Discussion of Owned vs Leased Licences, which is better?

Alok-Sharma wrote on 6/13/2021, 12:02 PM

This could be a very interesting discussion where we compare Owned vs Leased licences, as both have their own pros and cons.

But I would particularly put more emphasis on how often the software updates/upgrades (including both minor & major) are released. Minor updates typically focus on fixing broken things, bugs etc, whereas major updates focuses on new features, enhancements & functionalities.

Assuming the following pricing:

Owned licence:
- New - $299
- Upgrade - $199

Leased licence:
- Annual commitment (paid yearly) - $19.99/mo ($239.88/yr)
- Annual commitment (paid monthly) - $20.99/mo ($251.88/yr)
- Month-to-month (paid monthly) - $23.99/mo ($287.88/yr)

Considering that major updates / upgrades are released once a year, owned licences are relatively still cheaper (except for the 1st purchase) than leased licences.

Besides, it's also up to the user whether they wish to upgrade or not. For e.g. in my case, the type of work I would be doing would easily suffice with the current version, so I may not have to upgrade to a higher version for at least a year or two or even three.

And even if a user considers upgrading to the higher version, they will still save $40, $50 & $90 with regard to the various subscriptions respectively.

On the other hand, leased or subscription based models work best for those who are low of budget and/or do not wish to block their funds on just one piece of software. The only two advantages they have over owned licences is that 1) their software is always up-to-date with all the new features, enhancements and functionalities; and 2) they have full control of their budget.

However, one thing is to be noted that leased licence will work as long as the subscription is active whereas owned licences will continue to work for the rest of the life or until the time they are no longer supported by the future operating system and/or hardware, but that would take at least 15+ years, plus forward compatibility is rarely an issue. It is no fact that today also many users are still using age-old software programs, and they are quite happy with it. And then we also have certain users who are still using Windows XP or Windows 7.

So at the end, it all comes down to ones personal preferences, requirements and budget.

I hope this discussion and the comments of the community members will make it easy for the new users to make a wise decision.

Comments

vkmast wrote on 6/13/2021, 12:21 PM

Please remember that in VEGAS Speak, updates of a version are always free and seem to come several times a year. Upgrades (new versions) seem to come annually and cost you if you have a perpetual license.

Former user wrote on 6/13/2021, 2:14 PM

I don't like the idea that if I stop the lease on my software, I can no longer open any previous projects. I prefer to stay with an older version rather than lose it all.

Alok-Sharma wrote on 6/14/2021, 2:15 AM

Please remember that in VEGAS Speak, updates of a version are always free and seem to come several times a year. Upgrades (new versions) seem to come annually and cost you if you have a perpetual license.

Is Vegas Speak yet another product from Magix?

Alok-Sharma wrote on 6/14/2021, 2:20 AM

I don't like the idea that if I stop the lease on my software, I can no longer open any previous projects. I prefer to stay with an older version rather than lose it all.

Precisely, and assuming that a user paid the subscription for 2 years (which comes to $480), and then for some reason, stopped the subscription, then this $480 is a complete loss.

With an owned licence, even if a user hasn't upgraded in 2 years, they still have something which is fully functional.

vkmast wrote on 6/14/2021, 3:36 AM

@Alok-Sharma wrote: Is Vegas Speak yet another product from Magix?

No. By "VEGAS Speak" I mean the terminology used by the company, in this case "update" vs. upgrade". An earlier example in this comment.

Alok-Sharma wrote on 6/14/2021, 3:42 AM

No. By "VEGAS Speak" I mean the terminology used by the company, in this case "update" vs. upgrade".

Oh, I got it.

Of course, updates are normally free but are limited to the current version only, for e.g. 18. Once a new version is rolled out, for e.g. 19, any future updates will be released for version 19 only and so on.

However, users of the leased licences never have to worry about upgraded as it is already included in their subscription.

vkmast wrote on 6/14/2021, 3:59 AM

You're right, but to avoid confusion it's important to note that VEGAS "updates" are new builds of a version.

Alok-Sharma wrote on 6/14/2021, 4:42 AM

Sure, I get your point.