When it comes to investing in a new software package for your company, you need to assess everything from the features that it has to how much it will cost you. In PCB design software, companies tend to offer either perpetual or subscription pricing – but which is better?
Here, we are going to look at both of these types of pricing and discuss which might be better for PCB designers. Keep reading if you would like to find out more about this.
What Is A Perpetual License?
In relation to software and in particular PCB design software, you will find that a perpetual license involves one payment when you first purchase the product. Depending on the vendor, it is unlikely that you will get any sort of annual support, update, and upgrades along with this initial cost. Usually, you’ll need to pay extra for this.
What Is A Subscription License?
A subscription license for PCB design software is a little different as it is usually paid annually and is only valid for that year. Of course, you’ll also usually get all of the same features as you would in the perpetual license such as the updates and the support, but these will be included in the annual subscription price.
Which Is Better?
There are advantages and disadvantages to investing in software that offers both of these types of subscriptions. In terms of PCB design software, you’ll find companies like Altium will offer a perpetual license for their CircuitStudio package. This way, you can pay for what you need, and you don’t need to keep paying over and over for the same tools that you need to use.
In comparison to this, Eagle PCB software such as that provided by Altium tends to use the subscription model and this means that you’ll need to pay the fee every year that you use the software. For some people, this is a better option because it means that they can spread the cost and not have to pay a huge lump sum at the very beginning.
Many people believe that perpetual pricing is a much better option when it comes to PCB design. When you are working on a project, you don’t want to have an additional deadline of when your software subscription ends looming the background. For this reason, many people decide to go for Altium which offers this type of pricing over Eagle.
Final Verdict
It is clear that there are many advantages and disadvantages of using both PCB design software with a perpetual license and a subscription license. If you are looking for a product that you can call yours for as long as you need it, you should opt for the software that you can buy to keep. Otherwise, you might find that the subscription-based model works better for the projects that you are working on.
Make sure to think about everything that we have discussed, and you should be able to come to the right decision.
