Corona Subscription Update by CHAOS

[Peter A.]

Hello,

Just got an email from Chaos Support with notification of Corona Subscription changes.
This is a bit confusing, stating that I will get one month of some Corona Premium for current price of 24,99 Eur (excl tax). After that, they say I will be charged 59,90 Eur (excluding tax).

I do not plan to pay double price, as we were told that price for long-term users will not change until we cancel current subscription.

Also, there is an offer of Corona Solo sub. plan (license fixed to one computer), but there is no info about pricing. I also cannot see anything about it in my account overview.

In general, a lot is happening with Corona but the process is CHAOS. Can somebody clarify the situation?

Thank you in advance.

Peter

[iPeg]

As a long time user of more than 5+ years I immediately logged in an cancelled my subscription.

I had to pay the 30+€ previously out of my own Pocket (even though I use Corona at work) I'm not going to 60+€ per Month. I was very close to switching to Blender and free renderers anyways and this just pushed me over the edge.

[smokeyzi]

from 29.99€ to 59.90€ ! it's not very respectable to change us without our agreement on an offer twice as expensive... You offer us 1 month at 29.9€ in order to hope that we forget to change our offer?

Please do something for indie users we can't pay this price !

[ceasare]

I was allready paying €50 a month and also wondered what made the price increase from €20 to €50 after Chaos took Corona Renderer.
I think it is a shame that almost all software is now on subscription base.
Last month I cancelled my Adobe subscription and bought the Affinity packages and Davinci Resolve. This one time payment equals a 7 month subscription to Adobe. After these 7 months I can think about upgrading my hardware instead of continuously installing updates that gradually gets slower with each release.
Considered switching to another renderer but I am so hooked to Corona for its easy setup and I use it in almost any project so I just have to stick to it.

I do like the addition of Phoenix, Player and Scans but I did not really ask for this huge price increase
I will give it a spin for a few months and think will eventually be switching to Corona-solo if this still supports my tiny four computer renderfarm.

Ceasare

[JanoD]

Hello Corona Team,
I would also like to get more info as the obtained email is quite confusing. I don't need the Premium licence as I do not use Cinema4D, Cosmos and also any of the other new additions.
There is no info about the solo license. I would like to ask if the at least one render node is included in the solo model, or do I have to buy two solo licences for the purpose of adding a render node?

PS: Also I would like to mention, that I keeping fingers crossed to Corona renderer from the first testrenders on Maxarea forum and I was happy to see what a great product it became. It perfectly fit my needs, and I think lot of indie and small scale creators were happy as well. I also understand, that development has it's price, and there is also the economy crisis as well,  so the 25% price increase after acquisition was still ok. But the nowadays politics of companies to add the features I don´t need (not talking about other creator needs, but I already have a massive library of models I have built/bought, own scatter solutions, cloud services etc. ) and to increase the price in the same time, most often without possibility of of other suitable options makes me quite sad. Same goes with the Substance painter, 3D&CAD programs etc. But I guess it´s a trend these days we have to pay...

PS2: Also wondering how this will affects the renderfarms prices

Thank you in advance for the reply regarding my question.

Jan

[Ondra]

Hi,
we are in the middle of a release and the emails were sent in wrong order. While the Premium subscription with Phoenix/Scans/Player is more expensive, there is also Solo with just Corona for €322.80/year. Legacy monthly users (who pay monthly without interruption and were able to keep the old prices) can switch to yearly payments, which is essentially the same for them (they are subscribed without interruption), just 1 yearly payment instead of 12 monthly. You should get the rest of the information about plans and your options today.

[PROH]

Really confusing!
First I got an email telling me, that my subscription has changed, but the prize is the same. Then 1 and a half hour later, I got an email telling me that my prize is gone up, and now Ondra says something I don't fully understand...
What's going on? Could we please be correctly informed in a way that can't be misunderstood.
Thanks.

[TomG]

For now, see (link removed as it was just temporary to inform people of what was happening during the site and product wide updates) - can't get the full picture til all the information is out (and as Ondra noted, due to some things we couldn't control, the sequence of things going out was not as we wanted, which is why it seems confusing, sorry)

[Peter A.]

For now, see (link removed as it was just temporary to inform people of what was happening during the site and product wide updates) - can't get the full picture til all the information is out (and as Ondra noted, due to some things we couldn't control, the sequence of things going out was not as we wanted, which is why it seems confusing, sorry)

Thank you Tom! Glad to have you here!

[TomG]

You are welcome! Please bear with us, excuse our dust, and all those humorous signs you see at building sites ;)

[JanoD]

Thank you all for bringing more light into this. Godspeed with C9, looking forward to it!

[loomen]

Will the solo license we have now still have access to cosmos? Also do we need to change it from premium to solo manually? I am just worried I will end up paying $70 dollars on my next bill!

[Ondra]

Solo comes with Cosmos, yes. You will have to contact our support to change the plan from Premium into Solo

[loomen]

Thanks Ondra,

This had me worried for a bit, but glad I can still continue with the solo plan+cosmos.

[TomG]

There is also at least 30 days before any charge comes in at the new pricing, so that everyone has time to make a considered decision - we're still working through getting all the info out to everyone :)

[grantcpuk]

The link "https://corona-renderer.com/news/corona-licenses-updates" doesn't seem to be working anymore?

The email we received was very unclear on how this would be affecting all of our license and the pricing seems a little concerning.

Right now we are paying €30/m for 6 workstation licenses and 25 node licenses so a clear picture on how licencese will be affected is desperately needed.

Generally not very pleased about the communication so far!

Thanks,
Grant

[TomG]

If you have specific questions, best thing is to contact the support team who can see exactly what kind of licenses you have and answer any questions you have on what is changing. support.chaos.com/requests/new is the place for that.

There should be an email that details what you will pay next renewal, and the renewal after that (everyone has at least 30 days before anything is charged at the new rate), and what happens to nodes kept from FairSaaS, etc. But specifics are best handled directly so we can see what you have, and hear what specific questions you have, and give you specific answers.

[TomG]

Now that the release is out, you should have full details by email of when you would see a new price, plus the website now has the details of Solo/Premium/Annual/Monthly (as your email will only have given you specifics about what you HAVE, not all the other options available, but now you can see those with everything updated), and the FAQ has details of questions such as the differences between Solo and Premium, etc.

https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/categories/360003671518-FAQ
https://corona-renderer.com/prices-licensing

And you are always welcome to ask specific questions, we suggest support.chaos.com/requests/new as the team there can look at your specific licenses and situation, but we can do our best here too of course.

[Benny]

Is there any thinking going forward for us using both Vray and Corona? I have the Vray Premium so I'm already paying for Phoenix and Scans and just need Corona, ideally in that bundle.

Also, who sees a value in getting versions for bot 3ds Max and Cinema 4D? I can see people using different renderers (like I am) but using different modeling tools?

[ceasare]

I am now installing Corona 9.  Can we still use 3 renderslaves on one premium or solo Corona subscription or are these nodes removed now?

Best regards, Ceasare

[MarkusB.]

The biggest bummer is, that you now have to pay for rendnodes.

