Hi, I’ve been using sketchup while it still was google sketchup and was FREE. I’m now just a designer in a one person firm and just can’t justify the cost of $400/year. Even though Trimble says $33.25/month, its billed anually! So how is someone like me supposed to use sketchup? Any help?
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What kind of design work do you do?
What have you used for your work in the last 16 years? The first release of SketchUp 8 was the last version which permitted commercial use of the free version. Google removed that option with the mid-year update release of SketchUp 8.
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If you are a business in the US, it should be a tax deduction.
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Well, if it’s anything like credit/debit card fees, or a ‘living wage surcharge’ that you see on dinner receipts - those are now being passed on to the customers on top of the cost of the items purchased. Your clients may not like it but you could include a note at the bottom of each contract indicating the addition of a small ‘design tools fee’ (actual fee would depend on the no. of clients you can spread it around to - more clients = less cost to each).
Or you could also set up a GoFundMe or other crowd funding site for friends and family who support your design career and want to see you succeed.
I’m half kidding as neither of these are great options but the point is ‘free’ isn’t an option when it comes to the cost of doing business these days and Trimble will have to continue to weigh the value of their annual subscription price increases with the number of users they lose from being priced out. Either way, we all here on the forum feel your pain and wish you find a solution that works best for you.
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Work the $400 yearly subscription into your business model. Software is just a cost of business much like computer equipment, internet fees and so on.
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