New EAGLE licensing

[jorge_garcia]

Hello Everyone,

In this post we will be briefly describing how the new subscription model for EAGLE works.

Firstly, the Autodesk licensing model is subscription based and the EAGLE paid license will require that you install the SW and then generate an account on accounts.autodesk.com to retrieve your license entitlement.   

If you lose your network connection, the SW has a 14-day heartbeat that will enable you to work offline for 14 days.

All of your data is stored locally, so you are in complete control of your data.

We will continue to provide the freeware version of EAGLE. In order to use it you will still need to register an account with Autodesk.

In an upcoming release we will be adjusting the software so in the worst case scenario, where internet is unavailable past 14 days, the software will revert to free mode. That way you can always review your designs.

You can review the current EAGLE pricing by visiting this page.

[fecht]

There it goes, the good software of Rudi and Klaus.

If Autodesk does not return like farnell the last time, they can completely forget it.
I think that well over 90% of the old users will stay with their version <8.
Anyway (as with the 7th) no really new breakthrough functions have been added.

One question:
Is anyone from the old Cadsoft team from Pleiskirchen
at the Embedded World Exhibition in March in Nuernberg?

Greetings Andreas

[Anonymous]

Just listing previsous licensing information for comparison. It's quite a simple math. KiCad here we come. Since CERN has started to support its development things started to evolve. Our money will be better spent there in the furute it seems. See: http://www.ohwr.org/projects/cern-kicad/wiki

Old licensing:

 

Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20160709004044/http://www.cadsoftusa.com/eagle-pricing

[Anonymous]

Thanks for pointing out DipTrace!

[Anonymous]

As someone who designs PCBs as a hobby, or I imagine even a small company, who only does a few designs per year, I like to refer to and/or make changes to designs as ideas come to me. One simple change does not imply I need to spin a new PCB nor does it mean I will be spending hours/days/weeks on the project. Now you're telling me; if my license expires and I want to look at my own work, even for just a minute, I have to pay again!! "F" that!

I like to own what I pay for. Most companies have you pay for a product once (like CadSoft) and sometimes give you free upgrades for minor revision changes. Even having to (re)purchase a product (at a discount) if a major revision change happens seems more acceptable than the subscription model, IMO.

[MattStarfield-NextFab]

The previous posters have covered everything I have to say already, but I want to add my voice to the crowd to increase the volume...

1.) The pricing announcement is disappointing. I understand the need to adjust the revenue model for Eagle, but the terms pricing/licensing terms that were decided feel rather tone-deaf. Eagle's user-base is large and vibrant because it was a good value (features per cost). If you explode the cost factor, the value plummets. 

2.) The "Standard" level subscription Features are misguided. For $100/year, restricting to 2 signal layer is... a little insulting to be honest. This level REQUIRES a 4-layer minimum, 8 layers if you want to foster some good will in the user community.

3.) KiCAD is a real alternative and I'm not sure that AutoDesk appreciates that. If the terms of this new model are not revised, this decision may be the best thing that ever happened to KiCAD's community.

4.) Even if the terms are revised, this announcement has confirmed the fears surrounding these kinds of acquisitions. The Eagle community's trust has been broken and it will be difficult to recover from this announcement.

[Anonymous]

I am also a Eagle-user of the first time, first on DOS, then Windows, and still in Version 7 which is OK for me.

Your new prices are ridiculous! 2 Layers for 100 US$ a year? And if I need 4 layers, which is almost standard now, 500 a year? That is insane!

Never ever will I pay a subsciption for software, as I sometimes do not use it for months until a new project comes up.

There are alternatives.

[Anonymous]

Hi Matt,

I see you're on board with the idea of ensuring that the license reverts to freeware terms if it goes 14 days without pinging the license server, rather than Eagle failing to work at all after 14 days as it does now. However it requires a license to have been activated over the internet in the first place.

Could you please add a fallback that will work without ever having had online activation. Either freeware or a tier "below" freeware, that just allows read-only access to files, but would still allow exporting manufacturing data, DRC etc.

This would provide confidence that with a copy of the Eagle installation binary we will always be able to open, inspect and generate data from our designs, no matter our current internet situation, or the future situation of Eagle and its licensing.

The way I see it, this would make absolutely no difference to your current pricing or subscription scheme (which like others I find deeply unpleasant and am struggling to get over). But it would be somewhat reassuring to all serious users.

Thanks.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi technics1979,

You still have full support. The support staff will continue to provide assistance for you even if you are not on V8. We will still be supporting you guys.

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Given that I purchased EAGLE for the first time 6 weeks ago, how do I go about initiating a license refund? I'd prefer not to have to resort to a chargeback.

