The Death of ACDSEE

gaul said:

So ACDSEE will not die after all

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Ahh! Maybe they'll just get a bad cough!

Darryl Brooks said:

I looked very strongly at ACDSee, but pulled back when they fell off the grid for a while. Having said that, if I had gone with them, I was going with the subscription plan at $69. You get the Ultimate version plus some other stuff. The "perpetual" plan, like most software you buy, requires updates to keep up which cost money once a year or so.

I think Adobe has done a much better job of updating since going to a sub plan and priced right, I would choose that for any software package I choose. Just my .02

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While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

As near as I can tell, this more or less an automatic upgrade of the permanent license product when it is released at a fairly good price. This appears to offer some of the benefits of a subscription to the publisher without getting into the weeds of crippling the software at cancellation time.

With this plan, ACDSee knows they have an 'X' number of people who have allowed them to just send them the new upgrade when it's ready and crediting their credit card the agreed amount of price. This gives them a highly predictable minimum sales figure for the new version. I suspect that allows for all sorts of more accurate planning. from feature development to marketing.

It also gives the people who know they are likely to upgrade to the new version ASAP anyway, a modest discount for the upgrade. To me, this sounds like a Win-Win for both ACDSee and their long time users.

Glen Barrington said:

While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

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They *do* have a subscription that apparently nobody wants (because they keep throwing different things at the wall in the hope something sticks):

https://www.365.acdsee.com

What happens when people stop the subscription?

Glen Barrington said:

Darryl Brooks said:

I looked very strongly at ACDSee, but pulled back when they fell off the grid for a while. Having said that, if I had gone with them, I was going with the subscription plan at $69. You get the Ultimate version plus some other stuff. The "perpetual" plan, like most software you buy, requires updates to keep up which cost money once a year or so.

I think Adobe has done a much better job of updating since going to a sub plan and priced right, I would choose that for any software package I choose. Just my .02

Click to expand...

While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

As near as I can tell, this more or less an automatic upgrade of the permanent license product when it is released at a fairly good price. This appears to offer some of the benefits of a subscription to the publisher without getting into the weeds of crippling the software at cancellation time.

With this plan, ACDSee knows they have an 'X' number of people who have allowed them to just send them the new upgrade when it's ready and crediting their credit card the agreed amount of price. This gives them a highly predictable minimum sales figure for the new version. I suspect that allows for all sorts of more accurate planning. from feature development to marketing.

It also gives the people who know they are likely to upgrade to the new version ASAP anyway, a modest discount for the upgrade. To me, this sounds like a Win-Win for both ACDSee and their long time users.

Click to expand...

Correct. It's a subscription to upgrades. If you stop the plan, the software still will work without any limitations, unlike Adobe software.

This way you're ensured the latest version every year and you'll pay less then full upgrade price. Win-win for customer and company.

irv00 said:

Glen Barrington said:

While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

Click to expand...

They *do* have a subscription that apparently nobody wants (because they keep throwing different things at the wall in the hope something sticks):

https://www.365.acdsee.com

What happens when people stop the subscription?

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Yes I'm not sure why someone would pay $89.99 for yearly subscription instead of $59.99 for 'Upgrade Assurance' ?? The difference is?......

Steve

Toermalijn said:

Glen Barrington said:

Darryl Brooks said:

I looked very strongly at ACDSee, but pulled back when they fell off the grid for a while. Having said that, if I had gone with them, I was going with the subscription plan at $69. You get the Ultimate version plus some other stuff. The "perpetual" plan, like most software you buy, requires updates to keep up which cost money once a year or so.

I think Adobe has done a much better job of updating since going to a sub plan and priced right, I would choose that for any software package I choose. Just my .02

Click to expand...

While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

As near as I can tell, this more or less an automatic upgrade of the permanent license product when it is released at a fairly good price. This appears to offer some of the benefits of a subscription to the publisher without getting into the weeds of crippling the software at cancellation time.

With this plan, ACDSee knows they have an 'X' number of people who have allowed them to just send them the new upgrade when it's ready and crediting their credit card the agreed amount of price. This gives them a highly predictable minimum sales figure for the new version. I suspect that allows for all sorts of more accurate planning. from feature development to marketing.

It also gives the people who know they are likely to upgrade to the new version ASAP anyway, a modest discount for the upgrade. To me, this sounds like a Win-Win for both ACDSee and their long time users.

Click to expand...

Correct. It's a subscription to upgrades. If you stop the plan, the software still will work without any limitations, unlike Adobe software.

