PT Ultimate sale leads to confusion

[gobyfishmusic]

Hi there! Last September I took advantage of the sale on a Pro Tools Ultimate subscription (because I have converted my studio to a Dolby Atmos setup). I have had a regular Pro Tools perpetual license for years that I've been paying for annually, and I assumed the PT Ultimate subscription would replace it. It's been impossible to get a response from the Avid Sales department to clarify that my PT Ultimate functionality would not be adversely affected by not renewing my perpetual license. Of course, today is the renewal date for my old license and Avid has sent all kinds of automatic emails telling me that they could not process my payment (because I turned it off on PayPal). I finally turned the auto-renew option on my Avid account off (nervously because I wasn't sure what might happen).

So far so good. I just fired up an Ultimate session and it worked normally. My confusion lies in Avid's terminology "license" versus "subscription." There SEEMS to be a difference, according to their site, but what the difference is, is very hard for me to decipher.

So, am I good NOT renewing my old perpetual license? Will PT Ultimate continue to work well, and can I decide this September (when my Ultimate "subscription" is set to renew) either to pay an annual recurring subscription or save up my pennies and buy a license outright?

Might seem like a weird question, but Avid simply is not getting back to me at all (despite being a PT user for over 20 years). And the terminology adds to the labyrinthine process.

Thanks in advance!

Don

[JFreak]

Subscription is only valid the time you pay for it. Once you stop paying for it, your software stops functioning. But while subscribing you do not need to worry about support and update plan as it is implicitly included in the subscription that gives you latest version while you keep paying.

Perpetual license keeps working, but it will not update itself past the RELEASE_LIMIT date shown on the details of your license in the iLok License Manager. You can use any PT version between 12.6 and the one released on or before your RELEASE_LIMIT date, but subsequent releases will not authorize.

With the perpetual license there is this mystical Support And Update Plan, which many consider to be subscription, but it is not. While your support plan is active, you can access current releases and extras that may come with the deal, but once it runs out no more updates and no more extras.

While your Support And Update Plan is active, you can Renew it for another year (or many years if you like). If you let your plan lapse, Renewal Code will not work anymore, you would need Reinstatement Code that is more expensive and not sold by Avid any longer. You may have success finding one of the old stock codes from resellers, Avid would honor it even if it was issued long time ago. Important thing is the code is unused.

Regarding plan renewal, there should be a 30-day "grace" period so if you forget for short time you can still renew. Yours seem to be lapsed a long time ago due to subscription, so it does not apply here. Just telling if someone else in your shoes is reading.

HOWEVER; and this is not a promise, Avid had this "Get Current" promo going until end of the year, which would take your old plan current. You should call Avid and ask if their promo also has a grace period and you could still buy it.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by gobyfishmusic

I have had a regular Pro Tools perpetual license for years that I've been paying for annually, and I assumed the PT Ultimate subscription would replace it.

Your Ultimate subscription did nor replace your Pro Tools “regular”. You most likely have two licenses in your account.
1. Pro Tools “Regular” perpetual
2. Pro Tools Ultimate subscription

So, am I good NOT renewing my old perpetual license?

If you never want or need your Pro Tools “regular” again you can let the support plan lapse. You will still have use of the license for the latest version of Pro Tools up to when you stopped the support plan. For example, if you cancelled in 12/2021, your last a available version will be 2021.12.

Will PT Ultimate continue to work well, and can I decide this September (when my Ultimate "subscription" is set to renew) either to pay an annual recurring subscription or save up my pennies and buy a license outright?

Your PT Ultimate subscription will only continue to work if you continue to pay the subscription fee. Once you stop paying, it stops working. You cannot convert a subscription to a perpetual license that I know of. If you decide to go full Perpetual for Ultimate you will be paying the full retail price.