Writing to document my recent with Corel and CSP (Clip Studio Paint). These are two of the creative software packages used by professional and amateur artists.
Background
I work as an artist, and have used Corel products since 2012. I've used CSP for a few years, also. Like many artists, Adobe spurred me towards these products after they went sub-only. When Adobe went sub-only, they pulled CS6 from the shelf before its EOL. It caused a shift in art software, with folks scattering every which way. Different companies leapt in.
CorelDraw Suite
It's felt like Corel has felt the sub-only push the last two years. This is their latest advert for their "sub or buy" 2024 edition...check out the feature comparison. It scrolls, but doesn't get much better.
The pricing, seen below, also doesn't mention an upgrade discount (I have 2023, so there should be an upgrade option for 2024 if it existed). After checking both the in-software ad (I can disable this) and their website, no upgrade price was visible. Instead, they pushed the subscription.
I eventually found a page with "Looking to Upgrade?" and it, again, led me to the subscription.
Corel used to have a generous upgrade policy, where you'd get the upgrade price regardless of the year of the previous edition. Once that ended, it was only for the previous year, but the price was still around 50% of the new version. Over the phone, and I've also had this conversation via email, their reps told me that 15% was the maximum they could do.
In addition, on contacting the company directly, it appears they ended upgrade pricing entirely over the previous two years. That is, if you purchase 2023, then 2024 will be full price for you. If you purchase 2024, then 2025 will be full price, and so on.
So, Corel is for sure feeling the subscription-only push. Be aware of this if you're looking to purchase their software: new editions come with restricted features, and it is not cost-effective to upgrade even bi-annually. However, it may be worth getting in on a sale in order to secure a copy before stand-alone goes away, if that is interesting to you.
Onto CSP...
Background
I work as an artist, and have used Corel products since 2012. I've used CSP for a few years, also. Like many artists, Adobe spurred me towards these products after they went sub-only. When Adobe went sub-only, they pulled CS6 from the shelf before its EOL. It caused a shift in art software, with folks scattering every which way. Different companies leapt in.
CorelDraw Suite
It's felt like Corel has felt the sub-only push the last two years. This is their latest advert for their "sub or buy" 2024 edition...check out the feature comparison. It scrolls, but doesn't get much better.
The pricing, seen below, also doesn't mention an upgrade discount (I have 2023, so there should be an upgrade option for 2024 if it existed). After checking both the in-software ad (I can disable this) and their website, no upgrade price was visible. Instead, they pushed the subscription.
I eventually found a page with "Looking to Upgrade?" and it, again, led me to the subscription.
Corel used to have a generous upgrade policy, where you'd get the upgrade price regardless of the year of the previous edition. Once that ended, it was only for the previous year, but the price was still around 50% of the new version. Over the phone, and I've also had this conversation via email, their reps told me that 15% was the maximum they could do.
In addition, on contacting the company directly, it appears they ended upgrade pricing entirely over the previous two years. That is, if you purchase 2023, then 2024 will be full price for you. If you purchase 2024, then 2025 will be full price, and so on.
So, Corel is for sure feeling the subscription-only push. Be aware of this if you're looking to purchase their software: new editions come with restricted features, and it is not cost-effective to upgrade even bi-annually. However, it may be worth getting in on a sale in order to secure a copy before stand-alone goes away, if that is interesting to you.
Onto CSP...