After 14th of February 2023, new perpetual license purchases do not include any feature updates (16.x)
This means that any updates containing new features and functionality will not be included in your license purchase. However, major bug fixes and optimizations will be included (16.x.x) until a new paid version is released (16.x).
As a subscription always provides you with access to the latest version, subscribers are not affected by these changes.
How does it affect you?
Please select from the following:
- I have a subscription to Capture One Pro
- I have a license for Capture One Pro 23 purchased before February 14, 2023
- I have a license for Capture One Pro 23 purchased after February 14, 2023
- I have a license for Capture One Pro 22 or an older version
- I have a multi-user license
- I have an enterprise license
- Frequently Asked Questions
"I have a subscription to Capture One Pro"
The changes outlined here have no impact on Capture One subscriptions.
Subscribers will continue to receive all updates including new features, improvements, and new camera & lens support for as long as their subscriptions are maintained.
If you are unsure on the type of license that you have, check the 'Plans & services management' section of your Capture One profile.
"I have a license for Capture One Pro 23 purchased before February 14th, 2023"
You receive free updates until September 30th, 2023.
If you wish to get a new version of Capture One Pro after September 30th, 2023, you need to buy a new license. Find out what discount you can receive in compliance with our Loyalty Program.
"I have a license for Capture One Pro 23 purchased after February 14, 2023"
You receive major bug fixes (16.x.x) up until a new paid version (16.x) is released. The service updates (16.xx) do not include feature updates.
If you wish to get a new version of Capture One Pro, you need to buy a new license (16.x) – which will contain new features and functionality. Find out what discount you can receive in compliance with our Loyalty Program.
"I have a license for Capture One Pro 22 or an older version"
Your license is perpetual and yours to keep, for as long as you can meet the minimum system requirements and run it on a compatible OS version. To check these details, please refer to our
Capture One system requirements and OS support article.
"I have a multi-user license"
Unless specified otherwise in the terms of your agreement, you will receive free feature updates (16.x) for 12 months when you purchase or upgrade a multi-user license
"I have an enterprise license"
Please check the terms of your agreement with Capture One.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are you getting rid of the perpetual license option?
A: No. The changes we are making allow us to shift to the latest software development practices without removing perpetual licenses altogether. While over half of our users are on a subscription and close to 80% of new users choose a subscription, we still understand that perpetual licenses are important for many of you. That’s why we’re committed to keeping the option open.
Q: I have a license for Capture One Pro 23 I purchased before February 14, 2023 and I will get free feature updates until September 30, 2023. After that date, what happens if I want to get the latest version of Capture One Pro?
A: You will need to buy a new copy of Capture One Pro to be covered under our new license model from October 1st 2023 onwards.
Q: I have a license for Capture One 22 or older. What are my options?
A: If you are happy on your current version of Capture One Pro, great! If you want the latest version of Capture One Pro, you will need to purchase a new software license.
Alternatively, if you’d like to receive all our updates as we release them, you may wish to try out one of our subscription plans.
Q: The current version used to be a year, but how long does a current version last now?
A: We are moving to a ‘release when ready’ model, which allows us to deliver new features and improvements as soon as they are ready. As such, the length of a version will vary based on the time it takes us to develop each feature.
Q: Will there be any change to iPad & Live Support?
A: No, we will continue to support the current (dot) version, plus the previous (dot) version.
For example:
- Current version = 16.0
- iPad & Live support = 16.0, 15.4
Q: Will the number of seats/activations change?
A: No. We are not making any changes to the number of activations you can make per license.
Capture One Pro (perpetual and subscription, and trial) allows up to 3 activations
Q: Why are you removing licenses?
A: We are not removing licenses.
We offer a perpetual license which contains exactly what is stated in the release notes at the time of purchase, and we will continue to do so. This license is yours to own and keep.
The change being implemented from February 14, 2023, will affect new customers and license holders of Capture One 22 and older who wish to purchase a license for the latest version.
These license holders and new customers will have the opportunity to stay on the license they have purchased for as long as they like at no additional cost.
