Shift to a subscription model - your questions are welcome

[Akos Pfemeter]

Dear Community,

You may have already read the press release or the Insights post about our strategic shift to a subscription model. 

Here is a quick summary of the news:

BUDAPEST, April 2, 2024—Graphisoft, the leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software solution developer for architecture and multidisciplinary design, today announced that, as part of its strategic shift to a sustainable subscription software delivery model, perpetual licenses will be gradually phased out by the end of 2025. This change does not affect the delivery of Software Service Agreement (SSA)/Forward subscription services to existing customers. 

Archicad perpetual and SSA/Forward licenses will be available for new customers through December 31, 2024, and to existing customers through December 31, 2025. Starting in 2026, Archicad will be available only through subscription. Active SSA/Forward contracts will continue to be serviced beyond 2025. Alternatively, SSA/Forward customers can convert to Archicad Collaborate subscriptions at the same price as SSA/Forward. This offer is designed to help existing SSA/Forward subscribers take full advantage of the Archicad Collaborate subscription, which combines award-winning Archicad for architectural design with BIMx and BIMcloud SaaS for fast, efficient, secure, real-time access to shared projects.

Please ask your questions and share your thoughts here -- Graphisoft's expert team will try and provide answer to all sorts of questions you may have!
Thank you.
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Edit by Moderator:  here is the link to the evolving information/FAQ page about this announcement:

https://graphisoft.com/convert-ssa-forward-to-archicad-collaborate/faq

[StefanV_BCP]

This is one of the moves that I really detest.

Why you don't leave the hybrid system? Leave the user the choice if they want a perpetual license with SSA, or if they want subscription-based licensing ?

[Jp1138]

Blender BIM, here I come 😅

[Algimantas Kuprenas]

Will spend time on investigating BlenderBIM, looks interesting well structured software 😉

Software development can be funded by community easily and transparently 😉

[Jp1138]

Does Active SSA/Forward contracts will continue to be serviced beyond 2025 mean that those with SSA can continue with their perpetual licenses and updates paying SSA/Forward? I suppose SSA price will be increased so it matches the suscription, though...

[Barry Kelly]

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@Jp1138 wrote:

 I suppose SSA price will be increased so it matches the suscription, though...

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I hope not.

We have already paid for the software.

Barry.

[Jp1138]

Well, you are free to stay behind. That´s the way it´s going to work, no doubt. Or after the transition period of 3+3 years they are offering, you are not elegible for SSA anymore, so you are stuck behind also if you revert to perpetual.

There are signs of suscription fatigue in other parts of the industry. I think the timing couldn´t be worse. And the price should be significantly lower to chose the Archicad subscription against a Revit one, and right now it doesnt seem to be the case.

I don´t really know what we are going to do, but we are going to look around for other options and prepare a escape plan just in case, no doubt.

[rm]

GS has aggressively been raising the cost of SSA licenses. Ours went up 25% this year. They clearly started this move several years back with the rapid increase in SSA prices. The goal is to have us all on permanent subscription.

This is not unique to GS, all software companies have moved this direction. But it seems criminal raising prices yearly at a rate that far exceeds cost of living. There are NO architecture firms that observe increase in professional fees on as yearly basis like the software vendors, clients just won't pay those increases. In this regard, we the architects are the problem - by putting up with software pirate pricing. What is the solution? I believe the firms with the greatest leverage with the BIM software vendors need to force a change. STOP buying subscriptions. Force the software companies to adjust to a more reasonable and proportionate pricing structure. It almost seems like that they have no idea that architecture firms do not operate at the 25-35% margins that the software companies continue to harvest from us. This cannot be sustainable for architecture firms.

[StefanV_BCP]

With the new press release Press Relations – Graphisoft

Personally having the possibility to choose between perpetual or subscription was a smart move.

But now with this decision, I see one big step in Graphisoft's downfall. 

Using this kind of payment model, I as a user expect to have a full bug-free version, with no more room for half-baked solutions.

What is preventing me from using then the "leading industry standard" instead of Archicad? Loyalty? Price? Better features?

