Understanding Avid Pro Tools licensing

So. You use Pro Tools (or Sibelius or Media Composer). You've just heard there's a new version available and you want to get it, but how do you move forward and get it?

For a few years now, there's been a ton of misunderstanding about Avid's terminology surrounding full perpetual licenses, updates, subscriptions, and what honestly seems like a never-ending list of options. Well, hopefully we're going to be able to clear that up today.

In the old days before electronically-delivered licenses, when buying software meant buying a box full of disks, upgrading your Pro Tools version was simple. If you had version 7.3 and you wanted to get to version 7.4, you went to a retailer, bought the update, installed it, and away you went. Things haven't been that simple in years.

These days, when you buy the full version of Pro Tools, you get included with it one year of 'free' updates and support. Think of it as an insurance policy of sorts. At the end of that year, you can buy another year of the Update & Support Plan. This updates your version to the current version and also gets you any subsequent updates for another year. It's a little unusual to be sure, but essentially a simple-to-understand system at its core.

Some time ago, Avid also brought out a subscription model as well. In other words, you could essentially 'rent' Pro Tools for a month, or a year. It's just like say a magazine subscription, or using Netflix. When your period is up, you no longer have access. While many people myself included are not fans of 'renting' software, for some people it makes sense: occasional users, students, and some others.

The biggest issue causing the confusion is that currently both systems are in place simultaneously. We regularly get calls from customers saying they need to 'renew their Pro Tools' not even knowing if they rent or own. Additionally, through the Avid store for a while (possibly still true), when your Update & Support plan was due to expire you'd get a message asking if you wanted to convert your license to a subscription. This is not asking you to update your Update & Support plan, it's asking you (encouraging you really) to switch to a subscription version, charging your credit card directly. Of course it that's what you genuinely want to do, then that's fine. Of course, many people do not, and if they don't get downright angry, they often are at least confused.

So what you may be asking is, which route should I take? Well, that depends really. Let's do a quick comparison:

Perpetual License (owned)

Allows you to update at your leisure as updates become available.

Continued access to previous versions if needed.

If you own your copy, nobody can take that away from you. It's yours. You may choose not to update it, but nobody is taking that away from you.

More expensive

Subscription (rented)

Always the current version of PT.

In the end once expired you don't have anything.

Less expensive.

So what's better for you? Most likely, if you're a regular user, or a professional you should probably own it. If you're a hobbyist, just testing the waters, or a school you might be a good candidate for a subscription. Schools particularly like the subscription model as yearly renewals line up nicely with their annual budgets.

Until a year or so ago it was actually even more confusing. Previously, if you'd let the Update & Support plan expire for more than a month, and then wanted to renew, Avid would ding you an extra fee for what was referred to as an Update & Support Plan REINSTATEMENT (as opposed to merely renewing while your current plan was still active). Happily, that part has gone away for now, and even if you have a 5 year old version of Pro Tools you can now just get back on the 'plan' with a simple renewal.

While all of the above is true whether you're on Mac or Windows, Mac people have a harder time keeping up for the simple reason that everytime Apple updates its OS version, older versions of Pro Tools may not run properly or even be supported. It's an issue for sure, and if you're on a Mac you should definitely keep track of what version is ok to run on whatever your current OS version is. In extreme cases, when people are updating their Pro Tools after being away from it for a while, an entirely new computer may need to be purchased. If you look at the link below, it's a good thing to bookmark just so you can stay on top of things.

https://kb.avid.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Compatibility/Pro-Tools-Operating-System-Compatibility-Chart

In the end, if this wasn't helpful at all, give us a call here or leave a comment below and we can get you straightened away come renewal time.