This way you're ensured the latest version every year and you'll pay less then full upgrade price. Win-win for customer and company.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't referring to the package shown by the OP. Their is a traditional sub plan. Given the cost of the software and their normal upgrade price, it made the most sense to me.

GasmanSteve said:

irv00 said:

Glen Barrington said:

While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

Click to expand...

They *do* have a subscription that apparently nobody wants (because they keep throwing different things at the wall in the hope something sticks):

https://www.365.acdsee.com

What happens when people stop the subscription?

Click to expand...

Yes I'm not sure why someone would pay $89.99 for yearly subscription instead of $59.99 for 'Upgrade Assurance' ?? The difference is?......

Steve

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I wouldn't. I would get the slightly hidden, Personal plan at $69 a year.

As for the things they keep throwing at the wall, they have all included multiple copies of the software at a steep discount. I only need one copy, so none of those deals meant anything.

GasmanSteve said:

irv00 said:

Glen Barrington said:

While I'm not fully comfortable with subscription software, I don't think what ACDSee is doing could technically be called a "subscription". At least not in the Adobe sense of the word.

Click to expand...

They *do* have a subscription that apparently nobody wants (because they keep throwing different things at the wall in the hope something sticks):

https://www.365.acdsee.com

What happens when people stop the subscription?

Click to expand...

Yes I'm not sure why someone would pay $89.99 for yearly subscription instead of $59.99 for 'Upgrade Assurance' ?? The difference is?......

Steve

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The yearly subscription model(s) include several different software packages, including Video Converter and Video Editor (in some plans), and some of the less extensive photo packages. The folks on this board probably have little interest in these other packages, but some do.

ClaudeVoyage said:

It s not new. You have a possibly to pay in advance for the next year version at a discounted price. It is not a subscription, like Adobe.

and stop stupid title !

Adobe with subscriptions have never been so healthy financially...

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isn't it Adobe stock price rocket rise after the subscriptions model ?

Glen Barrington said:

It also gives the people who know they are likely to upgrade to the new version ASAP anyway, a modest discount for the upgrade. To me, this sounds like a Win-Win for both ACDSee and their long time users.

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In mid March 2019 I paid for the pre release of Ultimate 2020 being discussed in this thread. I replied to Glens post because I vividly remember it and at the time bookmarked a thread for future reference to using ACDSee.
When Ult 2020 was released mid Sept 19 I started using it to the exclusion of all else, particularly the RAW processor which I really like, but have just found, yesterday, that I was indeed using a subscription.
I own 2018 and 2019, and as far as I’m concerned I bought a pre release upgrade to 2020.
Now that the subscription is expired, contrary to what was suggested last year in this thread, Ult 2020 is non functional. I cannot get past the EXPIRED popup without the program closing.
It seems that what I paid for was a 6 months sub of 2019 which I already owned, and 6 months of 2020 which I only thought I owned.

Now my only choice is to use 2019 which doesn’t seem a viable way forward leaving behind my 2020 database and all of the facial recognition work that I’ve done.
It is a fair dinkum pay up or else subscription. I’m assuming like Adobe.
Support has offered $10 off the upgrade price of the perpetual license. I was hoping for a solution which would filling in the 6 months before Ult 2021 is released.

Did anyone else get caught up in the same subscription inadvertently, or can anyone tell me if a perpetual upgrade was part of the pre release deal?
Is the mistake mine, or is it possible my purchase was messed up by ACDSee?

Thanks,

John

Like, I don't know, contacting ACDSee Tech support?

gaul said:

A subscription plan has been put in place, already exists for 2019, but it coexists alongside the perpetual licence

have you read carefully for 2020 version?

hsve to reach my PC to check by myself

hsve used ACDSEE since 1993 BUT if they force subscription as Adobe did, then I am out..

If Adobe is not too big to loose my money, surely ACDSEE is not either

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They're not forcing a subscription purchase. You can still buy a perpetual license for 2020.

Irwin said:

gaul said:

A subscription plan has been put in place, already exists for 2019, but it coexists alongside the perpetual licence

have you read carefully for 2020 version?

hsve to reach my PC to check by myself

hsve used ACDSEE since 1993 BUT if they force subscription as Adobe did, then I am out..

If Adobe is not too big to loose my money, surely ACDSEE is not either

Click to expand...

They're not forcing a subscription purchase. You can still buy a perpetual license for 2020.

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You are replying to a one year old post.

pembrokepete said:

Did anyone else get caught up in the same subscription inadvertently, or can anyone tell me if a perpetual upgrade was part of the pre release deal?
Is the mistake mine, or is it possible my purchase was messed up by ACDSee?