Corona WS + 5 Rendernodes was 349,- . Now it is Corona Solo (322,80 ) plus 538,80 for the rendernodes. Thats an increase from 349,- to 861,60! Or did I missed something. ( I am not talking about the granted offer for longerterm user).

As Corona and Vray is one family, I really hoped, that AT LEAST, when I have to pay for rendernodes now, the rendernodes are usable for corona AND vray !!!

And as Benny said, do we get any bundles vray/corona, as with the premium versions, we have to pay twice for some products ?

Or does the corona Chaos Scans gives access to the vray Chaos Scans too?

Lots if unanswered questions in my eyes.....

[triget]

Another price increase. This is all going in the wrong direction. Render nodes to be bought separately, so that there is an impression that the price has not changed. It feels like Chaos Corona, not good old Corona....

[philipbonum]

Hmm, I can understand a price jump because of the general way of things these days, plus Chaos Cosmos included. But a 44% increase is quite alot (From 289,99EUR to 418,80EUR)
And this is only if I keep paying every year, or else we're talking an increase that's just wild(Solo + rendernode pricing)

I think an open dialogue and breakdown/reasoning behind this decision would be welcomed. Seems like we're getting the short end of the stick right now.

[Peter A.]

Hmm, I can understand a price jump because of the general way of things these days, plus Chaos Cosmos included. But a 44% increase is quite alot (From 289,99EUR to 418,80EUR)
And this is only if I keep paying every year, or else we're talking an increase that's just wild(Solo + rendernode pricing)

I think an open dialogue and breakdown/reasoning behind this decision would be welcomed. Seems like we're getting the short end of the stick right now.

Very well said!

[ceasare]

Corona will be dropped within two years by Chaosgroup if you ask me. I've seen these things before with great tools being bought by bigger company's.
(Canoma, softimage.......)
The sheer fact that Corona isn't even mentioned on the landing page of chaos.com is a proof of that to me.

I will finish a commercial project that I am working on right now within the last discounted month of Corona Premium and will have to look for alternatives in the meantime.
I will abandon this sinking ship and my main reason is the drop of the rendernodes in the main license.
If Chaosgroup left the nodes in I could have had a choice for solo and would understand, and could also live with, the price increase.
But now my cute little renderfarm of three computers turn out to be useless....

[TomG]

For clarity on the Render Nodes, nothing has changed here - extra render nodes were dropped with the release of Corona 8, not with Corona 9, so it's been this way since April. That is, unless you were an existing user before Corona 8 in which case you got to keep whatever render nodes you used to have, and you still get to keep those with Corona 9 too so long as your Premium subscription remains renewed.

[TomG]

On Chaos Scans, a Chaos Scans license is a Chaos Scans license and not tied to a particular render engine - this means if you own a Scans license from V-Ray Premium, it will work with Corona, and if you own a Scans license from Corona Premium, it will work with V-Ray. Same with Phoenix, and Player :)

[TomG]

No plans for Corona to be dropped - bear in mind that it's now been 5 years since we joined forces with Chaos Group. Companies that buy-in-order-to-discontinue do not invest 5 years of money into a product, nor allow that product to keep developing at the rate we've been developing ;)

There are other reasons why the websites aren't merged, it's something we consider doing now and then but it's not been the right time so far, and certain problems with doing that (for our users) have not been resolved, and so we've opted to keep the sites separate for now. Of course if the websites DID merge, people would then use this as a sign that Chaos is going to drop Corona ;)

[TomG]

And on the reasoning for the new prices, the prices of all products was carefully selected based on the challenges faced by businesses in the current economic climate.

[MarkusB.]

On Chaos Scans, a Chaos Scans license is a Chaos Scans license and not tied to a particular render engine - this means if you own a Scans license from V-Ray Premium, it will work with Corona, and if you own a Scans license from Corona Premium, it will work with V-Ray. Same with Phoenix, and Player :)

Thats good to know. However, a corona/vray bundle would be nice, as I think, there people like me, who own and use both.
Also, as I wrote above, a unified CHAOS RENDERNODE would be good, but I know, you would make less money :-P

[TomG]

Well, Corona Render Nodes are less expensive than V-Ray ones, so a combined one wouldn't be about us making less money, it would be about our users paying more money ;)

[ceasare]

For clarity on the Render Nodes, nothing has changed here - extra render nodes were dropped with the release of Corona 8, not with Corona 9, so it's been this way since April. That is, unless you were an existing user before Corona 8 in which case you got to keep whatever render nodes you used to have, and you still get to keep those with Corona 9 too so long as your Premium subscription remains renewed.

Ok, sorry for not noticing ;-)  I am a Corona user since Alpha but I had some payment issues in the last few months so I had to subscribe again and this could be the main reason for the absence of the nodes...  I don't render everyday
And I surely don't want to throw with mud about the pricing, cause I still think Corona renderer is the best I can get and you managed to make fast improvements with every version.
But in these days of crisis I already stopped my subscription of Adobe and switched to Resolve and Affinity...
I will give premium a spin first and consider going to solo.  One question though: how to get access to Chaos Scans?

[TomG]

For Scans, the license is included, and there's no separate installation. To access it just add a Scanned Material (C4D) or a CoronaScannedMtl (Max), head to the Scans web page (there's a link in the material), download the vrscan you want, and load that into the material. Tutorial coming soon too, should be sometime this week. Let us know if you have any other questions before we get that intro tutorial out :)

[Jpjapers]

If my current license is an old Fair SAAS license, what tier is that equivalent to in the new licensing? Do i need to contact support to access Phoenix etc?

[TomG]

If my current license is an old Fair SAAS license, what tier is that equivalent to in the new licensing? Do i need to contact support to access Phoenix etc?

Everyone is moved over to Premium to begin with, so right now everyone has everything. Only if they opt to swap to Solo will they lose access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player. If you were an old FairSaaS user, and kept your subscription active since then (through Corona 8 etc), then you also still have your render nodes. You'll have at least 30 days to decide if Premium is the right fit for you before any charge at the new pricing appears, so plenty of time to try out the new goodies! As a note, to keep the FairSaaS render nodes, you would have to continue with your Premium subscription specifically. Hope that helps!

[DBK]

Correct that if you have an existing subscription, and keep it renewing, you keep the same render nodes (and pricing) that you currently have.

Our current long term plan is to keep the same price level we had from the beginning. We will observe how the details we are now changing work, and they might be adjusted based on these observations. So it is highly unlikely that you would see any dramatic changes soon, but we cannot predict what the future holds.

Last famous words? (>_____<‘)


https://blog.corona-renderer.com/corona-in-2022-new-features-visuals-licensing-and-more/


“All existing subscriptions (monthly and yearly) continue without any changes
If you have an active Corona subscription (or start one before the release of Corona 8) then we will not unilaterally change it — so nothing will change for you, unless you explicitly ask us to make a change. Your subscription will continue with the same conditions for as long as you keep it active, and will even include the new additions such as Chaos Scatter, Chaos Cosmos, etc.”
“Existing subscriptions Pricing, terms, bundled render nodes stay the same”


I suppose all this is no longer true?
Tom I also have an old FAIRSAAS, (annual, expiring February 7, 2023) according to the information received if my subscription is not interrupted (renewed), I will keep my prices (217,49 + tax, 234,24 Eur, 1ws + 3 nodes)

Everyone is moved over to Premium to begin with, so right now everyone has everything. Only if they opt to swap to Solo will they lose access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player. If you were an old FairSaaS user, and kept your subscription active since then (through Corona 8 etc), then you also still have your render nodes. You'll have at least 30 days to decide if Premium is the right fit for you before any charge at the new pricing appears, so plenty of time to try out the new goodies! As a note, to keep the FairSaaS render nodes, you would have to continue with your Premium subscription specifically. Hope that helps!