Q: Will I need to pay and upgrade multiple times a year?
A: It is always your decision when and how often to get the latest version of Capture One Pro.
If you always want to have the newest features as soon as they are released, a subscription plan is really the best option.
If you want to make sure that you get the latest version of Capture One Pro each year (as it works under the current model) and don’t need new features as soon as they are released, we want to make sure your cost of ownership does not go up.
Comments
1064 comments
Question to the C1 team regarding the change in perpetual licensing:
Up till now all the camera and lens support updates were included until the newer major version was released. If I buy a license after Feb 2023 will I not get any support for gear released after I bought the license? Even if for example a lens is released a month after purchasing the license?
Yep, this sucks. I choose C1 to get away from the lightroom subscription strangulation. And I was very content with C1 and was willing to deal with a few not so brilliant solutions that made me adjust my workflow, but hey, I had the freedom to upgrade whenever I felt the need to. And as long as C1 was innovating I did upgrade. As a matter of fact I came to the C1 site to upgrade to 2023, just to read this. Well that is a goodbye then from me. Might as well go back to LR then.
I wish you lots of profit and a lot of new customers, because I don´t think the old one´s will stay for long.
This really upsets me. I've bought every version upgrade since I switched to Capture One Pro (perpetual license) at v8. v23 is the first I skipped because a) it won't run on the OS of any of my production machines, and b) I don't need its new features. My plan WAS to upgrade to v24, by which time I'll have machines running a supported version of macOS. But now, no v24.
What really really bothers me is that this announcement wasn't made during the discounted upgrade period for v23. Had I known, I would have bought the upgrade and just shelved v23 until I had the planned new Mac. Now I don't know whether to throw out upgrade money on a version that I can't use (yes, I can still run v22, but the cost of v23 is wasted), or wait as planned to see what you do in September.
Also: nice to announced a "loyalty program", but the total lack of pricing details is terrible. For example, is "loyal" someone who buys every release? Every other release? Something else? And since you apparently plan to offer more "paid feature upgrades" (presumably at more frequent intervals), is the "version" upgrade price coming down, or are you planning to keep the same version upgrade price (which will be too high for "a" feature!)?
The lack of transparency during the initial v23 upgrade period is very poor and not what I've come to expect from Capture One. Changing policies partway through a cycle is very poor as well.
If you were going to continue to be as consumer-oriented as I'd come to know you, you'd have announced this change prior to the next version upgrade, kept the next upgrade pricing as it is now, and gone forward from there. That way, you'd be consistent with expectations Capture One has set for many years and given users what I'd consider proper notice.
Ah: I guess this must have to do with the split from Phase One and now being held by a private equity company. I wonder how many perpetual users will continue buying every update, and I wouldn't be surprised if you lose many to competitors.
Very sad to see you go this route. I guess on the positive side, there's going to be minimal incentive to stay current with C1 upgrades. I feel sorry for your Support staff who will have more versions to deal with. Or are you planning on limiting support to a fixed period as well?
I was a new CP1 Customer to get away from subscription with Lightroom. For this I even was willing to get over some troubles, CP1 has in some areas. Now the way you are heading is showing: You are going the same direction. The only reason I started with CP1 is gone now.
Hello DXO Photolab!
A good reason to finally fully switch to Affinity Photo2. Their license is really a one-time paid license and upgrades for several years included. And the price is incomparably better.
Thanks for your (disappointing) newsletter C1, after I was blinded and spending money for two times with your sales speak for the major releases 20/21 and 21/22 before releasing the new versions, to get functions which until today are not very important for my workflow, I missed the offer to update to 23 and (what I´ve realised today), was a very good decision. Funny that on the time of the release of C1 23 I got an offer of DxO to get a full version of DxO PhotoLab 6 Elite for less money than the update from C1 22 to 23. I bought PhotoLab, because I thought the whole marketing bla bla of C1 will go in a direction, where I´m forced again to switch from one raw converter to another. Sorry, I was right, but I´m very surprised it will happen so fast. I think I have time enough to work until the first problems with C1 will appear caused by the OS or camera. But the experience I got when I switched from LR (because of the subscription model) to C1 will help to do this step without any headache.