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I got caught out too. I have owned every Pro version of ACDSee since version 2 and was convinced to buy pay the $59.99 for the supposed "upgrade assurance" which I had for two years upgrading to 2019 Ultimate and later 2020 Ultimate. Since all of the earlier versions are still available on my log-in they are mine in perpetuity. When I decided not to pay the upgrade assurance when it was due this year since I had received multiple offers to upgrade to 2020 Ultimate for as little as $40 I cancelled the upgrade assurance. When it ran out I got the same warning you had.

Contacted ACDSee support asking for a serial since I had upgraded to this version while the upgrade assurance was still valid and they replied:

pembrokepete said:

pembrokepete said:

"The Upgrade Assurance for ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate is subscription with annual payment If the subscription is not renewed the programs which is registered with this plan will stop working."

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To upgrade to 2020 Ultimate from the last version that I upgraded in the normal manner, Ultimate Pack 10, I am quoted $59.95. Since that is less than half what I paid for two years of supposed "upgrade assurance" I am not happy with ACDSee and will never buy from them again.

Upgrade Assurance means subscription to ACDSee.

Just checked my ACDSee 2020 and it no longer works, I purchased the 2019 version with "upgrade assurance" and that was upgraded to 2020 when it was released. On May 18th, I got a notification from ACDSee that my credit card was charge for $59 for renewal. I contacted ACDSee saying that I wanted to cancel, which they did and refunded my $59.

What I though I was buying back in 2019 was a permanent license, but apparently not. I went back and took a close look at the receipt from 2019 and it does say the $59 was "annual" however, until now it wasn't apparent to me that this meant a "subscription."

Like bbrigg57, I won't be buying from ACDSEE again.

T Evergreen said:

Upgrade Assurance means subscription to ACDSee.

Just checked my ACDSee 2020 and it no longer works, I purchased the 2019 version with "upgrade assurance" and that was upgraded to 2020 when it was released. On May 18th, I got a notification from ACDSee that my credit card was charge for $59 for renewal. I contacted ACDSee saying that I wanted to cancel, which they did and refunded my $59.

What I though I was buying back in 2019 was a permanent license, but apparently not. I went back and took a close look at the receipt from 2019 and it does say the $59 was "annual" however, until now it wasn't apparent to me that this meant a "subscription."

Like bbrigg57, I won't be buying from ACDSEE again.

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Adobe’s subscription is a total bargain compared to the alternatives. That’s why more than 80% of users go for it.

irv00 said:

Adobe’s subscription is a total bargain compared to the alternatives. That’s why more than 80% of users go for it.

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There's no doubt that a lot of people on the Internet predicted that going to subscription would be "the death of Adobe". Certainly some people decided to stop using Adobe products, but we are not seeing anything close to "the death of Adobe".

irv00 said:

Adobe’s subscription is a total bargain compared to the alternatives. That’s why more than 80% of users go for it.

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$59 / 12 months = $5 per month for ACDSee Ultimate, which is both a raw developer & pixel editor. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lightroom & Photoshop don't rent for $5 a month. Plus, ACDSee is better than LR, IMHO.

contadorfan said:

irv00 said:

Adobe’s subscription is a total bargain compared to the alternatives. That’s why more than 80% of users go for it.

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$59 / 12 months = $5 per month for ACDSee Ultimate, which is both a raw developer & pixel editor. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lightroom & Photoshop don't rent for $5 a month. Plus, ACDSee is better than LR, IMHO.

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For $9.99 a month (in the USA), you get Lightroom Classic and Lightroom AND PHOTOSHOP, which is the gold standard in photo editing (and is both a raw developer and pixel editor). So it is definitely worth it to many people, your mileage may vary.

dj_paige said:

contadorfan said:

irv00 said:

Adobe’s subscription is a total bargain compared to the alternatives. That’s why more than 80% of users go for it.

Click to expand...

$59 / 12 months = $5 per month for ACDSee Ultimate, which is both a raw developer & pixel editor. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Lightroom & Photoshop don't rent for $5 a month. Plus, ACDSee is better than LR, IMHO.

Click to expand...

For $9.99 a month (in the USA), you get Lightroom Classic and Lightroom AND PHOTOSHOP, which is the gold standard in photo editing (and is both a raw developer and pixel editor). So it is definitely worth it to many people, your mileage may vary.

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You also get a personal website with Portfolio that comes with the plan which is integrated with LR. People should check out pricing for a personal website is these days. That alone with be close to $10 a month.