Given the end-of-year break, I think I got to use the program for 4 or 5 hours during that period - $50-odd AUD/hr is not really acceptable to me.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi bborun,

You can download V7.7 from ftp.cadsoft.de/eagle/program.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[jorge_garcia]

Hi Boland1776,
In the worst case scenario. EAGLE will revert to Free mode which still allows you to view your work and produce Gerbers.

Just wanted to make that minor clarification.

Thank you for your honest feedback.

Best Regards,

[Anonymous]

Let's do the maths:

I am an Eagle customer for a decade now, i lately upgraded to pro.. So by now CadSoft got my initial payment, and then about 300.-EUR every two or three ears for a so called major up-date.

Now you at Autodesk really expect me to pay 500.-EUR each year?

This is 5000.-EUR for the next decade compared to 2000.-EUR for the 1st decade!?

Or just calculate for 2 decades: The new licensing model asks for 10.000.-EUR iso approx. 3200.-EUR!? That is three (3!) times the price (sic!)

What are your Managers and Directors thinking?

I will use my 7.7 pro to maintain existing projects and switch to DipTrace in the long term.

I will never ever subscribe. Autodesk won't get any more money from me. Autodesk just does not deserve it. Autodesk even did not develope this software. This is ridiculous, pretentious and outrageous.

[Anonymous]

Actually, it's not even EUR 500, but EUR 550 which (at current FX rates) translates to USD 587 - a hefty 17.4 % penalty for European customers.

[Anonymous]

  Sadly, as a user since version 4.09 over 15 years ago my time with Eagle is coming to an end.  I will never use the software-as-a-service subscription model for any application, anywhere.  I will keep using my version 7.x configuration to maintain legacy designs, but future designs will be migrated to diptrace.  That is all.

[Anonymous]

...and this EUR 545 excludes VAT, so unless you have a business it will be more like 650. Per year.

[Anonymous]

Customers are unhappy with subscription models.  They have what is termed 'Subscription Fatigue'.  We're tired of not owning the tools of our trade and hobbies.  We're tired of not knowing if we'll be able to use our tools if our financial situations change and are unable to pay a subscription fee.  We're tired of being held hostage for tools we need.  If I don't want to renew a licence for a year or two, that should be my choice but my existing tools should continue to work.  The company I work for deliberately has steered clear of subscription models for these exact reasons.  Autodesk does not have to sink to this level.  If you believe in your product and make a quality product, you do not have to force people to pay you; they do it voluntarily.

I don't agree with this model of doing business.  I have been an Eagle user for about 7 years however, my next move will be to another solution.  I will not participate with Autodesk in this direction.  I have subscription fatigue.

Good by.

[Anonymous]

Subscription fatigue.  I feel it too.  I reduce and leave most companies who choose the subscription model of business.  I left Adobe CC for the same reason.

[Anonymous]

Fonik and Oldcrow are much more prominent than I am, but we come from the land of synth DIY. This is your typical "prosumer" base, with lots of people doing significant work for not much short term profit or even longitudinal sales. I.e. mostly for the love of it.

Your new Standard service offers too small a board area for me, and I have done designs on 4 layer too. I never use the autorouter, so I didn't pay for it in my license. That was a positive aspect of the old system, but apparently you now get it bundled with the new one? The notion that I only have to pay the months when I use the service is moot for me, as I too work on single boards over a long period, also adapting them as part of community-driven design. +bug fixes!

I view EAGLE as a tool built on a lot of historical functionality. It's clumsy in its operation, but it does work stably and consistently and I've learned it over a period of a few years.

How I would expect the licensing situation to continue: I've paid for the pro version, with the expectation that bug fixes and perhaps (community driven) minor improvements would be made, say over a lifetime of (at least) 2-3 years or so. If there was a major new release with functionality that interested me, I would pay for the upgrade. If I didn't feel the new features warranted the price, I would stick with my current version.

I don't think it's my responsibility to dripfeed the accounting department when I can't see the tangible benefits in advance. I evaluate the purchase of software like anything else: by seeing the offer first, then paying for something I subsequently own. I appreciated (many thanks!) the chance to try out an area/dimension reduced version, and found I was willing to go for it.

From a user's perspective, it appears that you're trying to fit the existing "square" base into the proverbial round hole. Can't you offer people who've paid quite a bit the option of perpetual licences?

Lastly, can you please clarify how the EULA works? It mentions that if I "upgrade" to V8, even just to test out the free version, that I must destroy my older V7 within 120 days?

[Anonymous]

I am 90% hobbyist/10% business user. I have spent >>$1.5K in the last few years just be cause Eagle was my favorite tool and I wanted to support it. I am sad that my most cynical worries have come to pass.

My solution:

sudo apt-get install kicad kicad-common kicad-doc-en

😞

[Anonymous]

btw I really am not happy with kicad. I find the ui and design approach goofy.