Make a non-subscription purchase option

[Anonymous]

 Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but none of the forums quite fit.  There doesn't seem to be a general feedback forum.

I bought a Makerbot Replicator 2last month and have been trying out 3d modeling packages to select the one I like best.  So far my favorite is Moments Of Inspiration, but I wasn't aware of Fusion 360 until today.  I like what I see of it so far, but the price will take it completely out of consideration.  The only way you'd get me to subscribe to software like this is if the price were really compelling, but $300/year is NOT compelling.  I pay less than twice that for all of Adobe's products combined.  Based on that, Fusion 360 is priced too high.  You could certainly point out that at this price I make out better vs a $2000 package until 7 years from now, but I don't see this playing in the $2000 space.

Please offer a simple one-time $300 perpetual license for me to purchase.  Let me pay for upgrades.  This subscription model puts too much power in Autodesk's hands.

My main concern with subscription based software is that Autodesk will basically stop development on it, but continue to charge me anually.  Either that or it'll suddenly stop working when they decide to shut down the subscription service for it.

[Oceanconcepts]

Autodesk has indicated that non-commercial, hobby, and student licenses will be free. More info in this thread:  http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/News-and-Announcements/Pricing-for-Fusion-360-Announced/td-p/3873212

Considering the power and potential of the product,  I think $300/ year is very reasonable for a commercial user.  In my case it will be replacing a package that is $4,000+ and typically $1500/ year upgrade and maintenance. And Fusion fits my needs better- though this may not be true for everyone.

The online subscription model encourages continual development. Since Fusion uses a distributed processing architecture, and does not run only on your desktop, you are in fact dependent on Autodesk maintaining the cloud based service and keeping up development.  There is always a risk that any product will be abandoned- I have many package I purchased, some of them very expensive, that can no longer be run because they were not maintained or upgraded. Outright purchase is no guarantee of continuing function.

[roambotics_scott]

Also there's no contract so if they did discontinue development (which I have no reason to suspect they would) you could always just stop paying 🙂

[Anonymous]

Ah, yep looks like I misread.  When I looked a the price page I saw the sentence that says "Free for students and enthusiasts" and my brain saw free for students and then a word starting with E, so at a glance I read it as "Educators"

I still hate the subscription model for software that's becoming all the rage with companies these days, but I suppose I won't be impacted by it in this case.

[keqingsong]

Hey supagoat, 

Thanks for reaching out to us and addressing your concern. One of the reasons why we chose to pursue a subscription model for Fusion 360 is due to the flexibility and decrease-in-risk it offers to our paying users.

Time and time again we hear from the community that users wanted a solution that doesn't have a huge amount of upfront cost, that is flexible enough for them to quickly pick it up, use it for the appropriate project they are working on, and stop paying for it if they no longer need it. Even when they are not paying for it, they can still access their data via Autodesk 360 via a web browser. And when they do need to use it again, they can start paying again and continue where they left off. All their data remain untouched, all their work is securely saved. This holds true not only for Fusion 360, but also for Sim 360 (our Simulation counterpart), CAM 360 (launched this past December), and all our other 360 family of products. 

The direction and development of Fusion 360 is heavily influenced by the community, as well as yourself :). You play an integral part of this process, and we really mean that. We're also serious about keeping it from for students and enthusiasts. I'd like to better understand where you are coming from by asking you how are you planning to use Fusion 360 as part of your workflow? 

Cheers, 

[Oceanconcepts]

A plus for subscription based software- for those paying US taxes, anyway- is that it is an ongoing expense, rather than a capital investment. Therefore it doesn't need to be depreciated.  That reduces the accounting load.

[Anonymous]

keqingsong,

With the free-for-enthusiast offering it's far more palatable.  It would be good to see a mid-level license that allowed minor commercial use.  For example, I'm a fan of the Star Wars Miniatures game and right now my minis are in a Plano 5321 box wrapped in tissue paper and sitting in the Plano box's dividers.  I'd like to see if I can create protective cases for the minis.  If I'm successful I'd like to make them available to others, which will mean printing, minor assembling, and shipping them.  That'll cost me time and money so I'd like to charge a small fee.  Nothing I'd get rich from.  Maybe I'd make $100 total out of it.  As I read it, that'd be considered commercial use. 

I can definitely appreciate how $300/year for a business is a good value.  With the free-to-enthusiasts offer that I misread, I really have no complaint.  But what do you think about my very-minor-profit case?  I'd be happy to pay some fee for it.

Oceanconcepts - For sure non-sub licenses are no guarantee of future usability.  My father had many old computers scattered around his lab attached to scientific equipment because the hardware or software wouldn't work on a newer machine.  The difference was that he had the option to keep a 20 year old computer hanging around if he needed to.

Anyway, I'll dig into trying out Fusion 360 now since my initial worry is satisfied so hopefully I'll be posting another thread soon to tell you what I think of it.