Fusion 360 new pricing

[RB211]

Brings up a interesting question, what are you getting, a paid PERSONAL subscription without the disabled features or a business subscription that allows for profit usage. I would guess the prior.

Business, for profit, consider it the "enterprise" edition.

[Magicniner]

Autodesk have a track record of moving the goal posts on customers, I wouldn't touch one of their products as their long term goal always seems to emerge as monetising customers to a greater extent than previously promised.

[DrMike]

Pushed in that direction by a client, I've got up to speed quickly with Fusion 360 (helps to have become proficient with 3 other systems in the past, most recently Solidworks) and have been using nearly all its features, and nearly exclusively, since March 2019. I've been operating under the free offer for startups making under $100k/yr since my business is exactly that - a spinoff/startup trying to commercialize some fairly esoteric intellectual property developed as part of a university research grant.

With this recent re-definition of the hobby/startup offers, I had to re-apply and re-qualify for the startup offer. I submitted my info again and got a call from F-360 a couple of weeks ago telling me they are not approving me for startup status based on their review of my website, which they see as "consulting" not a "startup." I led the nice man through the website, pointed out exactly what the business was about, he said he understood and said he would make notes and refer the case back to the approval folks. I've heard nothing since. As far as I know, I will lose my Fusion 360 startup account on November 1. I've already started saving my projects in STEP and IGES formats to my local computer.

I have a distinct feeling that instead of just my website they went through the data and projects I have stored on their cloud, which include a lot of sample and practice "projects" (quite a few from the Fusion 360 online resources) that I worked through as I was developing proficiency with their tools, as well as a few personal projects. Looking at all of that, it looks like I do a lot more than what my website talks about. It would be quite ironic if I lost my startup status simply because I was trying to learn to use their tools.

It seems that if I want to continue to use Fusion 360 I'll have to call them back and beg them to re-assess my startup application, change to the hobby version (losing phone/email support, team collaboration and commercial translators, but I use the last two almost daily) or bite the bullet and start paying for the full commercial version. I guess it's a good thing that it's on sale now for 37% off, and the nice man on the phone swore up and down it'll never be more for me than $310/yr... at least until they "redefine" something and change the rules again. One thing that sucks is that FEA (Fusion 360 calls it "simulation" and I use it a lot) is free on the cloud for startups but pay-as-you-go for the commercial version via "cloud credits."

[Black Forest]

Pushed in that direction by a client, I've got up to speed quickly with Fusion 360 (helps to have become proficient with 3 other systems in the past, most recently Solidworks) and have been using nearly all its features, and nearly exclusively, since March 2019. I've been operating under the free offer for startups making under $100k/yr since my business is exactly that - a spinoff/startup trying to commercialize some fairly esoteric intellectual property developed as part of a university research grant.

With this recent re-definition of the hobby/startup offers, I had to re-apply and re-qualify for the startup offer. I submitted my info again and got a call from F-360 a couple of weeks ago telling me they are not approving me for startup status based on their review of my website, which they see as "consulting" not a "startup." I led the nice man through the website, pointed out exactly what the business was about, he said he understood and said he would make notes and refer the case back to the approval folks. I've heard nothing since. As far as I know, I will lose my Fusion 360 startup account on November 1. I've already started saving my projects in STEP and IGES formats to my local computer.

I have a distinct feeling that instead of just my website they went through the data and projects I have stored on their cloud, which include a lot of sample and practice "projects" (quite a few from the Fusion 360 online resources) that I worked through as I was developing proficiency with their tools, as well as a few personal projects. Looking at all of that, it looks like I do a lot more than what my website talks about. It would be quite ironic if I lost my startup status simply because I was trying to learn to use their tools.

It seems that if I want to continue to use Fusion 360 I'll have to call them back and beg them to re-assess my startup application, change to the hobby version (losing phone/email support, team collaboration and commercial translators, but I use the last two almost daily) or bite the bullet and start paying for the full commercial version. I guess it's a good thing that it's on sale now for 37% off, and the nice man on the phone swore up and down it'll never be more for me than $310/yr... at least until they "redefine" something and change the rules again. One thing that sucks is that FEA (Fusion 360 calls it "simulation" and I use it a lot) is free on the cloud for startups but pay-as-you-go for the commercial version via "cloud credits."