Can you please tell me if my plan and pricing is going to change and when?

My pricing and plan will not change unless I explicitly ask you to make a change?

I will have at least 30 days to explicitly “ask” you to make a change and then sit and watch my annual fee go Boom?


Thanks for all the info (but not for the fish).
Edited Font size ^^.

[TomG]

That was a really tiny font, hard to read :(

Yes, the information was plans were staying the same with the launch of Corona 8, describing what was happening then. But as you quoted, we couldn't predict what the future would hold, and nobody could have predicted how 2022 worked out.

Can you please tell me if my plan and pricing is going to change and when?
Yes, everyone's plan has already changed to Premium, with access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player. When your pricing will change will depend on several things, but there is at least 30 days before prices change, so e.g. if you are monthly then your next renewal will be at the same price as before, even though you already have all the benefits of Premium, then the renewal after that at the new pricing. When this price changes was detailed in an email sent to all customers, with the details specific to their situation.

My pricing and plan will not change unless I explicitly ask you to make a change?
No, everyone's plan has already changed, and everyone's pricing will change to one of the new Solo/Premium/Monthly/Annual prices as shown on the website.

I will have at least 30 days to explicitly “ask” you to make a change and then sit and watch my annual fee go Boom?
No, as noted, pricing will change. You have that time to decide, for example, that Solo is all you need and you can get in touch to ask us to move you from Premium to Solo so that when the next charge comes in at the new pricing, it will be for the Solo tier. Or you can not ask us to change things, and you will stay on Premium and then be renewed at the Premium pricing (when that kicks in, is detailed in the email sent to you).

Hope that helps clarify things!

[TomG]

PS I will also add the other info, which has already been mentioned, that free render nodes from FairSaaS (if you have them) are still maintained, so long as your Premium subscription continues uninterrupted.

[PROH]

It's sad to be forced to pay an extreme extra amount without any warning (30 days is worthless compared to the pricehike).

I can't remember any other situation where I have felt so screwed over as now - and that's comming from the Corona team - who had a reputation of beeing userfriendly and fair.

It's not only Chaos who's having a hard time now - it's also their users.

I don't like this at all, and find it totally unacceptable.

[user116]

It's sad to be forced to pay an extreme extra amount without any warning (30 days is worthless compared to the pricehike).

I can't remember any other situation where I have felt so screwed over as now - and that's comming from the Corona team - who had a reputation of beeing userfriendly and fair.

It's not only Chaos who's having a hard time now - it's also their users.

I don't like this at all, and find it totally unacceptable.

Default moving everyone to premium plan is one thing, world-wide economic situation is another thing where inflation is spiraling.

While I do understand that people are upset about the price hike, Corona team runs a company not a foundation and this means it needs to be profitable and also has to struggle with higher running costs such as rents, salaries etc. You should probably take this into consideration.

[DBK]

That was a really tiny font, hard to read :(

Yes, the information was plans were staying the same with the launch of Corona 8, describing what was happening then. But as you quoted, we couldn't predict what the future would hold, and nobody could have predicted how 2022 worked out.

Can you please tell me if my plan and pricing is going to change and when?
Yes, everyone's plan has already changed to Premium, with access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player. When your pricing will change will depend on several things, but there is at least 30 days before prices change, so e.g. if you are monthly then your next renewal will be at the same price as before, even though you already have all the benefits of Premium, then the renewal after that at the new pricing. When this price changes was detailed in an email sent to all customers, with the details specific to their situation.

Thank you Tom, i edited the font size.
The thing is, the only email I received is from Chaos announcing that Corona 9 was out, nothing personal or about price jump.
I already paid my subscription in February 2022 (expiring date February 7, 2023).
Phoenix is not available for me (yes .c4d user, sorry for the intrusion), but I will have the same price as those who can use it..
I'm unable to check out Chaos Scans because "Missing license for Chaos Scans materials. For more information contact our support." (Cinema 4D 2023).
I can't try Chaos Player because "Chaos Player was unable to find a License"In the license server I only have those related to corona.

I'm probably not premium enough.
I know that Solo is cool and Premium is even cooler, but personally I would have preferred FAIR ;).
Btw I have yet to warn my clients that I could not have predicted the coming of 2022, maybe I can take some tips from here, I doubt though that I will be able to increase my prices by 50% (or 100% if they want some premium content) so easily (^___^')..

Anyway, while I'm waiting, congrats on the new features!
 

[TomG]

Oh something is not right there, with you not receiving the email notifications, and not having those licenses. I know it's an inconvenience, but can I ask you to head to https://support.chaos.com/requests/new and submit a ticket? Let them know the email address your license is under, and then they can look into your account and see what is happening, as you should have those licenses now, and should have received an email detailing what was happening and not just the release newsletter.

TY for the congrats on the new features, and we'd like to get you up and running with the other new features like Scans and Player too. With your renewal being Feb 2023, you should have access to those all the way up until then on Premium without any extra cost, as only at your renewal will things be on the new pricing.

[DBK]

Oh something is not right there, with you not receiving the email notifications, and not having those licenses. I know it's an inconvenience, but can I ask you to head to https://support.chaos.com/requests/new and submit a ticket? Let them know the email address your license is under, and then they can look into your account and see what is happening, as you should have those licenses now, and should have received an email detailing what was happening and not just the release newsletter.

TY for the congrats on the new features, and we'd like to get you up and running with the other new features like Scans and Player too. With your renewal being Feb 2023, you should have access to those all the way up until then on Premium without any extra cost, as only at your renewal will things be on the new pricing.

Done, Id #62141

[TomG]

Thank you, sorry for the extra step, but that gets the info to those who can see behind the scenes and sort things out. Thanks for your patience!

[maru]

Done, Id #62141

Thanks, I can see your support ticket and will make sure it is properly resolved.

[maru]

Oh something is not right there, with you not receiving the email notifications, and not having those licenses. I know it's an inconvenience, but can I ask you to head to https://support.chaos.com/requests/new and submit a ticket? Let them know the email address your license is under, and then they can look into your account and see what is happening, as you should have those licenses now, and should have received an email detailing what was happening and not just the release newsletter.

TY for the congrats on the new features, and we'd like to get you up and running with the other new features like Scans and Player too. With your renewal being Feb 2023, you should have access to those all the way up until then on Premium without any extra cost, as only at your renewal will things be on the new pricing.

Done, Id #62141

Please confirm here or in the support ticket whether everything is working fine for you now.

Update: confirmed, issue resolved.

