducing ArchiCAD Subscription…

You can now take advantage of the new Graphisoft® ArchiCAD® Subscription Program. Stay current on new product releases while more easily managing your budget because any ArchiCAD upgrade that is released during your subscription term is delivered FREE to subscribers!

Additional benefits include:

Get priority tech support & User Support (Platinum Support) from your Graphisoft Authorized Reseller (Design Integrations). Any unresolved questions will be immediately elevated to Graphisoft technical support for resolution.
Key insurance: Replace lost or stolen keys for no charge.
Virtual Tutor: this is an invaluable tool in helping newer ArchiCAD users in getting a jumpstart toward being a productive, power-user of this Virtual Building™ modeling technology!
3D Profiler and other add-on tools: 3D Profiler will be offered with initial subscriptions; in the future, add-on tool offers may be changed – and other products may be added, which all active subscribers will be given access to.
New release training sessions will be complimentary to all Subscription clients.

This is a copy of what was e-mailed to us. The Cadimage products would be a nice feature-if it's true.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but it is marketing at it's finest, same as I may do with a mature product and a near captive audience (sounds like an outfit in Redmond). You end up paying more per upgrade, enough to finance add-ons which you could or may have already bought on your own. AC 10 is becoming clearer.

I even bought Virtual tutor 6 weeks ago

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that Graphisoft is planning an upgrade each year. The subscription for now is an option so that you can budget for new upgrades each year. Savings (if any) would depend on the price set for each upgrade.

[Richard Morrison]

Stephen wrote:
Well, after reading about Revit's subscription pricing and many negative comments about it, now Archicad is doing the same thing. <snip>Steve

It's not anywhere near the same, at least as far as I can tell. With Revit, you pay a hefty "purchase" fee AND then have to pay for a subscription to get updates/upgrades. If you don't pay the annual subscription fee for a period of two years, then then you're back at the beginning, needing to pay a new "purchase" fee if you want to upgrade at any point.

"Purchase" isn't a good term, because you never really own anything with Revit; perhaps "initiation fee" is a better term. This pricing policy has definitely thrown cold water on any exploration of Revit, for me.

Graphisoft just seems to be giving you a discount and bonus items for pre-paying the typical upgrade, AFAIK. Seems rather benign, but a bit of a gamble if you don't know anything about the quality/features of the next release.

[Scott Davis]

"Purchase" isn't a good term, because you never really own anything with Revit;

sure you do...you own the version of the software that you purchased. If you started at release 5, and were on subscription through 9.0, then 9.0 and all earlier versions are yours to continue using for as long as you'd like. Your current Revit licenses don't expire.

Being on subscription keeps your software current. 8.0 was released this past spring, then 8.1 in the summer, and since then, two "builds" have been released, one just today. All of this, plus support directly from the Revit team are included as part of the subscription.

With the rapid way in which Revit is being developed, it makes no sense NOT to be on subscription and get all the new releases, point release, builds, and support for a small cost per year.