Hello,
I’ve been working with CC for 2.5 years now and want to purchase the CC Pro. My question is the pro’s vs cons of the license purchase vs the annual fee.
The perpetual license will stop working for updated versions one year after purchase, leaving you at that version.
in your opinion, which is better?
The real difference is an ongoing cost or a one time cost. The ongoing cost of $120.00 per year will get you the latest and greatest Carbide Create versions. The perpetual license is a one time fee but only for the first year are there any updates. So after the year whatever version you are on at that time you are frozen as far as the pro version is concerned. So you could continue to run your pro version frozen and simply load the free newer version without the pro part.
Another thing to consider is the life of the Shapeoko machine itself. Eventually you will either outgrow or abandon your C3D machine. It seems to be a natural cycle. You could be the exception and be operating our CNC for 10 years but even that may not be feasible. The machine might still be usable but at some point it will break and at some point C3D will stop making parts for your machine. Again this is just a cycle that is repeated all through the manufacturing industry and no bad reflection on C3D. The simple economics of indefinitely supporting a machine is not reasonable.
So the annual license might be the better value in the long run because you stay current. With the perpetual you are one and done and stuck at a certain level after the first year without out buying a new license. So both ways will cost you but the annual seems a better deal at least until you get to 3 years. But after 3 years you are at the most current level and will then spend another $120.00 to stay current. Overtime the prices may go up but that is just speculation. So it would seem cheaper to buy the annual subscription or at least the same price for the first 3 years but in smaller chunks of money for the licensing.
Here is the break down from the carbide3d site.
Carbide Create Pro is available two ways:
Subscription License - $120 USD per year.
Carbide Create Pro will activate for a year and you’ll get all updates released during that time. After the end of your subscription term, Carbide Create Pro will deactivate.
Perpetual License with a year of updates - $360 USD.
Your Carbide Create Pro license will function forever. You’ll be eligible for all updates released within a year of your purchase. After a year, your version of Carbide Create Pro will continue to function but you will not receive any new updates. Additional updates are available for $120/year.
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Thank you exactly what I was looking for
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