Very confused about Enthusiast Licence

[paul.r.harker]

In December of 2016 kegingsong posted that Hobby/enthusiast licences were perpetually renewable -- see post copied below. Is this still true? The current licencing page states:

• The free Start-Up/ Enthusiast licenses allow you to access Fusion 360 with a yearly subscription after the trial period has ended. You can use this license if you are a small business making less than $100,000 per year (or equivalent), or if you're a hobbyist using Fusion 360 for non-commercial purposes.

This says nothing about being able to renew the trial. 
I am a hobbyist. I might sell a thing or two but I'd be shocked if my annual sales topped $500. Investing the time in learning a CAD system is significant, and I have other -- albeit less powerful --  options that would be far less expensive in the long run for the casual user like myself.  I'm not adverse to paying for software, but the delta between free and $310 a year is more than I can justify.

For that reason I'd really like some clarifications of these apparently conflicting statements before I invest the time and energy into Fusion 360. 

Thank you -- Paul

  

 keqingsong

 

in reply to: leaveAlone

‎12-19-2016 01:50 PM

Re: Pricing for hobby user

 

Hey @leaveAlone, thanks for posting, and welcome to the Fusion 360 community. I'm one of the many community managers here, but also a product manager on the Fusion 360 team. Let me answer your questions directly: 

1. Yes. Fusion 360 will always be free for hobbyists, makers, startups working on developing their products, and students/faculty. Hobbyists get 1 year free to start, whereas students and faculty get 3 years. After the subscription expires, you'll have the option to renew and start the free subscription all over again. You do this until either you want to switch to a paid license or stop using the software. Also, you don't just get the standard tier of Fusion 360, you get the Ultimate tier. Free. 

[paul.r.harker]

Hey @leaveAlone, thanks for posting, and welcome to the Fusion 360 community. I'm one of the many community managers here, but also a product manager on the Fusion 360 team. Let me answer your questions directly: 

1. Yes. Fusion 360 will always be free for hobbyists, makers, startups working on developing their products, and students/faculty. Hobbyists get 1 year free to start, whereas students and faculty get 3 years. After the subscription expires, you'll have the option to renew and start the free subscription all over again. You do this until either you want to switch to a paid license or stop using the software. Also, you don't just get the standard tier of Fusion 360, you get the Ultimate tier. Free. 

[James.Youmatz · Accepted solution]

Hi @paul.r.harker,

You can renew the Enthusiast license at the end of the year term by following the same steps to sign up initially. Apologize for the confusion! You are still entitled to use that license type.

Thanks,

[paul.r.harker]

Many thanks!

[cowasaki]

I have been trying to renew for 4-6 weeks.  Nothing I did worked and then it switched to a "free trial" and now I have 17 days left before it stops completely 😞 

[g-andresen]

Hi,

have a look at my contribution in This thread 

günther