But enough of my train thoughts I am wondering what you guys think? Should we start adding new BIM authoring tools to our skillset, like for example open source let me give an hint it starts with B and ends with ER ? 🙂

Cheers

[Barry Kelly]

I am glad existing perpetual license holders will be able to keep them and maintain their SSA/Forward agreements beyond 2025 - or at least that seems to be how it is for now.

It was only in March of last year, @Marton Kiss said ... "we can't predict the future, but at this time we have no plans or expectations to remove the perpetual option from our offering. "

https://community.graphisoft.com/t5/Licensing/Start-strong-with-archicad-Collaboration-questions/m-p...

So it seems the future can not be seen beyond 12 months!

I guess a lot of software is becoming pay as you use now.

I am not sure I like that - in fact I know I don't.

I much rather prefer to buy the software, knowing that I can use it when I want.

Let's hope that starting and stopping the subscription will be quick and easy and we do not get locked into 12 month minimums.

Although I am sure we will pay a premium for shorter monthly subscriptions.

Barry.

[mthd]

@Barry Kelly wrote: “I am glad existing perpetual license holders will be able to keep them and maintain their SSA/Forward agreements beyond 2025 - or at least that seems to be how it is for now.”

I certainly hope you are right about this ? Did you read this in the published information ? I was under the impression that after the 31st of Dec 2025 SSA/Forward perpetual ceases ? Does that just mean that no more perpetual licenses will be issued after that date and that we can continue to upgrade with SSA/Forward perpetual beyond 2026 ?

I think that all of this needs to be clarified by @Akos Pfemeter for all of us to understand what the future holds for the perpetual license holder. I am definitely not going to be forced into a subscription model after 2025. If they would like my business they will need to keep my license perpetual and fully upgraded beyond 2026.

I hope we get clear official clarification from Graphisoft and not our inaccurate interpretation of the FAQ’s ?

[Jp1138]

The way it´s written you won´t be able to buy more perpetual licenses, but the existing ones will, of course, continue to work. They will, at the moment, maintain some kind of SSA service, at least until the end of the six years, it may seem. The problem with this is that, in the future, once SSA stops because it´s not profitable for GS, even if you still mantain your license, your software may stop working due to OS updates (this is specially true for apple users) without GS issuing patches of any kind for perpetual licenses. Usually the part of the software that controls the licensing is very sensitive in this regard. And if you loose your software key or your hardware one malfunctions, you may not be able to recover it. It´s like using a software of a company that no longer exists. In the long run you are being forced to subscribe or look for alternatives.

[DGSketcher]

I see three problems...

Despite the "by mutual agreement" departure of Huw Roberts there is absolutely no acceptance by Graphisoft that our last five years investment has failed to materially benefit the architectural users of the software and there doesn't appear to be any intent to change that position or compensate users. All I see in that press release is a company desperate to boost its profits by forcing users onto subscription contrary to the assurances of Marton Kiss.

If you want to charge a premium for software it should at least be fit for purpose and be seen to be delivering upgrades users want. Nobody asked for the disruption of the UI with the Structural Analytic Model. The MEP27 release was & still is a gross breach of trust and has left users stuck on AC26 despite paying for the upgrade to AC27. A negative ROI due to collapsing productivity is not an appropriate position to encourage users to maintain a subscription.

The subscription model removes the obligation of the developer to do anything more than maintain the software as-is, and let's be honest it isn't in a good place. With the perpetual model the developer needs to engage with users to keep them upgrading. Subscription isn't for the user benefit, it is the legitimised face of RANSOMWARE.

No doubt this release is there to pre-empt the coming perpetual user SSA/Forward price hike.

[thesleepofreason]

As always with GS the marketing is ridiculous to the degree of being unclear - even when the subject is of great importance to users and without the benefit of the doubt it's hard not to see it as intentional.

I'm sure that there are a lot of small scale users that would like to keep the perpetual licensing (less the rampant and seemingly unjustified price increases) and thus I'm equally sure that GS will give a lot of reassurances of "continued support". But looking at the subscription conversion program it's obvious that that the future path has a divergence with the perpetual path coming to a stop sooner or later (although that might still be preferable to running of a cliff!?) 