Was happy with C1 for most of the time since many years, but this doesn´t mean that there is no point to quit.
Merry xmas, bye and all the best for your future ...
This is indeed an excellent boon for DXO PhotoLab!
I had moved from Litghroom to C1 to no longer have to suffer the economic dictates of the mandatory annualized subscription. Naively, I thought you were honest and more passionate about photography than benefits... Your sudden change of course proves the opposite.
Well done for me and for all those who pay dearly for their software to satisfy their passion for the image in a non-professional way. I will therefore abandon "Capture One for the wedding photo" and I will choose Dxo which offers a powerful, scalable and subscription-free software with unfortunately all the hazards and difficulties involved. I invite blurred and disappointed users to do the same and to definitely turn to less alienating alternatives that are more respectful of their users.
The traitor in this story is not the one we believe...
Upgrade pricing will no longer be available after 31st of January and will be replaced with a new loyalty scheme. More details will be announced on February 1, 2023.
Must be really good what you have in store, given you can't even communicate in advance what your "loyalty scheme" will encompass. Is that a way to get as many people to upgrade before February? Rest assured... there's nothing that can convince me to upgrade my version 22 given your anouncement today.
I'll do a market study between Lightroom (far more bang for bucks even if it comes with a subscription), DXO (top-notch quality on par with C1 but expensive and a pretty big learning curve) and ON1 RAW (not the best RAW convertor alas, but top-notch when it comes to bang-for-bucks and features).
You are ditching your current system, and replacing it by something new in less than two months, on Feb 1 2023.
Yet you cannot even tell us what you will be replacing it with.
I thought this sort of behaviour was beneath you, but clearly I was utterly mistaken.
I'll keep using C22 PRO for now (so mightily glad I didn't update for the first time), and see what to buy or subscribe to in the next few months.
It's not see you later, it's goodbye. You're not a serious company that treat its customers with respect.
Honestly? You are making fun of your customer base and this is not the first time! So, and in the most civil manner: S H A M E on you ! You must be kidding. Pay for every feature release? How much do you think normal customers will be ready to pay for what they consider the best photo editing software? NOTHING, as there are other viable options out there, which do not terrorise their customers (at least not all). Good luck, you don’t need my money anymore.
I've got no spears or pitchforks for you, so no worries there. However, the simple fact that Capture One is waiting to release further details months from now says quite a bit.
They should have outlined the Loyalty Program with this announcement rather than just laying this turd on the table...
Oh, well I just migrated from Lightroom to CP1 because of the track you are heading right now. It is time for an other high-quality RAW converter to be released. I am ready to leave CP1 as very new user (some months) now. Which converter can you suggest insted of CP1 or LR?
The last thing I wanted was to take out a subscription for Lightroom. But even if it means taking out a subscription, with an announcement like this... well, I want to give my money elsewhere...
Ok on 23 I'm not updating anymore. I'm staying on 22. In addition, I installed Lightroom, which I got from Adobe for free with Photoshop. What I was willing to pay for was the freedom and quality. The quality is starting to go downhill and the freedom is disappearing...
Chiming in I just got here (C1 22) and I don't want to invest further after this.
I agree, if I'm going to work in a subscription-esque way, I might as well rejoin the Adobe ecosystem.
As a perpetual license holder this news really upsets me but I have nothing more to add as enough people in this forum have covered everything (greed). Hopefully you've read every single one of these comments as they are NOT good. Please just update my version 22 to support my A7R V and I know my way to San Jose (Adobe). I'm so glad I didn't pull the trigger on 23.
