IMPORTANT: From January 18th, we are no longer offering versions of Capture One that are limited to supporting only one camera brand. Instead, we simply offer Capture One Pro, which includes support for all camera brands.
All existing versions of Capture One will continue to work as it is. We will also continue to provide feature updates during the life of Capture One 22. For more details, please visit this page.
Capture One offers perpetual and subscription licenses for users. The difference between those is the term of validity. A perpetual license is everlasting (for life), while with a subscription plan you have to make regular payments to keep the license active - but you always have access to the latest version.
About perpetual licenses
Once you make a full one-time payment for the Capture One software version (for instance, Capture One Pro 21), you obtain a lifetime license. It means that you are not limited in time to use Capture One 21 or any previous versions of the software (Capture One 20, Capture One 12, and older) that you can activate with your license key.
Upgrading perpetual license
Once the new major Capture One release is out, you may upgrade your perpetual license. For instance, when Capture One 21 is released, you can upgrade your Capture One 20 perpetual license with a special price here - https://www.captureone.com/en/account/upgrade. The owners of perpetual licenses for Capture One Fujifilm/(for Sony) have an option to upgrade their license with the same product variant or to Capture One Pro as well. You will see that option on the list in the upgrade store.
For any perpetual license, one of the upgrade options is to switch to the subscription. Read about that here.
IMPORTANT! After an upgrade, you will get a new license key which you can also use to activate the older versions of Capture One. An old key will be deactivated without the possibility to be reactivated again.
If you have purchased Capture One shortly before the newest major release came out, check whether there are any free upgrades outlined in the specifications of your license which can be found by visiting our website captureone.com and navigating to My Account -> Manage licenses-> License Management -> [perpetual license]. If your license contains a free upgrade, it allows you to activate the next major upgrade of Capture One at no extra cost.
NOTE: Upgrading is possible for perpetual license owners only.
If you currently have Capture One Express, you need to make a new purchase in the Capture One e-store.
The number of workstations you can activate Capture One on with a perpetual license
- Capture One Pro (single-user)
-
The license key for Capture One 21 - 2 activations - this number of activations is applied for new users who made purchases after November 17, 2020; current users will keep the same number of activations after upgrading their licenses.
-
The license key for Capture One 9, 10, 11, 12, and 20 - 3 activations. In case you upgrade your license key to the newer version, you will keep the same number of available activations.
-
License key for Capture One 6, 7, and 8 - 2 activations.
-
- Capture One for Fujifilm / (for Sony) / for Nikon
-
The license key for Capture One 21 and earlier versions - 2 activations. In case you upgrade your license key to the newer version, you will keep the same number of available activations.
-
- Capture One Pro (multi-user)
- a "5-User" license can be used on 10 computers simultaneously, this means that each of these five users can activate the license on two computers. A “10-User” license can be used on 20 computers simultaneously, this means that each of these ten users can activate the license on two computers.
- a "5-User" license can be used on 10 computers simultaneously, this means that each of these five users can activate the license on two computers. A “10-User” license can be used on 20 computers simultaneously, this means that each of these ten users can activate the license on two computers.
- Capture One Express for Fujifilm / (for Sony)
- Capture One 20 and Capture One 21 license key - 1 workstation
- Capture One 12 and older versions do not require a license key
- Capture One for Phase One
- Capture One 20 and Capture One 21 license key - 3 workstations
- Capture One 12 and older versions do not require a license key
- Capture One Enterprise
- the license key is scalable on seats.
NOTE: If you have purchased the license before November 17, 2020, the number of available activations will be preserved.
NOTE: New users who purchase Capture One 20 + 21 starting from November 17, 2020, will receive the Capture One 21 license key which can activate Capture One 20 and other previous versions of the software. Thus, the number of available activations will correspond to Capture One 21.
About subscription licenses
With a subscription license, you have to make payments monthly or annually based on your subscription plan. As long as you make regular payments, a subscription license works with the latest upgrade or update. You can also activate the previous versions of the software with your subscription license.
NOTE: To use Capture One on a subscription basis, you must have and maintain an internet connection allowing for communication between your equipment and Capture One's equipment over the internet for the purpose of Capture One being able to validate and reconfirm your valid subscription license, including payment of applicable subscription license fees from time to time during the subscription period.
The backward compatibility of Capture One licenses depends on whether it was issued by Fastspring. Fastspring licensing was first introduced in Capture 11.3.2. If you can find your license in the Fastspring order history, your license is a Fastspring license.
| Type | Subscription |
| Subscription plans started before November 29, 2018 | Legacy subscriptions (obtained before November 2018) are supported since Capture One 8 onwards and allow customers to use Capture One from version 8 to the latest one. No longer sold. |
| Subscription plans started after November 29, 2018 | Fastspring (our e-shop provider) subscriptions are supported since Capture One 11.3.2 onward and allow customers to use Capture One from version 11.3.2 to the latest one. Note that Sony/Fujifilm subscriptions are supported starting from Capture One 12. Subscriptions for Capture One for Nikon are supported from Capture One 20 (13.1.0). |
Subscription plans
| Subscription plan | Description |
| Annual prepaid | When you choose an annual-prepaid subscription plan, it means that you will be charged the indicated amount once a year. The first payment is done at the moment of purchase, while ongoing payments will be made on the date specified in the Next Charge field while your subscription plan is active. |
| Annual monthly | Choosing an annual-monthly subscription plan means that you will make monthly payments on the specified dates during your contract period for at least 12 months since ordering. No longer sold. |
| Monthly | This subscription plan is particularly suitable for those who value flexibility. It means that you will be charged on a month-by-month basis while your subscription is active. |
How to cancel my subscription?
