Pay-as-you-go license

[amirib]

We would like to buy two new licenses of AutoCAD LT. In Autodesk website, they are advertising the Pay-as-you-go license which seems to be a pretty good deal ($360 per year or $45 per month). What do you think about purchasing this instead of perpetual license? what are pros and cons? Do you recommend it?

[ReMark]

If all you are doing is 2D work then you have two other choices.

 

1. A free 2D program called Draftsight which is an AutoCAD clone distributed by Dassault Systemes makers of Solidworks.

 

2. Low cost AutoCAD clones like Bricscad, IntelliCAD, and ZwCAD.

 

FYI - In the future please do not double post as it only leads to confusion. Thank you.

[amirib]

Thank you. We have been using AutoCAD LT for a while and will stay with the product for now. My question is more about "Pay as you go" AutoCAD LT versus perpetual license.

[BIGAL]

I had a look at the site and could not find any amounts indicated, at $360 a year why would you bother purchasing at about 10 times that rate, are you sure its not $360/month.

[steven-g]

It depends on what you want, with the perpetual license you can use the version you buy for as long as you want, but next year it will be outdated and in 3 years you have the major program update with file saving changes so you will quickly be behind the times, but you can use it for the next 20 years at no extra cost, the monthly plan works out cheaper if you do keep up with the latest versions or upgrade every couple of years, and you always have the latest version. LT will only be about $45 a month. Even for personal use that is not a bad price, I pay more than that for my ISP, and most people pay more for a mobile phone contract. Personally I think that is the way that Autodesk is heading, in a couple of years you will only have the option of monthly plans and using the cloud, which is why I think the educational stamp has gone, you wont be able to use the program without logging in daily, and they can control that better than licenses.

[ReMark]

"We have been using AutoCAD LT for a while..."

 

Then why wouldn't you buy the program outright?

[rkmcswain]

We would like to buy two new licenses of AutoCAD LT. In Autodesk website, they are advertising the Pay-as-you-go license which seems to be a pretty good deal ($360 per year or $45 per month). What do you think about purchasing this instead of perpetual license? what are pros and cons? Do you recommend it?

 

It's pretty much a financial decision since the product you are receiving is virtually the same (differences noted here: http://knowledge.autodesk.com/search-result/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Autodesk-Software-Rental-Plans-FAQ.html )

Hard for anyone here to say since we don't know your needs. Are you hiring temporary help that will need a license for 1, 3, 12 months? Do you need to use a U.S. license outside of the U.S. for more than 3 months? (Desktop subscription allows for this).

[rkent]

I had a look at the site and could not find any amounts indicated, at $360 a year why would you bother purchasing at about 10 times that rate, are you sure its not $360/month.

 

http://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad-lt/buy

 

Remember the OP is asking about LT.

[BlackBox]

"We have been using AutoCAD LT for a while..."

 

Then why wouldn't you buy the program outright?

 

Perhaps they're (over-)due for an upgrade, and simply considering Autodesk's current software acquisition options? *not sure*

 

 

 

In any event, pay-as-you-go is for short-term usage. You pay a small fee, you get the full application (or in this case LT) for a time, and then you're done. No asset when you're done.

 

At +/- $1,200 (who pays retail?) for each perpetual license of LT, you would have spent approximately the same for pay-as-you-go over 3.5 years as a generalization (assuming $360 per year remains the same, which also includes maintenance updates). However, with perpetual license, you'd still have valid software to continue using as long as you like thereafter (an asset).

 

Decide on your reason for needing the software, and how long you need it to be available for production use (be sure to add a substantial buffer of time), and that should allow you to better determine which is the more appropriate option for your business requirements.

 

Cheers

[rkmcswain]

....at $360 a year why would you bother purchasing at about 10 times that rate, are you sure its not $360/month.

 

OP is correct. You can pay $360 per year, or $45 per month. Monthly is more expensive, but if you only need 3 months, $135 is cheaper than paying for a whole year ($360) for example.

[tzframpton]

I love the pay-as-you-go licensing. A friend of mine is an independent contractor who does AEC BIM design, and he recently has started using this option. When a job comes up, he pays, when he knows he'll be slow, he doesn't pay, when work picks back up he starts paying again.

[amirib]

Thanks all. Based on the feedback, it seems the annual version ($360) is the best choice for us as we need the licenses for around one year and after that it depends on business. Also it is nice that with this type of license we can access the software from everywhere. I am glad that Autodesk has different license options to choose from, but just hope that the price stays the same in future.

[ReMark]

If annual licenses are anything like the annual fee for a Subscription you can count on the price being higher each and every year from now into the foreseeable future. It's another revenue stream for AutoDesk.

[BlackBox]

OP is correct. You can pay $360 per year, or $45 per month. Monthly is more expensive, but if you only need 3 months, $135 is cheaper than paying for a whole year ($360) for example.

 

... Until there's a revision during construction.