To help us provide you with immediate access to new features and improve the quality of our release software, we have adapted our development and licensing processes. The changes mean that from the release of v7 we are now only offering a choice of 1, 2 and 3-year licence options. You can find out more about why it was necessary for us to make these changes below.

How will these changes affect you?

• We are now offering 2-year annual licences as a direct replacement for perpetual licences.
• As a recent v6 perpetual licence customer you qualify for a free upgrade to an equivalent 2-year annual licence.
• This offer remains valid until 31/12/2021 and you can upgrade any time before then free of charge.

Some of the biggest advantages of annual licences are:

• You always get access to the latest software features as soon as they are ready.
• Latest development processes improve the quality of release software.
• You get faster access to any fixes made to the software.
• Improved communication of new features - regular webinars and newsletters will help you to get the most out of the software as new functionality is introduced.

Why have we made these changes to DesignBuilder licensing?

Industry has now widely adopted best-practice “Agile” project management and software development practices, which DesignBuilder are increasingly using to develop higher quality release software. This involves concentrated effort on priority features, and a key benefit of that is that new features and fixes are ready for release more quickly. Unfortunately, our legacy perpetual licensing model is incompatible with Agile methods, and results in customers waiting up to 18 months for the next version to access significant new features and improvements. To provide you with immediate access to high quality new features and fixes as soon as they are ready, we have now aligned our licensing options with industry best-practice.

From the release of v7 we will only offer 1, 2 and 3-year annual licences, and perpetual licences will no longer be available. We have not made this change lightly and have done all we can to make the transition seamless, including our extended v6 to v7 upgrade offer to maintain parity with your v6 version licence terms. We appreciate this might seem a big change to you, especially if you have historically preferred the perpetual licence option, but we hope you understand that this is an essential change for us to stay competitive and continue to provide you with the high-quality software and support you have come to expect.

For more information on upgrading your licence to v7 please visit our Upgrade to v7 page.