In general, it is not possible to cancel the subscription before the contract period expires once it has been activated with a license key.
| Subscription plan | Cancellation |
| Annual-prepaid |
In case you would not like to prolong a contract period for another year, disable the auto-renew function. Change that in your FastSpring account by going to the Subscriptions tab. Then click on Manage and select Cancel subscription from the drop-down list. |
| Annual-monthly |
IMPORTANT! This subscription plan cannot be canceled before the 12-months contract expires. If you want to cancel your subscription and not prolong it for another year, submit a request to the Support Team asking to set the expiry date of the subscription to the last day of your contract. |
| Monthly |
If you do not want to continue your subscription plan, disable the auto-renew function. Change that in your FastSpring account by going to the Subscriptions tab. Then click on Manage and select Cancel subscription from the drop-down list. |
Any purchase can be canceled in the following cases:
- The license key was never activated for any reason.
- Duplicate order (Refund is not guaranteed if both keys were used).
NOTE: If a subscription becomes deactivated as expired, unpaid, or canceled, it's impossible to activate it again. If your subscription is deactivated, you can only order a new license.
The number of activations per license
To use Capture One on a subscription basis, you must have and maintain a stable Internet connection allowing for communication between your equipment and Capture One’s equipment via the Internet for the purpose of Capture One being able to validate and reconfirm your valid subscription license.
- Capture One Pro (single-user)
- The license key was purchased after November 17, 2020 - 2 activations
- The license key was purchased between November 2018 and November 2020 - 3 activations
- The license key was purchased before November 2018 - 2 activations
- Capture One for Fujifilm / (for Sony) / for Nikon
- Each license key for the brand version has 2 activations
- Each license key for the brand version has 2 activations
- Capture One Pro (multi-user)
- a "5-User" license can be used on 10 computers simultaneously, this means that each of these five users can activate the license on two computers. A “10-User” license can be used on 20 computers simultaneously, this means that each of these ten users can activate the license on two computers.
- Capture One Enterprise (multi-user)
- The number of workstations should not exceed the maximum number of permitted users acquired.
Comments
91 comments
Hi Josef,
Yes, that is of course possible.
You should deactivate Capture One first.
Then install Capture One on your new computer and activate it.
Thank You Lily, have a nice day. J.
Hi Lily,
Indeed!
Do you have a solution for me? I absolutely must be able to continue using V7 on this computer. I can no longer change the operating system on this machine and it is my main production tool.
I have been using Capture one for over 10 years and absolutely don't want to change image processing software. I have a huge workload in this field of activity
Hi Lily. I bought a monthly subscription and I don't know how to cancel it. Please tell me how can I cancel my subscription in Capture One 20.
Hi Bombaert,
I suggest you submit a request directly to the Support Team - https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
They will provide you more information about the licensing.
Hi Ilaha,
Thank you for the question.
First of all, you will have to log into your account at captureone.com
Then click on Order History and you will be redirected to the FastSpring page.
There you will have to enter your e-mail. Then go to the Subscriptions tab and select your subscription. Click on Manage and select Cancel subscription from the drop-down list.
I purchased CaptureOne; why it listed as 'Capture One 21 Pro (Trial)' when I review 'About Capture One 21'? Did something go wrong with my download?
I really want to keep using Capture One and cancel my Adobe subscription, but you guys aren't making it easy.
The price difference is unjustifiable - $10/mo for Adobe vs $25/mo for C1Pro
I'm locked into a promotional rate, which is great, but it's brand specific, and I was told that if I want to upgrade to a 'Pro' subscription that I'd now have to pay full price.
Also, apparently now your promotional rates are only valid for the first year subscription??
Capture One is good software, but it's not twice as good as $10 for Lightroom + Photoshop.
Give existing customers a bit of a break, and a bit of incentive to continue to support you.
Give new customers a real reason to choose you over Adobe.
So i bought a perpetual licence thinking great, i wont have to shell out again
But what's this? If i have to reinstall capture one 20 i can't, no download available, and my licence wont work on the latest version, meaning my perpetual licence is actually a yearly licence.
To say i am beyond disappointed is selling my feelings on this short.
This is deeply exploitative.
Peter,
I'm not sure if you really expected to get a continuous upgrade for a one-off license payment although it would certainly be a nice idea. However, the industry standard for that is one-off payment per month on a subscription basis that offers access for as long as one pays.
There are a handful of exceptions although longevity and availability of updates may not yet be fully proven. Perpetual means that what you buy should continue to work so long as your hardware supports it. And, presumably, the licensing server arrangements are still in place or license checks have been somehow eliminated at some point in the (distant?) future.