I don't normally voice my opinions on things like this but I need to add my voice to the disappointment about this. I too have been faithfully updating every year because I've wanted to support Capture One's ongoing development, even though I haven't appreciated many of the recent developments (I don't use tethering or an iPad). V23 was the first year that I have not upgraded because I didn't see enough value in the features being added for me. I thought, that's fine, I'll update next year. Well, after this announcement, I too, will likely switch back to Adobe. It's honestly been a couple years since I've seen a Capture One feature that's really been significant for me. There have been way more significant improvements on the Photoshop/LR front over the past year for me than what I've seen from Capture One. So, I give up. If I'm being forced into the subscription model, I'm going to choose the one that gives me the best bang for buck..... and that's not Capture One.
Good bye and good luck on your future endeavors.
(BTW, if this announcement had been done with more honesty and sincerity, i.e. "we're struggling with revenue and though we don't want to switch to a subscription model, it's the only viable way forward for our company", rather that marketing double-speak, I would have felt more inclined to continue with Capture One. But the marketing spiel just disrespects your loyal customer base, which is an indication of how you really think about your customer base. So I no longer want to be part of your customer base).
I think it's very telling that Capture One are comfortable dropping this bomb on everyone and then waiting until February to make additional announcements.
Let's break down one key point:
I interpreted it as New Features for all existing 23 pro license holders (before next year, Feb 1, 2023) until Sept. 30, 2023.
The major C1 version is released in October every year, so we are still getting the promised 1-year "new features" from the release date. (note: your purchase date is not necessarily the release date).
As long as, until Sept. 30, 2023, both License-based (before Feb 1, 2023) and Subscription-based C1 Pro software have feature parity, I see no issue (maybe even a bit of a benefit if the claim is valid that they will push out more feature faster)
Now the main question is what happens, after Oct 1, 2023, to the new lenses and raw format support for all existing supported brands such as Canon, Fujifilm, Sony, and Nikon.
Scenario 1:
If yes, great, no issue. (but for how long? Perpetual or Until a brand new Raw Processing Engine is implemented?)
If not, do we need a new full C1 License or just pay for a support patch for those bodies and lenses?
Do existing C1 Pro 23 Users (purchased before Feb 1, 2023) get at least one discounted upgrade to the next full license?
This is on your pricing page (even now, and a screenshot below). If not, it is literally by definition false advertising.
Before we rage on and vote with our wallets and some potentially pursue legal options, let's have Capture clarified these points/questions above.
This is an extremely disappointing, profit-driven move. I will be hanging on to Capture One as long as I can but I will be exploring other more traditionally licensed products for future us.
There should be no reason for me to potentially pay for a new license many times a year or be forced to a subscription model. At the very least, you should do like JetBrains which is you get a year that includes all updates (feature and bugfix) during that time AND you get a perpetual license to whatever the last one released during that year was.
A move to push people down the SaaS / subscription route - not great. The sly, disingenuous marketing speak it is couched in - really bad, patronising and offensive. At least be honest.
My guess is that this move is a result of people not going for the latest upgrade to v23 in as high numbers like they used to. I am one of them. The latest price was simply too high for an upgrade. And I will not upgrade any more in the future, given the new licensing model.
Hi folks,
DXO Photolabs is at the time (from my view) the best alternative to LR subscription and CP1. Let's show the company, who is sincere, that this is the way to treat customers and give those our money and loyality.
Like most, I see no reason to stay with C1 if significant changes are not made to the perpetual license policy that secures the interests of perpetual license owners: C1 23 and future license holders. The announcement’s oily language and despicable release so soon after the release of C23 (which I purchased) tells volumes about whose interest C1 is truly pursuing. Hopefully, C1 execs will reconsider revise today’s policy announcement and I eagerly await their response of the loyal C1 users who have cared enough to share their thoughts on this blog.
Welcome CaptureOne to the Adobe club. This was exactly the same argument that Adobe gave to their customers "...being able to release new features more rapidly..." The reality was a different one. Yes, there were quite frequent releases. But these releases often introduced some changes on the user interface which no one had asked for. Just to justify a new release. There wasn't a lot of real innovation..
I expect the same thing will happen with CaptureOne, too. Over the last releases I haven't seen a lot of new features which made me really excited. Honestly I was a little bit disappointed, but still kept upgrading. I cannot see a single feature which justified a release prior to next major (yearly) release. This my very personal opinion and it's debatable.
