the cost of always upgrading
One of the reasons that I switched to ON1 from LightRoom was Adobe's aggressive pricing, and strong hand at forcing one into a subscription model. The lure was that ON1 wouldn't be *that.* And yet, here I am seeing my 4th "upgrade" in 4 years... So essentially, if I want to keep up with the newest releases, yes, it's a subscription model yet again.
I do understand the need for ON1 to pay their creative training staff and talented developers. But it would be nice if the "upgrade" path wasn't so steep, forcing me to decide whether or not to stick w/ an older version (that probably won't see any updates/fixes/etc) or "re-buying" it every year.
$79 for an "upgrade" vs an annual $89 subscription.
It's Adobe all over again. Perhaps the folks at ON1 are nicer folks, but the end result is the same.
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The results are not the same. With Adobe, you don't have a choice, you have to pay for the subscription or the software won't work.
At On1 you can choose if you want to upgrade or not. You can skip any number of years if you want to, your program will continue working.
Every year new features are added. If you want them then you pay for them, there is no reason that they should the be free.
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Scott Davenport and/or Anthony Morganti on YouTube also have 20% off coupon codes you can use. Their videos about using On1 are also worth watching.
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If you are not in a hurry you can wait for the sales that ON1 has from time to time. Prices for an upgrade can be as low as $49.99 (plus tax). Other sales have higher prices but still typically 20% less than the normal upgrade price. If you want the lowest price you have to stay alert and monitor the website. I got one of those $49.99 prices on Black Friday of last year. Another was not available until April of the year after the initial release of the newer version (which is typically in late October) - a bit over 6 months after the release of that new software. So you CAN continue to get the newest features AND save money - as long as you can be patient.
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PR is also a lot cheaper. I got my upgrade to v2023 for the equivalent of about £50GBP. When I cancelled three years ago, LR was costing me £120 a year, and there was no option to switch to a USD plan!
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Thanks everyone for your replies. As I mentioned in my original post, I most certainly do not expect upgrades to be free! Developers and all the amazing staff involved need to earn a living :) What I am *disappointed* about is that annual upgrades essentially are the same thing as the subscription model or "re-purchasing" the product every year. I don't know their financial model, but would have loved to see a nod to loyal customers by providing an upgrade that wasn't the same cost as the product itself. It's not really an "upgrade" then (IMHO). Yes, I know I don't HAVE to upgrade, but again, it's back to that "subscribe or be left behind" model that is in play so much now across software companies (and the driving reason I left Adobe).
I am not a pro photographer or commercially involved with photos in any way. But I think it makes sense to provide a subscription model that offers bells and whistles for those types of folks.
I am, however, an avid recreational picture-taker and have more than a few years invested in tweaking photos for family archives and sharing with friends. Both LR and now ON1 started off as (relatively) inexpensive way for me to continue to pursue my hobby.
I really do enjoy ON1, I think it's a great product (not perfect, but really amazing, no doubt!). As I mentioned, I'm just truly chagrined there isn't a better upgrade path.
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You clearly don't understand the difference between the subscription and non-subscription models. They are not 'essentially' the same thing.
There is a path for loyal customers, it's called 'upgrade price' rather than 'full price'. The upgrade price is not the same as the full product price. If that's what you're seeing, then you're looking in the wrong place.
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