[Jpjapers]

If my current license is an old Fair SAAS license, what tier is that equivalent to in the new licensing? Do i need to contact support to access Phoenix etc?

Everyone is moved over to Premium to begin with, so right now everyone has everything. Only if they opt to swap to Solo will they lose access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player. If you were an old FairSaaS user, and kept your subscription active since then (through Corona 8 etc), then you also still have your render nodes. You'll have at least 30 days to decide if Premium is the right fit for you before any charge at the new pricing appears, so plenty of time to try out the new goodies! As a note, to keep the FairSaaS render nodes, you would have to continue with your Premium subscription specifically. Hope that helps!

Perfect thank Tom. Im more than happy to keep the premium for the added benefits. However will users that have been grandfathered in need to pay annually to retain what i would call 'sensible pricing' or are we automatically going to be charged what i would refer to as 'a ridiculous premium for the privilege of paying monthly'?

I wholeheartedly understand the need for a price increase. But the disparity between the monthly premium and annual premium is insane. Id much rather sign a 12 month subscription and pay monthly, which guarantees the same income, than have to pay 12 months in one go.

[Luke]

PS I will also add the other info, which has already been mentioned, that free render nodes from FairSaaS (if you have them) are still maintained, so long as your Premium subscription continues uninterrupted.

So in order to maintain the current FairSaas subscription inclusions, being one (floating?) licence and 3 render nodes we have to pay more than double €24.99 -> €59.90?

[Jpjapers]

PS I will also add the other info, which has already been mentioned, that free render nodes from FairSaaS (if you have them) are still maintained, so long as your Premium subscription continues uninterrupted.

So in order to maintain the current FairSaas subscription inclusions, being one (floating?) licence and 3 render nodes we have to pay more than double €24.99 -> €59.90?

Either that or pay annually which makes it a far more sensible price. I still think its crazy to demand such a premium for monthly payments.

[PROH]

It's insane. Reminds me of AD!

[TomG]

As a reminder (it's been mentioned before), the only ones who see the price "doubling" are those who we kept on the same pricing we launched with in 2015.  That is 7 years without any price increase at all, including keeping no increase with Corona 8 - had we made more frequent smaller increases over that time, then this would not seem so dramatic now. And indeed, the annual pricing doesn't have such a big shift in price, so is the recommended option - if you've been using Corona for long enough to have a FairSaaS that has migrated, you already know you are using it for the long term so paying annually does make the most sense.

And of course this is not a "price increase" anyway, as it is a shift in what the Corona license is, given that it now comes with extra tools and functionality (which would have been much more expensive bought separately, if you wanted to get into such math).

Hope that helps!

[dj_buckley]

As a director of a small 1-man limited company, I'm a business owner that qualifies for 3ds max indie.  My Corona subscription just became twice as expensive as the core platform that I use it on.  With the costs of everything else going through the roof, the increase certainly feels dramatic.  I thought my mortgage/gas and electric were dramatic, but even they haven't doubled.

The monthly payment was perfect when you're small business owner as income tends to fluctuate week to week, never mind annually.  Paying annually to keep the price low really isn't an option for some of us, especially during economic crises.

Also as I understand it, I now qualify for Phoenix.  A program which I spent roughly £350 on a few months ago.  Does that mean I qualify for a refund for the months remaining before my annual renewal of Phoenix?

[steyin]

Yeah not worth another $200 a year just to be able to use Corona on home & office computer. I don't use any of the other Chaos features either, so I'll be downgrading.

[JoachimArt]

That is 7 years without any price increase at all, including keeping no increase with Corona 8 - had we made more frequent smaller increases over that time, then this would not seem so dramatic now.

And of course this is not a "price increase" anyway, as it is a shift in what the Corona license is, given that it now comes with extra tools and functionality (which would have been much more expensive bought separately, if you wanted to get into such math).

I completely agree that the price needs to change over time for you to make money and that is only fair. But could you not at least have a in-between service instead of shoving a ton of features Chaos had ready down our throat to jack up the price. For example something like 350 Euro a year to install it on two computers or for floating...or something.... Phoenix, Player and Scans are all 3 services I would give away to save 10 bucks a a year, as I will never use any of them and are services I never asked for (so it does not matter you think they are services that would be more expensive bought separately, when you do not give us that option)... And a fixed licence for ONE computer is such an outdated system that hardly anyone can use this type of license anymore (most people need at least to be able to work on a laptop and office, or home and office) - so most people are basically forced to buy the Pro package :(

I'm very skeptical as to where this is heading, I feel like I'm being forced to pay for features I don't need and I fear this is just the beginning.

[Jpjapers]

As a director of a small 1-man limited company, I'm a business owner that qualifies for 3ds max indie.  My Corona subscription just became twice as expensive as the core platform that I use it on.  With the costs of everything else going through the roof, the increase certainly feels dramatic.  I thought my mortgage/gas and electric were dramatic, but even they haven't doubled.

The monthly payment was perfect when you're small business owner as income tends to fluctuate week to week, never mind annually.  Paying annually to keep the price low really isn't an option for some of us, especially during economic crises.

Also as I understand it, I now qualify for Phoenix.  A program which I spent roughly £350 on a few months ago.  Does that mean I qualify for a refund for the months remaining before my annual renewal of Phoenix?

I agree with this entirely. Its more per month than an adobe creative cloud subscription (which by the way is a monthly fee but youre locked in for 12 months, which i feel would be a far better system).

Whoever sets the pricing....If you can sell me it at 29.99 a month billed annually, you can sell me it monthly for 29.99 and youre choosing not to. Its bullshit.

Ive been using this since Beta 0.7 and whilst i love the software, it never gets in the way and it is a joy to work with, i hope that this increase in price isn't going to turn into an annual increase. Yeah phoenix is a nice to have but within your core base of archviz users what percentage are using phoenix on a daily basis?

It would have been a better idea to integrate with chaos cloud, and give the users a limited monthly credit allowance rather than a piece of software they might never use. It would probably end up with more people paying for cloud credits in the long run anyway.

The devs are doing a great job. This is no reflection on them.

[fraine7]

Still very confused, so as a long-term monthly subscriber, the email I just received says:

'This is to let you know that your subscription pricing has changed'

New price: 24.99 EUR
Price for first month: 59.90 EUR

I'm in the same boat as DJ_Buckley and many other Corona users (1-man limited company, Max indie license) and this change could not be any more confusing.

I can't work out whether it's just a change to how many times I will be billed per year and will pay the same as usual over the course of 12 months (24.99 EUR x 12 = 299.88 EUR per year)

OR

Am I now paying 59.90 EUR every month (total for the year 59.90 x 12 = 718.80 EUR).