Something which is not debatable is the increased effort which ia cause by these frequent release cycles. Quality assurance is a major work package in every software development process. I know what I'm talking about since I worked in this industry. It is more effort to do a complete integration testing for new features than it is to test only some bug fixes of existing features. Adobe customers learned this lesson too. When Adobe started their new business model I saw much more bugs than ever before. I'm afraid this could happen here too.,
I personally made the decision. I'll switch over to DxO Photolab.
Good luck, CaptureOne
What bothers me especially is, that you come up with this AFTER BLACK FRIDAY. I could have bought DXO Photolab 6 ELITE for a reduced price of 30%. Now I have to pay the full price. Yes, I do not want to continue using C1! It has no future for me! Good bye!
BTW: This is an absolute communication desaster by C1! Are there beginners at work?
Well - let's look at it in a more positive way !
Capture One (perpetual) has now shown us its true character, and that pleases me to the extent that I have saved myself the upgrade to CO23. As a result I have CO22, which runs quite well and I have also saved about €200. And CO has €200 less in the till. That's good under these circumstances.
It's true, CO has developed a great solution for RAW processing - one may love or hate the UI, but the results are great. Well done by the software developers.
But since the marketing sharks took over the leadership in the company, without any doubt the real character of CO shows up in the fact of announcing all this strange news just after many of us have just bought an upgrade because of the special offers. I feel sorry to all of those who did, for me it was the case that I already became suspicious when upgrading to CO22 due to some poor communication in autumn 21 and therefore instinctively gladly gave up the 20% extra discount this time by not upgrading.
So i can safely carry on with CO22 as usual - ok, the extremely few new features are not available to me, so what ? I can live with that wonderfully. And save the money for different and may be even better solutions.
Let us not forget: There was once a time when some of us were happy with iView Media pro, later renamed to Media Expression DAM after it went to Microsoft. It has been avaible for a short period for nothing and then CO aquired it. And as a result, they developed it just a bit but have added tons of bugs - now it is dead.
The software world is always evolving, as are cameras etc. And there are a lot of companies who treat their customers with respect, they constantly develop their products and don't focus on profit maximisation and marketing bla-bla at the expense of quality and meaningful features. Like Ed Hamrick with Vuescan or even more Blackmagic Da Vinci, the latter even, only slightly limited, for free, and also the licensed full version is in the price range of CO - as an extremely versatile and professional programme. Both have great success (on different scales), both are feeding their owners and employees and both have happy customers. And these are only 2 examples of many.
CO's extremely unfriendly and incomprehensible actions are now enraging us, but one can also see it positively - we now know where we stand.
After all, YOU, CO, want to sell something to ME or to all of us ! And we are in the fortunate position of being able to decide from whom we buy what. It's not all just about product quality, but also about service, reliability, trust and credibility.
They say the customer is king - but we don't have to go that far.
It would be good enough for me if I were a respected partner as a customer. And if even a respected partnership is not possible, then it is great that I get to know about it ( in this albeit unattractive way ) and can - still with CO22 - look around for an alternative in peace.
In other words: we can ( and should ) vote with our wallets - obviously the only way.
Or see it from an other perspective - you depend on us as customers. I and we all have a choice. Isn't that great ?
You want to create your income from our wallets. So please behave more sensible, open and customer friendly. That would be great.
In this aspect: CO, you are no longer a partner for me as long as you continue on the present course. If you change that behaviour, I will probably be glad to forgive your faux pas and might still think about an upgrade - if I haven't found anything better by then.
Good Luck
Suggestion to all:
- If you have purchased the license or update with PayPal, make a dispute to the payment (I just did it).
- If you have used the credit card, open a dispute with your supplier.
Motivation: "Unilateral change of the license conditions subsequently the purchase".
The banks, Paypal and FastSpring, if he receives many disputes for the same product, will not let the thing pass and will probably be forced to apply reimbursements.
To be honest I don't feel like spending too many words on this:
Way to go Capture One: missed opportunity ;-(
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