One feature I discussed last summer in Preparing for 1.6, was the introduction of a true subscription version of Cartographica. Over the years, we've always provided the Student subscription (limited to up to 4 years and some other limits, such as one computer), but we've never offered subscription options for Cartographica to commercial customers.

Since the software industry in general is moving in that direction, I'm announcing that as of today, Cartographica will also be available as a subscription. Note: if you have an existing Perpetual subscription, nothing changes for you. Perpetual licenses are just that: a perpetual license to the version you have at the time your support expires.

Does this mean I must buy Cartographica via subscription? No, not if you have a perpetual license today, and not unless something changes in the future. The current plan is to offer both Perpetual and Subscription licenses of Cartographica.

How do the different licenses work, then? As of the time of publication, the purchase prices and benefits are as stated below. These are subject to change, so please check the Cartographica site for the latest information.

For Perpetual licenses, you pay a larger up-front fee and pay a smaller maintenance fee on an annual basis. During the time that you have active maintenance (the first year is included with the purchase), you will receive support and upgrades to the software and you will have access to services that are provided as part of Cartographica Services (which services may change from time-to-time). When you are no longer on active maintenance, the software at the version that was available when your maintenance expired will continue to be available to you. Any associated Cartographica Services will no longer be available, and you will not receive future updates. There is also no guarantee that the software that you have will continue to work on future versions of the OS.

For Subscription licenses, you will pay a smaller fee at the start of each period and that fee will provide access to the most recent versions of the software available, including all upgrades made available during this period. In addition, any services provided as part of Cartographica Services will also be available to subscription users (although there may be differences in the limits based on the length of the subscription).

One additional item to note: going forward existing customers with perpetual licenses will be expected to keep those licenses up to date through maintenance. This means that if you let your maintenance lapse for a year and decide to renew, you'll need to pay for two years of maintenance to be up-to-date. This process was announced in June of 2021, but if you believe you need some dispensation on this front, please reach out to our Support.