EDIT - There was no mention in the email of paying my usual monthly price but switching to yearly payments

[bastille]

Hi Tom,
you said that if we opt to swap to Solo, we will lose access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player, but the faq says that we lose access to cosmos too?
Is it right?
Pierre

[fraine7]

Hi Tom,
you said that if we opt to swap to Solo, we will lose access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player, but the faq says that we lose access to cosmos too?
Is it right?
Pierre

I have zero requirement for Phoenix, Player or Scans - surely they should have made these 'opt-in' rather than 'opt-out'

[maru]

Still very confused, so as a long-term monthly subscriber, the email I just received says:

'This is to let you know that your subscription pricing has changed'

New price: 24.99 EUR
Price for first month: 59.90 EUR

Hi Tom,
you said that if we opt to swap to Solo, we will lose access to Phoenix, Scans, and Player, but the faq says that we lose access to cosmos too?
Is it right?
Pierre

Please contact our customer support and you will be assisted by the dedicated team ASAP: https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

[dj_buckley]

The more I sit and think about this, the more scandalous it seems.  We're literally talking about a company (Chaos Group), that made millions of $'s of profit during the pandemic, whilst a lot of us struggled to feed our families, bleeding us dry for even more, just before what is normally the most expensive time of the year for most.  I can't see any reason for the extreme price hike other than pure greed.  When having to cut costs during the pandemic, I prioritised my software subscriptions as outgoings to keep, because I needed them to live off.  It's such a kick in the balls when that loyalty isn't reciprocated.

I couldn't agree with this statement more "If you can sell me it at 29.99 a month billed annually, you can sell me it monthly for 29.99 and youre choosing not to. Its bullshit."

The only reason I can think of why you couldn't manage to do the above, is due to cashflow issues.  But when you're a large corporation and your profits are visible to all, it's clearly not a cashflow thing.

As per usual, those that are worse off, get hit the hardest.

Also who do I speak to regarding the Phoenix licenese I bought recently.  I'm not prepared to pay for it twice.

Okay I hear you, go with Corona Solo - but you've imposed that stupid stupid fixed license rule.  As already mentioned I'm effectively a 1-man operation.  I'm not fixed to one workstation.  So I now need to buy one for my PC and one for my laptop, and one for my other PC that I sometimes work on, depending on what tasks I'm doing.  Which makes it even more expensive than Corona Premium.  Even if I did go with Corona Solo monthly, it's still a 50%+ increase on what I'm currently paying.

How do you guys justify it?  Seriously, someone please justify it for me with the maths ....

What was the point of those surveys you sent out asking about our thoughts on price hikes etc?  Because I'm willing to bet not one single person/company requested a 100% or even 50% price hike on what they were currently paying?

I'm amazed that this thread isn't 100 pages deep full of people complaining, is everybody else happy/pleased with these changes?

Edit: Oh and I just realised that If i switche to the 'cheaper' Corona Solo, I loose my render nodes so have to pay for those (I have 3 pc's rendering at home), so that then becomes even more expensive, whoever has come up with this pricing stategy is very clever and is basically bullying us into an annual Corona Premium sub.

[ianosss]

I agree with you dj_buckley. I'm furious with this! Awful business practise to double a subscription price.

Also I'm amazed more people haven't been complaining. All I can think is they have not seen the increase yet or have been complaining directly to support.

I'd imagine a lot of people will be switching software. I really have had enough of subscription software companies. I'm looking into Unreal engine and possibly Octane myself.

[dj_buckley]

I don't have an issue with subscription models, it makes it much more affordable for those with potential cash flow issues.  I do, however, have a major problem with having my pants pulled down and basically being forced into paying annually to keep relative pricing, with the justification of additional products that I simply don't need or want.

[Jpjapers]

I couldn't agree with this statement more "If you can sell me it at 29.99 a month billed annually, you can sell me it monthly for 29.99 and youre choosing not to. Its bullshit."

The only reason I can think of why you couldn't manage to do the above, is due to cashflow issues.  But when you're a large corporation and your profits are visible to all, it's clearly not a cashflow thing.

The only possible reason is that annual subscriptions give them predictable income. Adobe overcame this issue with licensing by offering you the ability to sign up annually for 12 months, but you pay monthly. Meaning that they can still reliably predict income from subscriptions each quarter. However having to remember that one month out of the year im going to be hit with another annual bill is irritating and makes it harder for US THE CUSTOMER to predict outgoings.

Imagine offering a WORSE licensing structure than Adobe of all companies, and me having to defend subscriptions by using them as an example. Thats how shitty this new deal is.

Whoever is incharge of pricing, please offer an annual contract with monthly billing. Its far more sensible.
I really dont mind being tied in for a year. I really really dislike being forced to pay in one big chunk to retain sensible pricing.

Paying monthly gives far more predictability for both parties.

[dj_buckley]

I'd love to be in a position where I can predict whether I'll make $4m+ or $6m+ profit that year - or whatever the actual figures are.  I think last time I looked into it, Chaos were valued in the billions.

I think my biggest issue is just how steep the increase is when you total it up.  I've seen comments from the Corona mods justfying it by saying things like "there haven't been any increases in X years", correct there haven't, but you've just made up for that by bundling all those missed incremental increases into 1 massive hike this time around.  It's just the sheer audacity of it.  I'd be more open to it, if they said "there haven't been any increases in X years, so this year we need to slightly increase the price and moving forwards the price will increase in line with our costs etc etc"

I might try it with a client, "actually on your last few jobs I charged you way less than I probably should have, so this time round I'm going to charge you double/triple, I'm also stripping some of the benefits I've given you over the years, unless you decide to pay for your next few jobs in advance today"

[Jpjapers]

I'd love to be in a position where I can predict whether I'll make $4m+ or $6m+ profit that year - or whatever the actual figures are.  I think last time I looked into it, Chaos were valued in the billions.

I think my biggest issue is just how steep the increase is when you total it up.  I've seen comments from the Corona mods justfying it by saying things like "there haven't been any increases in X years", correct there haven't, but you've just made up for that by bundling all those missed incremental increases into 1 massive hike this time around.  It's just the sheer audacity of it.  I'd be more open to it, if they said "there haven't been any increases in X years, so this year we need to slightly increase the price and moving forwards the price will increase in line with our costs etc etc"

I might try it with a client, "actually on your last few jobs I charged you way less than I probably should have, so this time round I'm going to charge you double/triple, I'm also stripping some of the benefits I've given you over the years, unless you decide to pay for your next few jobs in advance today"

See i dont mind paying the pro pricing at the annual rate, id just rather pay it monthly. I see the need for the price increase. What i dont see the need for is the price gouging on the monthly subscription. Its completely beyond the realms of rational pricing to think that its acceptable to charge more per month than an entire creative cloud subscription.

[Philip kelly]

Very good analogy..............and agree .........well said

I'd love to be in a position where I can predict whether I'll make $4m+ or $6m+ profit that year - or whatever the actual figures are.  I think last time I looked into it, Chaos were valued in the billions.

I think my biggest issue is just how steep the increase is when you total it up.  I've seen comments from the Corona mods justfying it by saying things like "there haven't been any increases in X years", correct there haven't, but you've just made up for that by bundling all those missed incremental increases into 1 massive hike this time around.  It's just the sheer audacity of it.  I'd be more open to it, if they said "there haven't been any increases in X years, so this year we need to slightly increase the price and moving forwards the price will increase in line with our costs etc etc"

I might try it with a client, "actually on your last few jobs I charged you way less than I probably should have, so this time round I'm going to charge you double/triple, I'm also stripping some of the benefits I've given you over the years, unless you decide to pay for your next few jobs in advance today"

[jaspercrowe]

I'm trying to figure out how the pricing is being calculated?

