The Betrayal : the new Chaos price list.

[zules]

​Hi there,
i'm using Corona for years now, and feel betrayed about new Chaos price list.

I was affraid when Chaos bought Render Legion to see a monopolistic company emerged from this acquisition. I'm not disappointed.

What else than a monopolistic company can increase its price from 88% in a single email ?

Yes +88% : from 418.80€ a year for 1 WS + 3 nodes licence, to 787.68€ in Premium + 2 nodes now.

So +88% for less.

When I see the home page of Corona : "affordable".

Are you kidding ? You are anything but affordable.

And what did we get for this increase ?

Chaos Cosmos that helps but with hundreds of bad models from Enscape without any use for high quality rendering.
Chaos Phenix, I dont need it
Chaos Player neither
​Chaos Scans I never used and mostly never will.

All I need is an affordable render to run on 1 workstation + 2 nodes I bough years ago.
As a freelancer for a decade now, life can be hard and you don't help anymore. I feel so betrayed.

We can say that Central Europe is now as capitalistic as US : congrats guys.​

[TomG]

If you have a Premium +3 nodes license from keeping a subscription active from before Corona 8, while the price changes to the new Premium price, you do still have the +3 render nodes. So long as the subscription renews without interruption, those +3 nodes stay there, even if the price of the Premium changes.

[zules]

Ok, good to know for me the time being (how long...) but it doesnt change the fact and the abuse of dominant position that Chaos demonstrate.

[handz]

Chaos is the worst thing that happened to Corona, they already made the Corona unusable for hobby / occasional users, when they rised the price ridiculously some time ago now they doing it again. This is horrible, I have a full Adobe software line for what Corona cost monthly.

[zules]

Yes I totally agree...

[M00NC4T]

This is my second year using Corona, Ill admit for what Im getting (compared to say Adobe Suite) the price is ridiculous. Given this information about an 88% increase I dont find it suprising in the slightest. Im fortunate that Ive only a few scenes that use Corona as Im essentially a hobbyist myself . . . if anyone could suggest an alternative practical for architectural use it would be useful information.

[TomG]

There shouldn't be an 88% price increase except in one particular scenario. This figure would only be true in one specific case - you once had Corona 7 with 3 free render nodes, which you cancelled, and now you return, as the render nodes are no longer free. (But they did stay free if you did not cancel your license and it's been running since before Corona 8).

Also as a note even then most of that price increase would have been true 2 years ago with the release of Corona 8, when free render nodes were discontinued. The difference between Corona + 2 render nodes in 2022 and Corona + 2 render nodes in 2024 with the latest price change is also nowhere near an 88% price increase.

So most users are not seeing anything near as dramatic as an 88% price increase.

EDIT - also this is only true if you choose Premium, which includes Phoenix and more, which were not included in the Corona 7 and earlier licenses and had to be purchased separately. So the 88% increase is not comparing apples to apples. There is still the Solo license, which is much more like what the old Corona 7 and earlier licenses were.

[dj_buckley]

There shouldn't be an 88% price increase except in one particular scenario. This figure would only be true in one specific case - you once had Corona 7 with 3 free render nodes, which you cancelled, and now you return, as the render nodes are no longer free. (But they did stay free if you did not cancel your license and it's been running since before Corona 8).

Also as a note even then most of that price increase would have been true 2 years ago with the release of Corona 8, when free render nodes were discontinued. The difference between Corona + 2 render nodes in 2022 and Corona + 2 render nodes in 2024 with the latest price change is also nowhere near an 88% price increase.

So most users are not seeing anything near as dramatic as an 88% price increase.

EDIT - also this is only true if you choose Premium, which includes Phoenix and more, which were not included in the Corona 7 and earlier licenses and had to be purchased separately. So the 88% increase is not comparing apples to apples. There is still the Solo license, which is much more like what the old Corona 7 and earlier licenses were.

You're missing a few points here Tom.  The average freelancer doesn't need the software 24/7 365.  Their income is sporadic as is their workload.  So the whole allure of monthly was that you could drop it and pick it up again as and when you needed it at an affordable price point.  But if the response is "you cancelled so blame yourself for losing out" it kinda defeats the object of the rolling monthly subscription in the first place.

I'm pretty sure I did an exact apples for apples comparison of the price increase in another thread and it was over 1000% in the last 24 months - don't fact check me on this

The other point that weighs heavily for freelancers is that they can work from anywhere, they're not 'node locked' by nature, but Chaos have gone and made Solo node locked.  The floating licence element of our older subscriptions was a major element that you haven't addressed at all.  This forced a lot of us to choose Premium over Solo.

So let's really compare apples with apples.

Monthly Corona Floating License + 3 Render Nodes

October 2022 = 30 Euros a month

March 2024 = 259.86 Euros a month

That is a 766.2% increase in the space of 17 months however you decide to look at it.

Yes that is for that specific scenario but either way it's still obscene.

By way of comparison - 3DS Max Indie costs 420 euros for an entire year.

Can you imagine if you went and did your monthly shop in October 2022 and it cost for example, 1000 euros, then you decided not to shop there for a few months, and when you went back in in March 2024 and bought the exact same things, the cashier tells you the total is 7666 euros.  You'd lose your mind or laugh in their face and walk out leaving your shopping on the conveyor belt.

[Freakaz]

So most users are not seeing anything near as dramatic as an 88% price increase.

For day one users (like myself) price went from 24,99 per month (VAT inc,) to 42,38 eu per month (price is pre february rise) (VAT inc), without any cancelations, that's roughly 70% increase starting from februray the price will be 45.86 (VAT inc) that's 83.50 % increase. So the most old users who has been with corona from the start are seeing a dramatic price increase.

EDIT - also this is only true if you choose Premium, which includes Phoenix and more, which were not included in the Corona 7 and earlier licenses and had to be purchased separately. So the 88% increase is not comparing apples to apples. There is still the Solo license, which is much more like what the old Corona 7 and earlier licenses were.

Don't forget that by chosing SOLO you lose esential features like floating licence + your old render nodes. For some of the users Phoenix and other chaos bloatware is a useless stuff used as an excusse to increase the price. Even chosing the solo at current price rate is ~45% more expensive with less benefits.
 

[TomG]

Still not apples to apples, as you would have had to pay for Phoenix, Scans, and Player separately back in 2022 if you are comparing to Premium, or you'd have to look at Solo pricing today. And as noted, few people use render nodes - maybe a higher percentage here on the forums where users are more dedicated and "hardcore", but usage and purchase stats show nodes are not used by the majority; so these are not comparisons across the board for every user and most people do not see anything close to this kind of price change.

[dj_buckley]

I'm literally comparing what I paid in October 2022, to what I would have to pay today if I wanted the same thing.  Phoenix, Scans and all that nonsense that nobody asked for is no longer optional.  But I have to buy premium if I want the floating licence so, whether or not it comes with all the bloatware isn't our doing.

And this is the problem.  You're forcing us to pay for stuff we don't want/need.  How many people were using Phoenix, Scans, Cosmos etc before hand?

I have to compare to Premium because there's no alternative to get the floating licences.

I'll go back to my shopping analogy.  You're shopping is now 7666 euros, you're horrified, but the cashier tells you "but we've included a bundle of car cleaning equipment previously worth X amount and a new BBQ that you would have had to pay for separately last time you came in" the problem is you don't drive or own a car and you live in a studio apartment.  Do you just go, oh excellent, they're really useful to me so I'm happy to pay the extra?

[dj_buckley]

or you'd have to look at Solo pricing today.

Please send me a link to an option to purchase solo with a floating licence