Or how is the marketing below compatible with assurances that perpetual licences will be a viable path forward? Or has marketing just created a false dilemma?

[DGSketcher]

In context of MEP 27, I am concerned by the "Built-in updater". There have been a number of occasions recently where updates have caused disruption for the user, MEP 27 being the worst example. So what happens if AC runs the built in updater and the impacts of the update are problematic to your office? Can you rewind? I assume you don't get to download an installer file anymore, which previously would allow you to recover your position to an earlier version. What happens if AC changes / breaks Objects without notification, can I reload the old version? At the end of the day it's about autonomy and trust and that has been broken too many times recently.

[Karl Ottenstein]

@thesleepofreason Could you give a link to where you found the Perpetual vs Cloud Subscription graphic?  I'd comment on the apparant major issues to we users in that graphic if I knew where it came from and the context in which Graphisoft published it.  Thanks!

[Mathias Jonathan]

@Karl Ottenstein  Here: https://graphisoft.com/convert-ssa-forward-to-archicad-collaborate

[Karl Ottenstein]

Thank you!  Wow.  More questions than answers there...  The big technical question is one that @vlahtinen raised an hour ago.  With this table, Graphisoft is saying that the subscription people will get continuous updates vs the perpetual licenses... and if that is so, then how can Teamwork projects be joined by people with both license types?

But, maybe I'm dreaming about 'continuous updates' more like all other subscription software I have which gets actual feature updates - not just bug fixes - on a monthly / bimonthly basis ... and if that were the case for Archicad subscription, then the build numbers would not match perpetual.  (However, it begs the question, what is the perpetual licence holder receiving for their SSA/Forward subscription if not those same updates?)

So, in trying to distinguish subscription over perpetual with SSA/Forward - Graphisoft seems to only be muddying the waters ever more  (for me at least).

(The discount offered on that page for the first and second 3 years (6 years total) of conversion will probably be appearling to large firms who want BIMcloud SaaS anyway.)

Thanks again, Mathias!

[DCorcoran]

I just purchased a perpetual license from the local NW reseller, ARCHVISTA consulting, who assured me that the SSA would be available going forward no matter what for those of us with the PL.  I was on the fence and then there was a 20% off on perpetual licenses.   Was this a way for Graphisoft to make some quick cash?   Accounting for SSA annual increases my math showed that in year 3 I would come out a bit ahead with the PL vs the subscription, assuming both go up about the same each year (which I based on previous year increases). 

[Anita_Slocombe]

Unfortunately, this is all marketing lies. When I signed up two years ago, the SSA forward agreement was sold to me as a locked-in price, but it went up by 23% last year. It was one of the only reasons I paid the upfront fees for a perpetual license. when I asked my rep, they said they couldn't remember this "sucked-in" GS and the reseller is seriously losing my trust. Why take payments knowing these small businesses are going into debt, planning ahead to wear the cost over a few years only to now need to pay even more?

[proto]

Mine was similar. Last year, I was $880/seat for SSA/FW. This year it's $1,050/seat. +19% in one year. [previous yr was $800 --> $880, a 10% bump]

And now the prospect of a subscription license is another bump. 1yr of subscription (at what I'm told is a "discount") = $1,152. That is a 31% jump from my cost last year.

Graphisoft says in their press release "Alternatively, SSA/Forward customers can convert to Archicad Collaborate subscriptions at the same price as SSA/Forward." [emphasis is mine]

I'm not seeing either a "discount" or a "same price."

And the 3-year pre-purchase is like doing a full new seat at the perpetual purchase cost. We are being railroaded into paying for all new software seats every few years, instead of "subscription" or "upgrade costs". I don't have the cash to pre-purchase 3-yr subscriptions.

I'm a small office -- I can't imagine the software costs for large offices.  I will suck it up this year and see how it goes, but this pricing model may actually cause me to abandon Archicad.