Product: Corona Renderer for 3ds Max - FairSaaS - 1 WS + 5 NODES (12 months)

New price: 349.99 EUR
Price for the first month: 418.80 EUR

Am I being charged more than the standard cost of premium because of the extra render nodes I have in my plan? It looks like I'm being charged the new price for 5 render nodes?

In a previous email, we were informed the price would only be charged as a standard premium subscription price.

About your Corona Render Nodes.
As a long-time user who previously had a FairSaaS subscription, your new Corona Premium subscription will come with the same number of Render Nodes as your current subscription, at no extra charge. This will continue so long as your Premium subscription renews without interruption.

[TomG]

If you have any concerns or questions about emails of the form
"
New price: 349.99 EUR
Price for the first month: 418.80 EUR
"

please contact us via https://support.chaos.com/requests/new . Thanks!

[dj_buckley]

Hi Tom

What about the other concerns in this thread?  Where do we go for our answers?

[TomG]

All we can tell you is that pricing for both Solo and Premium was carefully chosen after much thought, based on the challenges faced by businesses in the current economic climate. We can answer specific questions like "What is included in Premium" or "When does my first charge at the new pricing take place?" (a ticket please, so we can check your specific situation :) ) - but in terms of what the pricing is, we've already said and explained all that can be said and explained.

[dj_buckley]

It certainly doesn't feel very thoughtful in terms of the customer and the challenges they face in the current economic climate.  I appreciate you yourself probably aren't directly setting the prices so my moaning isn't directly aimed at yourself.

Where do I go to get the remaining months of my existing Phoenix license refunded?

[steyin]

I'll also add that I've requested to downgrade to solo already, and it hasn't been done yet. 2 replies from Chaos on my ticket trying to upsell me still. You guys sound like a fucking cable company that can't take no for an answer, and honestly it's making me want to just drop Corona entirely or even bootleg it out of spite.

At the very least solo should have the ability to allow installation on 2 computers; I think that would please a lot of us that are pissed off. I understand price increases, expected them when Chaos took the wheel, and loved that up until now the promise of not raising prices was great under a new, young fresh company created by those in the same field. But throw us a fucking bone here, please.

[TomG]

For questions regarding the prior purchase of Phoenix, the same team would be the ones to look into and explain the situation, https://support.chaos.com/requests/new

For the confirmation on changing your subscription, you can reply to that last email confirming you still want to make the change (this is more related to the preserved FairSaaS render nodes, and reminding there is another option of moving from monthly to annual, rather than it being about trying to upsell you on Phoenix, etc that come with Premium).

Hope this helps!

[dj_buckley]

I'll also add that I've requested to downgrade to solo already, and it hasn't been done yet. 2 replies from Chaos on my ticket trying to upsell me still. You guys sound like a fucking cable company that can't take no for an answer, and honestly it's making me want to just drop Corona entirely or even bootleg it out of spite.

At the very least solo should have the ability to allow installation on 2 computers; I think that would please a lot of us that are pissed off. I understand price increases, expected them when Chaos took the wheel, and loved that up until now the promise of not raising prices was great under a new, young fresh company created by those in the same field. But throw us a fucking bone here, please.

Lol you should do the maths to compare what you currently get for 29.99 a month and what you'd have to pay on Corona Solo if you wanted to keep what you currently get and keep paying monthly.

So lets assume you currently pay 29.99 a month for a floating licence and 5 nodes.

The Corona Solo equivalent would be

2x Licenses (to allow you work on two computers) - 39.9 a month
5x nodes (you have to buy them individually if you want to pay for them monthly) - 37.9 a month

New total per month = 269.3 and you're still locked to two workstations rather than having the full flexibility of a floating licence.

Just a cool 800% increase PER MONTH.

[dj_buckley]

For questions regarding the prior purchase of Phoenix, the same team would be the ones to look into and explain the situation, https://support.chaos.com/requests/new

For the confirmation on changing your subscription, you can reply to that last email confirming you still want to make the change (this is more related to the preserved FairSaaS render nodes, and reminding there is another option of moving from monthly to annual, rather than it being about trying to upsell you on Phoenix, etc that come with Premium).

Hope this helps!

Whilst there is a physical option to pay annually on the pricing page.  Paying annually really isn't an option for some people, not so abruptly anyway, 30 days isn't that much time to fully re-evaluate already tight budgets.  It's always those less fortunate that get hit the hardest.

I've sent in my support ticket, looking forward to some answers

[Peter A.]

I'll also add that I've requested to downgrade to solo already, and it hasn't been done yet. 2 replies from Chaos on my ticket trying to upsell me still. You guys sound like a fucking cable company that can't take no for an answer, and honestly it's making me want to just drop Corona entirely or even bootleg it out of spite.

At the very least solo should have the ability to allow installation on 2 computers; I think that would please a lot of us that are pissed off. I understand price increases, expected them when Chaos took the wheel, and loved that up until now the promise of not raising prices was great under a new, young fresh company created by those in the same field. But throw us a fucking bone here, please.

Hi,

This is what I got from Chaos Support:

The way you can downgrade to SOLO is to disable your automatic renewal. Steps below:
 
1. Go to my.chaos.com

2. Go to Products > Active products

3. Click on the product of your choice

4. Next to the Auto-renewal button : click on Cancel Subscription

5.  You will see a pop-up window asking you to confirm - click on Cancel Subscription

Once your subscription expires you can then purchase Corona Solo from here: https://corona-renderer.com/prices-licensing

Hope this helps.

Peter

[Jpjapers]

The fact that youre restricted on what you can and cant say regarding pricing says a hell of alot about the relationship with chaos.
This has never been an issue in the past and the open discussion with the team has always been a major part of why i like the software and come to these forums.

This is a bullshit move and completely anti-consumer. There should be laws against this kind of price gouging for subscriptions.

[dj_buckley]

The fact that youre restricted on what you can and cant say regarding pricing says a hell of alot about the relationship with chaos.
This has never been an issue in the past and the open discussion with the team has always been a major part of why i like the software and come to these forums.

This is a bullshit move and completely anti-consumer. There should be laws against this kind of price gouging for subscriptions.

This is what I just got back in my support ticket with regards to pricing:

"Yes, the prices of our products are a bit higher now. Before making this decision, we analyzed the market, the product features that we would like to introduce, and the overall future goals we would like to achieve according to product and people development. Kindly note Corona Renderer pricing had not been updated for a long time and with old prices it was nearly impossible to sustain and develop the product. We love what we do, and that’s why we do it. If you like Chaos Corona and find it useful please pay us for our hard work. You won't be funding some fat cat’s swimming pool, you’ll be investing in Corona’s future (and yours). It’s money that you get back in the form of improvements to speed and features, delivered to you in a timely manner."

I wouldn't mind if the features were complete when released, they always take another 2/3 releases to be properly polished.  I'd rather it wasn't in a timely manner if it meant they were production ready when released.  Just look how long it's taking to iron out kinks in caustics and displacement etc etc.  Also "please pay us for our hard work" - I have been.  That's the sort of thing I say to customers who haven't paid me at all and I'm still chasing the invoice 3 months later.

