Cost Of Upgrade / Support Follow
Hi
I recieved notification of my support renewal, I see its now $119 per annum. I was aware that Jet Brains had changed from a version policy to an annual subscription policy for licensing but not the cost of that.
I am not even aware that any detail of that change were comminucated , it just happened.
Correct me if I am wrong but R# used to have a licensing policy that required a purchase of an Upgrade version as each new version became available.
In general this followed the same cycle as VS , in other words a new Visual Studio a new R# . This was typically every 2 years , so a renewal of $119 every 2 years. $60 on $200 = 30% in round terms.
Obvioulsy Microsoft have changed thier philosophy on updates to Visual Studio with smaller incremental upgrades during the life of a major release , say VS 2013.This change of upgrade frequency obvioulsy demands a change from the tool developers to respond.
My gripe is that which ever way I look at it the cost of R# to me has just doubled on an annual basis.
I tried JustCode in some detail a few years back and my main argument against it was the excessive (to me) cost of annual subscription ($125 on $250) compare with its competitors. R# has just brought themselves level -- 119 vs 125.
The other major contenders cost annually $49 (on $ 280 and that price has just changed after 8-10 years at $250) and $99 (on $250)
Now it looks like skipping a version will be a cheaper option 2 x 119 > $ 200 for a complete new license. As version updates are typically refinements rather than massive new functionality additions this is probably feasible.
The typical cost of annual subscription varies but is normally less than 50%. You have now crept up to 60%.
Any Thoughts
Mike
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Hi Mike,
I'll try to clarify some issues you raised. First of all, active subscription allows you to get all the updates including major versions that were issued during the time period that subscription is valid for. Meaning you will be still able to get support and bug-fix updates after subscription expiration.
From the price you mentioned ($119) I suppose that you are located in th U.S. and you're talking about upgrading personal license for ReSharper 3.x-7.x to the latest version (8.x) including a 1-year subscription. In other words, this is the price for an upgrade (which is still possible), plus subscription to all the upcoming upgrades published within a year. Renewal for the personal license subscription without upgrading the major version is cheaper.
Myabe I am misreading something
I live in South Africa , so most software things are done in Dollars.
I have a Personal R# License for version 8 ( indeed for 6,7 & 8 progressively) for both VB & C#.
I didn't realise that I will maintain updates for V 8
How does it now work if I add a subscription for V8 for the coming year , how much will that cost.
Do I then have to specifcally upgrade to V9 if it comes within that subscription year , or is that included within the annual subscription
Is there any documentation that makes the clear distinction between these stages
I am sure I am not alone in misunderstanding the change
Mike
Mike,
Since you hold a personal license for v8, you automatically have a subscription to all the updates, and it's valid till October, 2014 from what I can see. If you decide to prolongate it till October, 2015 (for another year) it will cost $119, but with a valid subscription you'll be able to get all the releases published till subscription expiration date without any additional fee. So you will not need to specifcally upgrade to version 9.
We announced these changes, but that was more than a year ago: http://blog.jetbrains.com/dotnet/2013/06/03/resharper-personal-and-academic-licensing-changes/
And there's also section 10 in Personal License Agreement (http://www.jetbrains.com/resharper/buy/personal_license.html).
Hi Daria
That clarifies what I thought , by holding a subscription I am entitled to everything , bug fix, minor release , major release etc. So version releases mean less .
If I allow my subscription to lapse , then whatever version I have at the end of the subscription is frozen in time.
This being the case I revert to the original comment , for $ 200 base price product , a $ 119 annual subscription is high (ie 60% of base).
So instead on the old scheme of paying $119 alternate years (roughly) I now pay $119 ANNUALLY , you have doubled the cost of your product to me in effect.
Your competiors are more like 30-40% as are many other tool developers. Not 60%.
You have just gone in my eyes from one of the most reasonable tools to nearly the most expensive.
I have no complaint about R# as a tool , thats probably my problem , but at what cost.
Mike
Mike, I can understand your concern.
Well, the intention behind introducing subscription model was to make sure that if a customer is willing to keep up to date with new releases, he/she pays for upgrades once a year, in a predictable manner. Of course, if you cannot justify the expences, you can skip the renewal. During another year after your subscription expiration date you'll be eligible for an upgrade for a reduced price, if you decide to skip a version for example.