So I’ve just come back to the website to have a look for the latest version of Sketchup.
And am incredibly dismayed to see that they’ve basically killed Sketchup by making it online only, unless you are willing to pay large amounts of money.
Is this now the permanent state? Online only? So we are tethered to having an internet connection to work on projects?
Granted, I don’t use it much, but when I do, it’s been very useful.
Why would I want to work in a slow and clunky browser? And I see that they’ve crippled the import capabilities of the free version. So we can’t even import a floor plan to scale and use it to create walls and so on.
I know, I’m one of those people who have to swoop in and make a racket. But this is really a horrible thing. Plus, there’s no way to contact Trimble without having a license.
I have always sung the praises of Sketchup for layout and creating event spaces.
But now… I’m desperately hoping I still have the old install files around.
I guess the search is on for anything even VAGUELY comparable.
You can still get SketchUp 2017 Make. Both it and the free online version have similar import capabilities. It sounds like from your description of what you do you need to be using SketchUp Pro anyway and that’s still available.
Of the four main SketchUp products, three of them include the desktop application. On its own the desktop application is now sold under the name SketchUp Classic, and is the same price it has been for quite a while: $695 at first, which includes $120 for the first 12 months of support, then an optional $120 per year to keep getting support and updates.
The SketchUp Pro subscription comes with the desktop application, the web application, unlimited cloud storage, and AR/VR support. It’s $299 per year, which includes support and any updates.
There is a $1199 per year version that is the $299 one plus Sefaira, which on its own may well have been $1000 per year.
So, just the SketchUp Shop product, at $119 per year, only gives you the web version.
You can directly contact the Sales dept (via a webform,) but they’re really only interesting in helping you buy one of the products that Trimble is offering.
As said, Make and Free editions are (and always were) licensed only for non-commercial use.
It is generally accepted that one of the major reasons for the discontinuation of Make desktop edition was the number of users using it for commercial work.
Another was that there was just too many features in common with the Pro edition and it undercut sales.
Thank you yes I’m quite aware of the highly priced versions.
And that like so much other software now a days it’s subscription.
Look, I used the previous Sketchup make and previous versions for free.
I was delighted with the cleverness of the software, and that it let me do some very useful things.
If the previous sketchup make 2017 is still available, then I shall just use that.
If I was using commercially, and the features were worth it, then I’d be glad to pay for it.
But as far as I can see, Sketchup has priced itself completely out of the market. Who’s going to to pay those prices for hobbyist work? And clearly Sketchup now thinks incredibly highly of itself to be charging such massive amounts at the high end. Wow!
I can’t even use the free version because I need to be able to import a floor plan to scale to loft the lines into 3D walls.
A quick web search has revealed some free or massively cheaper software.
It’s like coming back to the family home after years away and finding that a massive expensive hotel has been built around it. And I can only get in the living room, and no longer have access to the rest of the house.
Have you gone shopping for software lately? None of it is inexpensive for the casual user. Maybe buy the Pro version and keep it for life or until the OS will no longer run it.
if you are using SketchUp commercially, you are required to buy a SU Pro license regardless if the features are worth it to you or not.
I’m not sure what you know of the professional CAD market (hint: SketchUp Pro) but everything below roughly 1,000 bucks is a cheapy… with SU Pro available for 500 bucks for at least 15+ years I don’t see any massive price increase, especially with additionally 1 year of maintenance (= all service release and full blown upgrades) contained in the recent pricing.
It never was before. It was always a lovely gem that could do just enough to be really useful for doing layouts for charity events. Which I volunteer at. And in fact pay to go to.
So no, I have never used it commercially.
And what do you mean $500 for the Pro version for 15+ years?
The Pro version is $300 PER YEAR. For 15 years that’s $4500. Not $500.
It isn’t always easy to find (Trimble are pushing the subscription pricing hard), but you can still buy a permanent licence for SU Pro for about $700 (corrected from original $600). That includes a one year support and maintenance fee.
It’s worth investigating the reseller, they’re not necessarily more expensive. To purchase a classic license from my reseller here in the UK is around £57 cheaper than the SketchUp website…
Well yes. That will be down to the vagaries of exchange rates.
In our case, it’s certainly about 10% more expensive, then they charge GST at 15% on top of that. Naturally if I was purchasing as a business expense, then the GST would be claimed back.
But yeah, sadly here in NZ we are angrily resigned to being gouged for items that should cost no more than being able to buy them online. (not talking about physical goods.)
Adobe is a classic. Although they are known for gouging anyone not in the USA.
yes, local pricing depends on the exchange rate btw defined by Trimble every now and then.
Pricing in the the Trimbe shop is net too, local taxes are calculated during the checkout process.
Local resellers do typically provide an extended tech. support (Trimble: installation & license) regularly by phone also as well as invoices with local taxes denoted and other servies.
The price of the pro software, for a pro, is not expensive at all. It’s about $50 a month, or a single hours work. For what it does it is a deal for sure. And with a subscription it’s even cheaper!
For a hobbyist I can’t imagine why the free version would not work.
The perpetual SU Pro ‘Classic’ single-user license is currently U$ 575.- plus 1 year (mandantory) maintenance for U$ 120.- = U$ 695.- (net) for an unlimited runtime in the boundaries of the according system requirements of course.
but yes, being a CAD in the sense of ‘Computer Aided Design’ since the very beginning and not in the sense of being an AutoCAD clone for drafting purposes.
Oh the free version was working just great for me over the years. But now they’ve removed being able to import flat vector files (like dxf, PDF or similar) from the free online version. That single crippling means that the thing I found it so incredibly useful for (3D floor plans for some of the non-profit events I volunteer for) is now impossible.
I’m curious what else they’ve crippled compared to sketch up 2017.
I’m not liking the redirects much either. I’ve always bought my licence and maintenance renewals directly. There have been occasions in the past, that I’ve noticed across various forums, where local resellers are down or not responding or delayed or such where having a direct link would have been much better.