But you're absolutely right about the relationship with Chaos, it's now price hikes and a forced release schedule to keep the paying customer happy, no better than Autodesk now in that respect.

[Jpjapers]

"Yes, the prices of our products are a bit higher now. Before making this decision, we analyzed the market, the product features that we would like to introduce, and the overall future goals we would like to achieve according to product and people development. Kindly note Corona Renderer pricing had not been updated for a long time and with old prices it was nearly impossible to sustain and develop the product. We love what we do, and that’s why we do it. If you like Chaos Corona and find it useful please pay us for our hard work. You won't be funding some fat cat’s swimming pool, you’ll be investing in Corona’s future (and yours). It’s money that you get back in the form of improvements to speed and features, delivered to you in a timely manner."

The price increase is understandable. The fact that theyre charging double because someone wants to pay monthly, is absolutely disgusting.
Its also laughable that they think its acceptable to charge more than a 3ds max indie license for software that can only be used in one DCC.

So now as a freelancer, i have to pay out an extra $350 this month plus my 3ds max renewal cost, all to continue doing my job and during an inflationary cost of living crisis.
Thanks for that guys.

[chromatic_aberration]

“This is to let you know that your subscription pricing has changed.

Product: Corona Renderer for 3ds Max - Box license - 1 WS + 3 NODES (with Subscription)

New price: 99.00 EUR

Price for the first month: 418.80 EUR”

400% price increase for Box license users.

This price hike has been executed very poorly, I’ve been a user of Corona since the first alphas and I think there was not enough communication about this move. The email was hard to understand, the website links were not working and users got moved to the premium plan without requesting for it

I knew the price increase was coming but charging users double or triple and forcing them to choose within 30 days is a hard push. It almost seems that it was made to catch some users unaware to lock them down in the pricier plan

Not offering the user any choice regarding the features they need and bundling software they don’t want to justify the price increase is a hard sell. Some of us will need to pay more to use the same features we have in our current plans

I wish the price increase was done in a staggered manner, with time to explain the changes and flexibility to make our own choice. The way some of the comments put Adobe as a better subscription model tells me things could have been done better

I am overall concerned about this move. This is my first post in the forums. I am not looking for a cookie-cutter answer from support, just wanted to share my thoughts

[Jpjapers]

The way some of the comments put Adobe as a better subscription model tells me things could have been done better

I only use Adobe as an example of a company that seems to understand that their professional users will absolutely need their software for a whole year, but also seems to understand that letting them pay monthly, whilst tying them into a 12 month contract, is better for their users. Because a huge amount of their user base are freelancers.

[killer000sp]

Hey guys, I'd like to say that I'm on the same boat as you are. I'm really disappointed by the way this price policy is heading. I do agree with everything said before. I'm occasional freelance user who uses Corona from time to time on my home PC and notebook when I'm on the road. I'd like to have a good old Corona with floating license that I can buy whenever I need it, with no additional "Chaos" tools like Cosmos, Phoenix etc. since I never used them, never needed them and never asked for them. I'm using Corona since it's alpha release and since then I build my whole pipeline upon it and I always loved it and praised it. Now I'm thinking about learning built-in Arnold renderer or finding some reasonable alternative. I'm even more disappointed because I'm from the Czech Republic as the guys who made this awesome renderer. I do believe that there is more users out there who disagree with this unbelievable price increase. I just wanted to say that you few here in this thread are not alone. There is so much options on how the licensing could look like so let's hope that the guys from Corona team will reconsider this unreasonable way of licensing – even though I know that it sounds naive. I love this renderer and this doubled-price policy seems like betrayal after all these years of claiming it's affordable for everyone. I hope that this thread will be filled with more of us and maybe it will get to the Corona team someday because we don't need to know that "you can buy 1-year subscription for the same monthly price as before!", we want to hear that someone up there is really concerned about customer feedback. Everything is running via subscription nowadays and I feel that every company thinks that we have unlimited amount of money to afford everything. Adobe, Autodesk, even f***ing Pantone color library... It seems that future for all lone freelancers is in Affinity and Blender (which I hate)... Shame.

[Owin]

What a massive price increase, jesus...

[steyin]

So all the back and forth of a support ticket just to tell me to cancel and re-purchase to get solo. If you can't do a simple thing like change our subscription status on the company/staff end, then what the hell is the point of support?
I've lost a lot of faith in Corona and will severely consider switching products when the time comes now. And let's be honest; with minor differences between Vray and Corona now, it's only a matter of time until Corona gets phased away I think.

[Adam]

Would be great if you also looked at region pricing because not only are we getting screwed by your price increase, paying in $ while having a shitty currency is adding extra pain.

[Peter A.]

So, I have to pay double for monthly subscription. I cannot afford to pay 400 Eur next month for one year. Of course, I can save 32 Eur every month so next year I will have enough money for another year license. But now, Chaos just put me in very bad situation. As a freelancer, I have to save every Euro, I'm not in position of just spending 380 Euro over regular costs and fees.

And, as other users, I'm not interested in other Chaos stuff, including Cosmos, which I used ZERO times since it was included in Corona Renderer.

Why don't give us time to make a decision?

Peter

[chromatic_aberration]

So, I have to pay double for monthly subscription. I cannot afford to pay 400 Eur next month for one year. Of course, I can save 32 Eur every month so next year I will have enough money for another year license. But now, Chaos just put me in very bad situation. As a freelancer, I have to save every Euro, I'm not in position of just spending 380 Euro over regular costs and fees.

And, as other users, I'm not interested in other Chaos stuff, including Cosmos, which I used ZERO times since it was included in Corona Renderer.

Why don't give us time to make a decision?

Peter

I agree with you. Sadly, most software companies are transitioning to the SAAS model nowadays. I know the developers have stated that Chaos buying Corona delayed the price increase for some time and I understand the need to raise the prices. What I am criticizing is the way it was made

It feels that small and medium size users are going to be squeezed in this transition. Corona had the image of a consumer-friendly company, putting users’ needs first and supporting small studios and freelancers but not giving them enough information and time to prepare for this change and not being flexible about our needs and concerns shows that their priorities have changed

I was concerned about Chaos buying Corona because I thought that the company’s culture will start to change. I know that at the end of the day it is a business and Chaos and its shareholders have to get their money back. With the rendering software industry consolidating with fewer players and Chaos merging with Escape I am afraid this will become a new trend

[Freakaz]

Wow.. just wow, if paid monthly the license price just increased by 300%. Seriously? And to pay more for the stuff that most of us do not use anyway just to keep the previously acquired render nodes is a plain terrorism.
Do you even consider how many freelancers will ditch you for a cracked version now? 

[dj_buckley]

Wow.. just wow, if paid monthly the license price just increased by 300%. Seriously? And to pay more for the stuff that most of us do not use anyway just to keep the previously acquired render nodes is a plain terrorism.
Do you even consider how many freelancers will ditch you for a cracked version now?