If you are using it for business and the 300+ dollars is a deal breaker it would seem to me your business is not too healthy. Just pony up and get on with it. Penny wise pound foolish seems to apply here. Maybe not but the time you waste dicking around with trying to qualify and then exporting to use another package plus leaning and translating does not make good business sense. Use your time on profitable projects. Increase income.

[DrMike]

"Just pony up and get on with it... Use your time on profitable projects. Increase income."
I've never thought of business in such clear, simple and easily obtainable goals.
I've just been wasting my time and money dicking around instead of increasing income.

Thank you, Mr. Forest, for showing me the light and clearing my path forward.

[Black Forest]

"Just pony up and get on with it... Use your time on profitable projects. Increase income."
I've never thought of business in such clear, simple and easily obtainable goals.
I've just been wasting my time and money dicking around instead of increasing income.

Thank you, Mr. Forest, for showing me the light and clearing my path forward.

Glad I could be of help! I don't think I said anything about easily obtainable......I just said get on with it.

[Ken_Shea]

Come renew time for hobbyist and startup the unlimited cloud access for rendering and generative design studies will be gone (for all licenses).
I would no longer meet startup requirements at next renew time so I went for the $310 standalone as well, it's a bargain for the quality.and power, besides that I now feel free to complain

[enginuity]

$300 a year is dirt cheap - even for a hobby. I'm not that old but I remember the insane pricing on CAD software even 10 years ago. Aside from a few players most mid range CAD software started at $2000 per seat plus yearly subscription fees. This didn't include CAM / FEA etc. You want 3 / 4 axis CAM? Pony up.

I'm not a huge Autodesk cheerleader. In fact I prefer Solidworks and OnShape (OnShape is now PTC - Jon Hirschtick and Co pulled the same stunt they did with Solidworks when they sold it to Dassault). But Solidworks doesn't innovate anymore and just takes your money and redistributes to shareholders. At least Autodesk decided to innovate this time around.

[pinstripe]

$300 a year is dirt cheap...

That's the problem. They aren't charging what it's worth. I'm sure the pricing will always be reasonable for business customers, but it could get steep for a hobbyist.

[Ken_Shea]

That's the problem. They aren't charging what it's worth. I'm sure the pricing will always be reasonable for business customers, but it could get steep for a hobbyist.

It was mentioned earlier but till the 31st if you purchase the $310 standalone you can renew each year for the same amount as long a you continue to renew, miss a year then that's all gone. That's only $26 a month, I almost feel guilty...... NOT

[J Tiers]

And meanwhile, both versions of Alibre will work and stay legitimate even if you stop paying annual support...... although you would no longer get updates.

Not true of F 360, nor of Solidworks. F 360 is a rent-a-program, and SW terminates the license if you stop paying. (it might work still, but is not legit, and might get "killed" at any time.)

[enginuity]

And meanwhile, both versions of Alibre will work and stay legitimate even if you stop paying annual support...... although you would no longer get updates.

Not true of F 360, nor of Solidworks. F 360 is a rent-a-program, and SW terminates the license if you stop paying. (it might work still, but is not legit, and might get "killed" at any time.)

Alibre is great but I don't know of any decent CAM for it that is reasonably priced that touches the functionality of Fusion.

[loose nut]

, but it could get steep for a hobbyist.

What would be the point, hobbyists are not going to pay much, most can't justify it and will just leave. There are other options, including pirating a different product, that are available, maybe not as good but usable.By giving fusion away to people that can't or won't pay for it they build up a user base and good will in the market. Charging hobbyists will break that. .Just like Autocad back in the day, today's amateur user will pay Autodesk back in the future.

[pinstripe]

What would be the point, hobbyists are not going to pay much...

The "point" is to maximize profits. Why did they take away the import feature from hobbyists? For one, it makes it harder for non-hobbyists to keep using the free version. Secondly, some number of hobbyists like RB211 are now paying for something that was previously free. These users will feel locked in to some extent because they will lose their preferential pricing if they don't renew. I have heard from several people that are paying their F360 subscription just so they can keep their pricing. They aren't using it much, but they renew to avoid price increases.

Hobbyists will be collateral damage in Autodesk's pursuit of maximizing profits. To be clear, I have no problem with them chasing a profit. That is what they should do for their shareholders. It looks like a great package, but it's currently underpriced relative to the competition. It's also eating into the sales of their more expensive products to some extent.

[elf]

It's more likely the commercial users were abusing the use of the hobby license. This change will force more commercial users to honor their licenses.