Important Updates on Autodesk Maintenance Plans

What are the major changes Autodesk is making?

Autodesk believes that subscription is the best way for everyone to experience their software. Their focus is on building out and delivering a great subscription experience. Subsequently, pricing offers reflect Autodesk’s desire to encourage as many users as possible to become subscribers.

Basically, at time of renewal you can decide when and if you want to move to subscription for the same cost as your maintenance plan (which ends up being about 60 percent less than a new subscription).  You can also wait and take advantage of this offer in year two or three, whenever the timing is best for your business, or not at all and remain on maintenance. If and when you do decide to make the switch, you can lock-in that discounted subscription price for three years with no upfront payment required.

Beyond the three year lock-in period, all customers who make the switch will be grandfathered in at the discounted price by year four (about 15% higher than their original maintenance cost). As long as you continue to renew, you’ll keep this discounted pricing, which will be lower than maintenance plan renewal pricing and far below the cost of a new subscription.

Why should I consider switching to subscription?

Subscribers will have a more rewarding relationship with Autodesk. Rewarding how? Subscribers already get enhanced support direct from Autodesk. You will receive services and content tailored to your needs. And subscribers can look forward to even more connected services that are only possible with the cloud. Additionally, administration of the software will be simple when you standardize your Autodesk products on subscription.

If you’re a maintenance customer today, you may not find every one of these benefits a fit for you, but you will find a range of options like:

• The convenience of charging subscription cost annually to projects
• Frequent product updates that you can decide when to consume
• More convenient support including “schedule a call” with Autodesk for faster engagement times
• Opportunity to turn on and off subscriptions based on your project peaks and valleys

What are my options when my current maintenance plan comes up for renewal?

When your maintenance plan comes up for renewal, you will basically have 3 options:

• Switch an eligible individual product on maintenance to a subscription of the same product
• Switch an eligible individual product or suite on maintenance to an industry collection subscription
• Renew your maintenance plan for one year.

Is maintenance going away?

Autodesk has no current plans to discontinue maintenance. It will be available on an annual basis but it will cost more than the discounted subscription pricing. In addition, all of the updates to core products will benefit customers who are on maintenance and our subscription customers alike.

What happens if I let my maintenance plan expire rather than renewing or switching to subscription?

If you let your maintenance plan expire, you will no longer receive benefits granted to you via your maintenance plan. This includes access to software updates, previous version rights, home use rights, global travel rights, support, cloud credits, and cloud services. Additionally, after your maintenance plan has expired, you will not be able to switch to subscription at the discounted price.

Per the Software License Agreements for perpetual licenses, you can continue to use the most current version of software installed and activated. You may install and use any of the more current versions that were granted to you under your maintenance agreement; however, once you do so, you forfeit rights to any prior versions.

What if I still have questions?

Additional information is available in this Autodesk FAQ. Please also feel free to reach out any time to your Managed Design sales representative or use the form on this page to send us a message.