It's True - There Will Be No Capture One Pro 24
The end of perpetual licenses for C1P
Over the last 24 hours, the number one question I’ve received is, “What do you think about the Capture One news?” My answer, “I’m not a fan.”
We’ll get the final details about the changes on Feb. 1, 2023, but essentially the news is that Capture One Pro is moving to an all-subscription model. Owners of a perpetual license for C1P 23 (that would include me) will receive full updates until Sept. 30, 2023. After that, it’s either just bug-fix updates or move over to the new loyalty scheme, which is the beginning of subscription-only for the app.
This puts many C1P users in an uncomfortable position. The migration to this software was in part fueled by two annoying events. The first being that Apple discontinued Aperture, and the second was Adobe pushing subscriptions for Lightroom and Photoshop.
Capture One looked like a reasonable alternative to both of these situations. But as it’s turning out, we’re all back in the pay-as-you-go boat. Let’s take a peek at the two plans based on today’s pricing.
Now, if you compare pricing plans, Adobe is looking pretty darn good. Their monthly subscription is less per month and includes more.
Adobe still offers the basic Photography Plan that includes Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop (desktop), Photoshop (iPad), Lightroom Mobile, Adobe Portfolio, and 20 GBs of storage. In terms of software horsepower, that’s high octane.
Plus, going back to Capture One pricing, if you want the iPad app (which is nice), that’s another $4.99 a month on top of the $24 you’re already paying.
If you migrated to Capture One Pro from Lightroom to escape the evil empire, guess what, (at the risk of mixing metaphors), “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Or maybe even worse.
Because of the work I do, I have the basic Adobe Photography Plan, Capture One Pro perpetual license, ON1 Suite, and Photos for macOS. Adobe has not raised the price of their plan since its introduction. And to be honest, I think it’s a good value.
I’m not so sure I will be saying the same thing about Capture One Pro on February 2.
Thanks Derick for this. Unfortunately I think you may be right. My journey is the same as yours: absolutely loved Aperture, then brief switch to Lightroom but not liking the subscription model and then found my ultimate powerful solution with Capture One. Switched at the time it was version 9. Guess we’ll learn more what Capture One/Phase One have in mind on future pricing structures. Not looking good … their software always been expensive but worth it. I certainly hope it’ll not to a take or leave it option only. Thanks for an awesome podcast.
Given Adobe subscriptions are $10/mo, looks like this will all but kill new business for Capture One.