Topaz to charge for upgrades

Just got a notification that Topazlabs changes their policy to charge for product upgrades of DeNoise AI, Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, and Mask AI  - valid for one year after the purchase  This comes into effect in August 2020.

https://community.topazlabs.com/t/ongoi ... ades/13299


Wolfgang

In a sense they’ve been doing that for a while. They’ve repackaged and renamed (and enhanced) tools like AI Clear and sold it as DeNoise AI. Etc.

It’s upsetting a lot of users on their forums, not surprisingly. Who wants to pay when it used to be free and when the expectation, based on Topaz’s policy, was free upgrades for life?

I've had Topaz products for 10 years, some were good and others not so.  Their Sharpen AI saved a very special image of mine that had a bit of motion blur and for that it paid for itself in one go.  Generally though their AI stuff has been buggy, obviously needing to come to market to keep the money flowing in.  At this stage though I only really use Studio 1 version on a regular basis which is no longer supported, not happy with Studio 2.

With so much software having regular and not cheap upgrades, looking at you Capture One, its almost like a subscription model.  Changing operating systems also can force an upgrade despite the current version being sufficient.  For me the time has come to seriously assess which products are must have, those that are nice to have at a given price point and those that I will leave behind.

Although I understand their reasoning to ensure sustainability I believe a better (cheaper) upgrade cost for existing customers would show a greater level of appreciation.  As most of us have more than one application it is a regular US$99 (AUD$150) per year. Here in Australia numerous companies have the tendency to offer better deals to entice new customers and making them unavailable to those existing and loyal.

Hoppy, I don't think Topaz (or Capture One as you've called out) perpetual license model with paid upgrades is anything at all like an Adobe subscription product. If you chose not to upgrade you lose absolutely nothing - you can keep using those products in perpetuity. With Adobe, on the other hand, literally the second you stop your subscription, the apps no longer work at all. There is a big difference between paid upgrades which are optional and you can keep using your software and paying month to month and the second you don't you have nothing. Both models have their merits and demerits but they are nothing alike.

I think it's problematic that they advertised their products as having free upgrades and now pull that back. I can see that they want to make money but it would be much fairer, at least, if they continue offering free upgrades for existing customers and change their policy for new buyers. But I don't think that they will change their mind in this regard. That said, I think they should offer a trial period, at least, so that users can test and decide if a given upgrade is worth the costs for them. I do hope that in the next step they won't pull back the freedom to upgrade, too, and move to Adobe's business model. If that happens I'm definetly done with Topaz.

Wolfgang

WJaekel wrote:I think it's problematic that they advertised their products as having free upgrades...

And they were. I first bought their plug-ins in 2011. All upgrades for all my plug-ins were free. To be honest I was surprised that they didn't charge even a penny for it. Don't know if it was because they wanted to compete with Nik's back then (Topaz's plug-ins were much cheaper than Nik's). Now I just hope that they would consider lower prices for the upgrade/update subscription.

Oh, Photomatix's upgrade/update is also free.

I have been using a few of the Topaz AI modules for a while now. Seems to me that the updates including the new AI data base from which the software makes decisions should be included in the purchase price. If an entirely new algorithm comes out then a charge is appropriate.

I suppose you might easily conclude that this was their plan all along - bait, cast, and hook. I don't know and will not second guess them. I recognize the need to make a profit; I thought the long letter from the CEO was extra ordinary and essentially admitted they messed up.

However, if you are going to change your pricing model, this change is far more palatable to me than what Adobe did. I still have the perpetual license and I can choose if, and perhaps more importantly, when I want to upgrade. If Adobe had adopted this pricing model, I would most likely still be an active customer. To my knowledge, this was not an option when Adobe changed to subscription.

All that being said, I am sure Adobe sorely misses by monthly pennies.  

Richard

DChan wrote:

WJaekel wrote:I think it's problematic that they advertised their products as having free upgrades...

And they were. I first bought their plug-ins in 2011. All upgrades for all my plug-ins were free. To be honest I was surprised that they didn't charge even a penny for it........

Yes, but as many posters at the Topazlabs community and at dpreview pointed out, the essence of the problem is the previous advertising of LIFETIME FREE UPGRADES and then, after people bought the product, change the policy to upgrades for a price. As said, I could understand to charge new customers for upgrades based on their reasoning and need for making money. But pulling back their selling point and promise for existing custormers is a breach of trust, at least - some even consider it as a breach of contract.

Additionally, though I agree with E.J and others that their new model isn't the same as Adobe's (yet) because you still can use your old versions and are not forced to upgrade them - up to now, at least, - it's a valid question how long you actually can rely on that. They definetly have lost confidence, IMO. So the changes could also indicate an intermediate step to a full Adobe-like subscription model. As proved now, they don't feel committed to their previous statements. We will see.

Wolfgang

I think they made their mistake was when they moved to AI software.  AI software is extraordinarily labor-intensive to create.  For visual AI programs to work it requires millions upon millions of images to the be reviewed and analyzed.  My guess is that when they first started with AI they grossly underestimated the amount of time and effort it would take to create AI programs that work properly.  The previous plug-ins that Topaz had delivered in the years prior to their move to AI were relatively simple to create when compared to the complexity of AI software.  When Topaz came to the realization that AI was the future they also quickly realized that their previous business model was economically impossible to continue, hence their move from lifetime software to paid upgrades.

Another problematic issue in all this is that no distinction is made between upgrades and bug fixes. I don't mind paying for upgrades, but we shouldn't be expected to pay for bug fixes. The latter should be rolled out for free, even though this makes development more complicated in that one branch of software (which would have to be independently coded and tested) would contain bug fixes but not upgrades, in perpetuity.

Mike Danzenbaker wrote:Another problematic issue in all this is that no distinction is made between upgrades and bug fixes.  I don't mind paying for upgrades, but we shouldn't be expected to pay for bug fixes.  The latter should be rolled out for free, even though this makes development more complicated in that one branch of software (which would have to be independently coded and tested) would contain bug fixes but not upgrades, in perpetuity.

They may just over-charge you for the upgrades and let you download bug-fixes for free. Happy? They get you one way or another.