With a couple of weeks having passed since the announcement of Pro Tools 2023.9 we’ve had time to dig a little deeper into the announcements. There were questions from the community we wanted an answer to, and with the reintroduction of new perpetual licences and new pricing we wanted to know which option was most suitable for both long term and occasional users. In this article we have answers to those questions and a breakdown of the numbers.
Are Studio To Ultimate upgrades available?
Not at this time
Do I still have to pay for an update and support plan with a perpetual license?
No, you can buy an upgrade when you want to upgrade without paying a Get Current fee. If you don’t have a current Support and Upgrade Plan you will stay on the version you were on when you bought the perpetual license or when your last support plan expired.
Do you get access to Inner Circle and Sonic Drop content if you are on a perpetual license?
Yes, but only if you have a current Upgrade and Support Plan.
Do you get access to the Avid Complete Plugin Bundle with a perpetual License without an active Update and Support Plan?
No
Do you get a Support and Update Plan for the first year when you buy a perpetual license or do you need to buy that separately if you want to be eligible for updates and benefits?
Yes, a 1-year support plan is included with your perpetual license which you would renew after one year to stay eligible for updates and benefits.
Is there a limit on how old a version of Pro Tools I can update to perpetual from?
Yes. Version 9 is the oldest you can update from.
Can you update a student license? Do you have to provide evidence that you are in education?
Yes, there is a Pro Tools Studio Students & Teachers Perpetual Upgrade which requires validation that you are still in education.
How do I buy a Pro Tools Perpetual license or upgrade plan?
New Pro Tools subscriptions (Artist, Studio, and Ultimate) can be purchased on the Avid Webstore or through an authorized Avid reseller.
New Pro Tools perpetual licenses are exclusively sold by authorized Avid resellers.
How long would you have to hold a new perpetual license before it becomes cheaper than maintaining a subscription?
Assuming you are comparing a new perpetual licence and keeping it covered with an update plan, then compared to an equivalent subscription the break even period for Ultimate is five and a half years and for Studio it is four years. Here’s how the costs break down:
Ultimate Subscription $599 pa (£519)
Ultimate Perpetual Licence $1499 (£1299)
Ultimate Upgrade Plan $399 pa (£519)
You get one year of updates and support with a new Perpetual license, so you don’t need to buy a Perpetual Upgrade until year two.
Pro Tools Ultimate - Costs of Subscription vs Perpetual (USD)
For Pro Tools Studio the numbers break down as follows:
Studio Subscription $299 pa (£259)
Studio Perpetual Licence $599 (£519)
Studio Upgrade Plan $199 pa (£170)
If the user maintained a support plan from year 2 - Break even - 4 years
Pro Tools Studio - Costs of Subscription vs Perpetual (USD)
The figures above are comparing like with like, meaning that Pro Tools is maintained at the current version throughout. Of course one of the consequences of Avid discontinuing the Get Current fee is that holders of perpetual licences are free to go off plan and then purchase an update without incurring additional costs, so if the holder of a perpetual licence feels that a new version of Pro Tools doesn’t introduce anything that will benefit them they are free to let their update lapse until such a time as they feel ready to update again. Because of this a holder of a perpetual licence could choose to pay less than the figures shown above.
We can’t see any downside to the customer in the current offer. With a genuinely useful free version in Pro Tools Intro, a very accessibly priced version of Pro Tools in Pro Tools Artist and the features and value represented by Pro Tools Studio, now there are flexible licensing options for both the long term and the occasional user. Of course for the new model to work Avid will have to make sure new versions are so good that users want to update, and how could that be anything other than a good thing for users?