Subscription questions...?

SketchUp Pro
1

I only have few days to make a decision but what is hanging me up is confusion around what happens with the $299 Pro subcription.

I have no interest in a product that is tethered to the web, that I may only use with an Internet connection, so I have no choice but to go Classic License or the Pro subscription.

The press has a number of conflicting statements about what happens if I don’t pay for another resubscription after the year is over.

Does the application die after a year? Or do I get the flexibilty of renemwal without penality?

2

It’s really quite simple. If you choose the Classic license now you pay $695 USD and you get the desktop client version of Sketchup 2020 along with LayOut 2020. If SketchUp 2021 is released before October 30 next year (which is likely), you can upgrade to SU/LO2021. Then after your 12 months have elapsed, your Maintenance and Support will expire. You can continue using The version of SketchUp you have at that time until it quits working which could happen with OS changes. Mac OS versions have broken SketchUp in the past so it wouldn’t be very surprising if it happened again.

At the time your Maintenance and Support expires, you could opt to go over to the Subscription and continue getting updates and support as new versions are released as long as you keep your subscription up to date.

Or you could choose to go with the Subscription now and get not only SketchUp and LayOut 2020 (desktop client versions) but also SketchUp Shop, unlimited cloud storage and some other features that aren’t included with Classic.

Like any other subscription, though, if you decide you no longer want it, you stop getting it. Kind of like if you stop paying the electric bill they turn off the electricity.

3

DaveR: appreciate the answer and learned some things from the reply but it missed my central question…

If I subscribe to the $299 per year version that comes with desktop and web versions of SketchUp Pro and after that year ends, does the desktop version of the application stop working?

You laid out the Classic LIcense in greater detail than I had eralier discovered, so that helps in making the final decision.

Thanks again.

4

Yes. As I wrote:

If you stop paying for the subscription, Sketchup stops working.

5

DaveR: I think that I am not making myself clear. I understand how subcriptions work but they are not all the same.

As an example with Adobe products, if I paid for a year of Photshop and did not renew after the year lapsed I’d expect to lose my support, upgrades, etc but in their case, the Photioshop application also stops working.

Is this the case with the SketchUp desktop application?

6

Sorry. I was trying to make that clear. Yes. The desktop application stops working when you stop paying for the subscription.

7

This central point has been confusing in the tech press, some say yes, some say no.

8

See my reply.

9

Something to add to what Dave said, you recently ran out of support on your existing 2020 license, you could get back on board with that for $180 in the next couple of days, and then do the two year deal in 12 months. Then your worse case in three years from now, if you decide to not renew the subscription, would be to drop back to the 2021 permanent license you will most likely get in the next 12 months of Classic support.

Something I just noticed, your profile says you are on a system of 10.10.5, I imagine that is incorrect. I think that you are currently using 2019 (but you do have a 2020 license if you want to use it), and even that version shouldn’t run in Mac OS 10.10.5.

Just something to think about, if you subscribe to keep up with the major releases, make sure your operating system is recent enough for SketchUp to work.

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10

Colin, thanks you for dropping in, I was going to ask you a question in another thread.

I updated my profile, on a brand new 16" MacBook Pro running the latest version of Catalina and a desktop Mac Pro, also running Catalina.

Before I ask some other questions, could you confirm what DaveR said? I read this blog It’s Happened. SketchUp Goes Completely Subscription

This is the quote that drove my question, "However, in their explanation of upgrading, they say, “You can subscribe for a year, skip a year, renew every year — it’s up to you. Whatever you choose, you’ll always have the latest version with the newest features, receive (more) frequent product updates, and get access to technical support.”

If you skip a year and still get updates/support, isn’t that the same as… a perpetual license? Perhaps you can only skip one year. Some slight confusion there, Trimble."

Is it true that the $299 subscription that includes both Desktop and Web versions, that the SketchUp Desktop version will shutdown after a year? You cannot wait or delay your renewal without negative consequences?
…

I’d be interested in the other offer you mentioned as well…but how would I execute that particular option?

I am not an architect or engineer, I am a 3D artist & illustrator and I have to admit that the new pricing policies are pushing me out of being a SketchUp user. This is as emotional as it is a professional issue, I am deeply fond of SketchUp, I know, a weird thing to say.

