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Affinity V2 launch - Upgrade offer 40% off Photo, Designer, Publisher
So, after 7(?!) years of free updates for existing clients, Serif launched Affinity v2 (Designer/Photo/Publisher) which will need to be re-purchased if you want that "upgrade". At the same time, v1 software will be discontinued, albeit you can continue using it for as long as you like.
The current launch offer from Serif gives you 40% discount on the individual licenses (photo/designer/publisher) or on their AIO "Universal" License which covers all their apps on all their platforms (Windows, Mac, iPad/iOS).
More info on v2: https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/whats-new/
Pricing: https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/affinity-pricing/
Universal license is priced at 119€ here in Germany. Cheapest I could find is Egypt for ~82€ which almost is a steal for all their apps (on all platforms, if you need that). Individual apps (e.g. Designer) come to 40-50€ish, so Universal would be cheaper if you need all apps. The pricing is more than fair, yet there has been some outcry by people who purchased v1 less than a year ago and now don't receive unlimited updates as promised. Given that v1, however, lasted 7 years worth of updates (and you can continue using it) it could be assumed that they won't just release v3 one year later (making it more like a sub than a one-off purchase).
Still, I'm sure, many people will now wonder when v3 will appear and how long they will now receive updates, given that before it was assumed Affinity would just endlessly receive free updates. While I wouldn't really consider this a scam, since Serif has
created a great piece of software and has provided updates for a long time before upgrading to v2. The pricing is also more than fair considering Adobe's CC subs.
Personally, I still believe it's great software, but I don't think the new features (although they sound great) are worth upgrading for me just yet. The v1 software is running perfectly fine and has a great toolset available to it. Maybe some time when there's smth I actually need in v2, I'll check for upgrade options.
Comments
Seem one time payment is not good for the company. Compare to Adobe's. The v2 pricing looks like a good deal. Been a happy client since Affinity Photo beta.
Ofc it isnt. They eventually need to earn more money when cost of getting new customer is higher than what he can pay. Market is limited.
Only FL Studio and DaVinci Resolve have lifetime upgrades. Former earns by releasing and selling additional samples and plugins, latter by selling hardware with nice margins. In both you cant escape ecosystem.
FL Studio plugins arent VST, they are native to FL only.
BRAW codec plays nicely only in DaVinci Resolve, their control panels work only with Resolve etc. And now they have subscription based Cloud synchronisation.
People and infrastucture needs to be paid by monthly basis.
Lifetime licenses always require you to pay once more after some time in some way. Plugins, making one essential component separate, hardware... Only WinRAR is an exception, but that's because it is one man show and development time spent on it is like 1 hour per month. And free 7zip exists too. Thats why after trial you can still use WinRAR, but with small alert box.
Ok Microsoft from Windows 10 is an exception too, but they do it only to save market share and they earn from Office and OneDrive. If someone would choose Chromebook he will likely use GDrive and GDocks instead. Losed market share & subscription money that this person will pay for many many years, possibly decades.
$9 is nothing but if its monthly for 30 years?
Who would want to lose chance of such customer just to get $49-$99 instantly for OS upgrade and then nothing?
Yeah. Can't complain for 7 years of free updates for v1 and if v2 only lasts 5 years it'll still be worth it. Great software and price. And you can continue using v1 for as long as it is technically possible (no subscription yay).