I'm not sure what you are seeing but my C1 download link in the browser allows me to scroll down and find a button for the Previous Version (so V20 at this time) and beyond that, in the V20 Download window I can scroll down and see links back to Version 10.
I believe that if anyone needs to go back further than that (likely a very rare possibility these days) there is an option to seek assistance from the Support Team on a case by case basis.
I hope this helps you in some way.
HI Lily
I want to cancel my monthly plan,
I do as you say to Click on Manage and select Cancel subscription from the drop-down list.
but it keeps saying"This subscription cannot be canceled here."
yet I can't find another place to do it,hope you can help.
I want to cancel capture one for sony because I have subscribe capture one pro, what should I do? I pressed cancle, but I have a message for me to call you back.
I have a Capture One Pro 20 perpetual license and would like to upgrade to Capture One Pro 21. There is a third-party approved vendor who is selling the full perpetual license version of Capture One Pro 21 for a price that is currently lower than your upgrade price. If I purchase this new perpetual license from the third party vendor, will I still have the three activations for Capture One 21 that I am entitled to from my Capture One Pro 20 purchased via your website in March 2020 and would it still be backward compatible with my previous version? Thanks.
Hi Burt,
Thank you for the comment.
I have converted your request to a support request. The Support Team will get back to you via the ticket soon.
I just purchased a license and I want to activate it. I was using for two week a trial version. How to enter the activation key received ?
Hi,
Thank you for the comment.
I have converted your request to a support request.
The Support Team will get back to you soon.
Lily,
I pay a monthly fee for Capture and when I upgraded to 21, I was automatically given a Free 30 Day Trial. If I have a subscription, why would it do that? The 30 Day Trial is now over and it now wants me to purchase or enter my key. I have had my subscription for 3 years now and cannot find a key, if I ever even had one. What should I do to resolve this?
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thank you for the comment.
I have converted your request to a support request. The Support Team will get back to you soon.
Hi Maryna!
It seems that the new policy regarding the pre-upgrade to Version 22 is messing a lot of things up.
People who upgraded from 20 to 22 are limited to using 20 only and it was not very clear that they won't be able to use 21 until 22 is released.
This article states that when you purchase the upgrade you're able to use OLDER versions of Capture One - not just the current one you already own.
Not only is this very confusing to your customers, you're also causing issues for those who HAD bought the upgrade to 21 and now upgrade to 22. They too seem to be stuck with version 20 until 22 is released.
I think this whole mindset of always trying to withhold stuff from customers is not a good business strategy and seems to backfire quite a bit.
It used to be quite simple: once you upgraded to the latest version you could use all older versions too. But it seems that was too "generous" and now your support team is getting flooded with questions, requests and quite probably a lot of requests for refunds as well.
Maybe you should consider sticking to your own long standing terms regarding licenses and simply enable all users who bought the V22 pre-upgrade to also use V21 in the meantime.
hi,
I have a question about deactivate C1 on my computer. I lost my laptop and I want to deactivate C1 on it. I have a new laptop with active C1 and I don't want to lose it. How to do it properly?
Hi Andrzej,
Thank you for the comment.
I have converted your request to a support request. The Support Team will get back to you soon.
Hi, I own four DF/DF1 bodies and three backs (P45, P40+ and IQ160. I have read on the internet this should entitle me to a a license for CaptureOne software? Would you please confirm? Thank you.
Hi Castro,
Thank you for your comment.
Please check our article with the list of supported cameras Camera models and RAW files support in Capture One
Note, attention, if you have a perpetual license, do not buy an upgrade with subscription, because you will lose the perpetual licenses for previous versions C1. This is a capture one cheat, I'm terribly disappointed, got robbed. Give me back my perpetual license
worst customer support ever - no response for 24 hrs . I am trying to purchase a subscription and my card is getting declined all the credit cards. No problem with the issuer when I check with them.
FastSprint does not respond. I have to deliver pictures to my clients and I am stuck with the subscription please help me with a resolution quickly.
Fast Spring: details
Support Ticket Number: 01117935
Subject: Consumer Support - General Inquiry
thank you
yogan
Hi. I got a new computer. I already activated the license on two computers prior. If I deactivate the license on one computer, can I activate one of the licenses on my new computer?
I tried this technique but it does not seem to be working. It says cannot activate, because the upgrade limit is exceeded... What does this mean?
Help!
Hi, I have the annual Sony subscription and would like to upgrade to the annual Pro subscription so that I can also import and edit my old Nikon catalog/images from lightroom. However, from looking around on the support pages it appears I must let my existing Sony license expire and then start a new subscription with the Pro version. Is this true, i.e. there is not a prorated upgrade path from a camera specific to the Pro version?
Thanks.
Hello, when managing the Enterprise account, I see only one serial, I don't know how to eliminate accounts that we don't want to be able to use it anymore, like a blacklist, because if they have the serial they can activate it wherever they want.
Hello, is there any possibility of integrating the activation and management of licenses by MDM, as you indicate in the Enterprise version?
The current annual price for a Capture One Pro subscription is $125.30. Will my annual subscription price remain at $125.30 for subsequent years?
Please sign in to leave a comment.