I purchased SketchUp at the trade show it was introduced at in 2000. I already owned a high end 3D tool, Maxon’s Cinema 4D - a sophisticated and powerful tool but not for the faint of heart. I became so enamored with SketchUp’s way of drawing hat I continues to use it as a sketching, idea generating tool, for as diverse a range of things like theater set design, illustration and the foundation of more complex 3D renderings.

I think that it is great that SketchUp has all these great features for architecture, engineering and the construction trades and I can see the new prices ranges for those usages but I am an artist and cannot keep up. Judging from years in the community, blogs and threads in these forums, I don’t think that I am unique.

But, as well, to afford it, I cannot have the tool crippled, it cannot be Internet tethered or carry with it the concerns that in the middle of the night, while working on a project, it will suddenly stop working at midnight.

So, if you could clearly answer the two questions above, I can decide which direction to go or if I can even continue using SketchUp.

That would be regrettable.

Thank you

11

I can see why he would have been confused. That article was written over 5 months ago, and the support articles have been improved in that time.

For the skipping part, it means that if you need to use SketchUp this year, but not next, but you again the year after, you can choose not to subscribe during the year that you don’t need SketchUp. I think the idea was to show how that’s different to a Classic license, where if you don’t renew support you end up paying for a reinstatement fee, or possibly have to buy a new license.

So, if you don’t renew subscription, the program will not work when you sign into it, until you subscribe again. It’s like any other subscription product in that sense.

The part about needing Internet, that is needed to get the web version loaded, and it’s also needed for when you sign into the desktop version. You do have to do a fresh sign in every 28 days, so that SketchUp can make sure that you still have the subscription, but during those four weeks you could be working completely offline.

It only takes a cell phone hotspot’s worth of Internet connection to do the sign in action, and few people who post in this forum are truly offline for more than 28 days.

But, if you are going on a long trip in the wilderness, you should do a sign out, and sign in again before you leave, to reset the 28 day check in, just to be safe.

For the thing I was describing about your current Classic license, you would open this web page:

put in your existing 2020 serial number, and your email address, and look up the license. Lower down on the page is a blue Renew Support button, you would click on that, then on the button that says Sign in and continue to checkout. Because you have lapsed support, there would be a $60 reinstatement fee, which when added to the $120 for maintenance and support, would total $180. For that you would be certain to get all permanent license updates for the next 12 months, and if after that you want to migrate to the subscription, you could do that with the special offer that already exists.

As I said, the good thing is that if after trying subscription for a couple of years you decide it’s not for you, you will by that time have a permanent 2021 to fall back onto.

Something that hasn’t been pointed out too much is that your Classic license will continue to work offline all the time. This means you could use your subscription to get the latest features, and the extras that you don’t get with a Classic license, and if you need to be completely offline for a few months, your Classic license will still work.

12

Colin, thank you for the clarifications. I think the blogger can be forgiven for his confusion, the emails I’ve received were incredibly confusing.

Trimble can call the $60 for past the subscription deadline, reinstatement fee, but anyone who pays it will see it as punitive.

One of the unfortunate aspects of Trimble communications is a strong tendency to admonish its existing user base. Not sure what success can be won from that approach.

I renewed my existing classic license thru 2021, per your instructions. I’ll deal with the subscription renewal down the line.

A year is a long time in the software industry and considering that the primary patent on SketchUp’s unique drawing method runs out in May of 2021, many new options might appear in the future.

Thanks again for all your help.

13

Architect here. I have SketchUp Pro 2017…which I use exclusively for my design work (along with Twilight Render) and It totally works for my needs. Should I be concerned about all the upgrade/subscription conversation?

14

Probably not if you have no intention of updating to the newer version. If you are going to continue driving your old Buick, you probably don’t care how they sell new cars.

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15

I read somewhere that 75% of all Rolls-Royces ever made are still in working condition.
(it just came into my mind that when filmmakers set up a historical street with traffic a totally unrealistic proportion of the cars are expensive models and makes - it should consist almost exclusively of T model Fords)

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