The Global ARCHICAD Community

[PatHarding88]

So our company is coming up to its licencing agreement and I had a few questions regarding the fees.

First of all I want to point out that I have been using ArchiCAD since Version 10. I am the sole drafty in our company producing about 150 homes per year. There were two of us but one drafty moved on and I have managed the work myself for over a year. During this time we have paid for the second licence expecting someone else would come on to work with us. This has not yet happened so it's a waste of money if I manage the next 12 months by myself as well.

Basically we are on the select agreement for 2 licences, I don't use any of the select features, I don't use the Australian Library (Because the objects are so outdated they are useless), I don't use the window object (Again not suited to AUS residential), I don't use support (except to rant and then I don't get replies). The only thing I really wants the yearly upgrades.

My questions:
Should I be paying for the select agreement or is there a better way?
Can I suspend an account without any penalties?
What are your thoughts on the price increase?

You may notice quite a significant increase in the cost of your Agreement since your last renewal date. Please let us
explain.
Recently, we implemented an updated finance system to support the new Central Innovation business structure. In doing
so, this identified that our former system has been incorrectly calculating the yearly contract value of each of our customers'
Select Subscription Agreement.
Whilst this error has ultimately been benefiting our customers - in other words, the total cost of our customer's Select
Agreement each year has been significantly lower than the Recommended Retail Price, unfortunately we are no longer in a
position to continue this practice. In order to meet our Supplier's continued increase of annual costs for Select and to
provide the additional services that Central Innovation have built and continue to build into the Agreement we must
standardise our prices.
Of course, we will respect your decision if you choose not to renew your contract with us as a result of this price increase.
Please bear in mind however, that unfortunately we will no longer be able to provide you with three of our most popular
Select Agreement benefits - the latest version of ARCHICAD (version 21 offering exciting new features), key plug
insurance, or access to our Technical Support team. Currently a 1 step upgrade* to come back on to Select to get access
to these is $3,157 + GST.
We do hope that you will continue to see the benefits of remaining part of the ARCHICAD community and a valued
customer of Central Innovation. If you have any questions, we encourage you to contact your Account Manager.

[Rlcosta]

Ouch...got the same letter. I'm on select. Not sure if I'll continue. Never really got past V19

[Wokka]

Double Ouch!
Thanks for sharing.
So basically they need more cash to support the new owners and graphisoft australia must have been running at a loss for the last 10 years?
We haven't got that letter yet ... maybe it's based on when your subscription started. I've been on Archicad since 4.55. If that's the new pricing policy, I'll be stopping at the next update.

[Rogerdodge]

Its a bit of a worry for us in NZ too as central innovation have taken over as the distributors here.

[Rlcosta]

Double Ouch!
Thanks for sharing.
So basically they need more cash to support the new owners and graphisoft australia must have been running at a loss for the last 10 years?
We haven't got that letter yet ... maybe it's based on when your subscription started. I've been on Archicad since 4.55. If that's the new pricing policy, I'll be stopping at the next update.

Its a 50% increase in cost on the select agreement!

[Rogerdodge]

50%!!!!!
If ours go up anything like that it'll be AC21 for a few years.
Ah well sometimes i wonder if the upgrades are worth the pain anyway.

[rwallis]

There are a number of interesting points to note in all of this:

Check out Autodesk pricing and you will feel like this is all quite reasonable. My latest example - collaborate for revit - think of paying for BIM server in the cloud (this is in addition to your licence cost). $2000 per user per year!!!

nevertheless I think some clarity is needed.

in my understanding NZ users got access to cadimage tools with their subscription, while the rest of us had to buy them on top. I fear my 'cuzzie bros will soon have the additional cost other countries have had....

Here in OZ, what about the Australian door and window builder? With this acquisition does CI support both? Drop one? Offer access to cadimage tools at a better price?

IMHO cadimage suite should have been taken over by GS and folded in the main package, after all these tools really give GS an edge.

[Wplan]

I agree with the sentiment of this forum. I am also a small office with a part time employee. I would like to see more flexibiblity with the licening. I don't use support either but mainly becuase I seem to have been using graphisoft longer than the support and I have found that using support can sometimes cause more problems that in solves.
I have heard it is less expensive to fly to the US and buy a copy of Archicad there than to buy a new licence here. I am not sure if that is true but it is a real impediment to expanding.
I love the program but the price, and price increases means I do a keep a sharp eye on the competition.
JoCrow

[mthd]

Got my Graphisoft Select Agreement this month and the price is about 60% more than last years price. I think I will find out what the upgrade only price is first before making my mind up. We are not inline with the US select agreement price as it looks like we pay double. That company that took over the distribution of Archicad is overcharging us big time.

[Gareth]

I have had my grizzle about this too (directly with Central Innovation).

I quite like the Aus WinDoor Builder (but it is released later and later each year to the point where you might be lucky to get 7 months benefit from it), and the Joinery add on is pretty useless and so too are most of the Aus Library parts.

The Tech support is excellent and I have used it on a few occasions and the response times are quite fast. it is worth noting that I use the Tech support less and less each year.

However, and I have tried explaining this to them, it is difficult to justify maintaining the Select Agreement when costs keep increasing.

In a nutshell, it's only the new version of ArchiCad that has actually kept me in the Select Agreement, and let's face it, many of the new versions haven't exactly been that brilliant.

I also see no point in buying Cadimage addons to perform tasks that ArchiCad should be doing in the first place...!!

This may well be my last year of the subscription too.