It won't just be freelancers

[Kalopsia]

We used to get a Corona licence and 3 render nodes, after almost 5 years and an additional 90€ we get no more render nodes and no floating licence. So we are asked another 96€ to get a floating licence back and another 119€ to get an additional render node.

You used to pay 232€ in 2018 to 537,6€ in 2022 for one licence and a RN. That is not even taking into account that we used to get 3 render nodes.

The fact that I get to keep my nodes when paying a premium subscription is not really a consolation, to me the Premium subscription has no value at all. What is the point of Phoenix? Do your clients ask you to destroy their hotel complex with a Tsunami or put their furniture on fire? Mine do not, but maybe I just don’t have fancy enough clients.

Chaos Cosmos and Player? What are they and why would anyone use them? You can’t open a CoronaEXR in the Player so what is it meant to do? Anyone working with any kind of animation is using a Postproduction tool, so this Player is not worth any money because it does not solve any problems you were having in the first place. And then there is Chaos Scans, which might be something you could use but again, why did we need it? If we wanted to pay for Scans we would have done so in the past. We didn’t and we won't.

So I am very frustrated by the prospect of paying more money because of an obvious pricing structure geared towards getting the last cent out of customers and trying to make it seem like we get additional value out of it. In reality we are asked to pay an additional 50% to keep the software and features we used to get. And the more licences you own, the higher that cost to keep them because you have to pay an additional 50% for every licence.

At least Itoo is still around and keeps their promise. I suggest everyone pay for Forest or Railclone, otherwise we will be paying for Chaos Scatter in a few years when they announce the Ultra Premium Pro subscription.

Sorry for the people reading this. You are certainly not directly responsible for the new pricing structure.

For all the monthly subsribers, I feel for you.

[RaidoViz]

I live in South Africa and this price increase is extornate. !

I've supported and used this software since early 2018.
Never failed or paused my payment once in that entire time.

This removal of value and insane price hike.
Has priced this software out of my means as a single freelancer. (especially when one needs to remember all the other plugins and monthly subs one needs to maintain as a business.)

Chaos scans is anaemic and near useless in a production workflow.

I am afraid as a 5 year customer you've lost me.
Greed and short sightedness have no doubt value lower user count in favour of higher subs.
As opposed to the smarter route of volume of users.

This will be my last month.

[RaidoViz]

 RIP -
 I've grown my studio 3 people in this last year having been an avid supporter for 5.

You've not only lost my business but the business of my other team members.

[dj_buckley]

My honest feeling is that whoever is in now in charge of making these decisions, really doesn't care about losing the small companies/freelancers.  Pay up or go elsewhere is the choice.  And they don't care either way.  As long as they've got the big boys paying their fees, that's all that matters, you know, the ones with enough money already to not care about the price hikes.

This is what I got from "support" when I asked them to explain the logic behind the new pricing.

"Unfortunately I can't share what is the logic behind the new plans and their pricing. All I can share is that it is a decision of the higher management based on careful evaluation and taking under consideration various factors."

I literally have no choice but to pay, I'm in the middle of a live project and my renewal is up in 8 days.  They'll know that many of us will be in that situation though, and again I doubt they care.

[Jpjapers]

My honest feeling is that I'm being screwed over right now.

As long term users we invest in software not just in subscription but in terms of process and workflow and up until now its felt like the Render Legion Corona team has invested back in the user base equally and always communicated with the community well. Then this pricing and access change is implemented and badly communicated by Chaos and now I'm thought of as either a customer that has no choice but to pay Chaos to keep working, or as completely disposable. Which has never before felt like the case when interacting with the team here even if it has always been true.

[dj_buckley]

I guess there's a reason for the saying "selling your soul"

[dj_buckley]

Just had an email from Chaos promoting a Black Friday offer of 20% Annual Commercial licenses.  I assume this means we can use this offer when switching to annual premium plans?

[Freakaz]

Just had an email from Chaos promoting a Black Friday offer of 20% Annual Commercial licenses.  I assume this means we can use this offer when switching to annual premium plans?

"Save 20% on new annual licenses" I think the main keyword here is new :D

[dj_buckley]

Well I'm currently on a month by month licence and I've never had an annual one, so if I  stop my current monthly and sign up to an annual one then it would be a new annual licence

[TomG]

This is correct, you'd be cancelling an existing monthly subscription, and then purchasing a new annual subscription. (There'd be no refund on the monthly, as it would remain active until it's current expiry date, mind you). This also applies if you already have one annual subscription, and were purchasing a second one, for example, then the second one would be eligible - doesn't have to be the first time you've bought an annual, it just doesn't apply to any renewals of existing annuals. For those with existing FairSaaS nodes, as we noted on the release of Corona 9 if wanting to move from monthly to annual and not lose those, you'd need to contact us via https://support.chaos.com/requests/new rather than try to do anything automatically through the purchasing system, and that would apply here too.

[PROH]

@Tom - Unfortunately Chaos support just gives you a link to do it yourself. So that advise doesn't seem to be right, or maybe Chaos support need to be informed better?

This is absolutely Chaos!

[TomG]

Did you specify that you have free FairSaaS render nodes attached to your monthly subscription, and you are seeking to move to annual while preserving those render nodes? They may not have checked if you didn't draw their attention to the free render nodes associated with your existing subscription. (For those without historical free render nodes, it is in fact possible to move from monthly to annual without raising a ticket :) )

[PROH]

Yes  I did. And I referred to the advices from forum.

[TomG]

Best thing then is to give us the ticket ID and we can follow up on the situation :)

[PROH]

Because of this I haven't changed my subscription yet, and still wondering what to choose. But it sure would be nice to know how to do it correct without loosing my nodes.
I can find thr ticket ID sometime later if you still need it.

[TomG]

The correct way without losing nodes is the ticket - if you do it manually, it will cancel your monthly with included nodes, and then purchase a regular annual like any new user without any continuation of the nodes. If you submit a ticket and it doesn't result in the move from monthly to annual being done for you, let us know the ticket number so we can investigate. Thanks!

[dj_buckley]

This is correct, you'd be cancelling an existing monthly subscription, and then purchasing a new annual subscription. (There'd be no refund on the monthly, as it would remain active until it's current expiry date, mind you). This also applies if you already have one annual subscription, and were purchasing a second one, for example, then the second one would be eligible - doesn't have to be the first time you've bought an annual, it just doesn't apply to any renewals of existing annuals. For those with existing FairSaaS nodes, as we noted on the release of Corona 9 if wanting to move from monthly to annual and not lose those, you'd need to contact us via https://support.chaos.com/requests/new rather than try to do anything automatically through the purchasing system, and that would apply here too.

Turns out there is a silver lining.  Ok so my monthly expires in 5 days.  I've just raised a ticket at the link you provided, explaining that I'd like to cancel my existing (1 floating and 5 nodes) and purchase a new annual premium sub taking advantage of the BF22 code.  That's all I need to do right?

[maru]

Yes, our support team should get this sorted for you so that you keep the extra render nodes.

[dj_buckley]

Yes, our support team should get this sorted for you so that you keep the extra render nodes.

You might want to tell them that.  This was the response to my ticket

"Please be informed that Black Friday promo code works only with new commercial annual licenses.
Feel free to place new order for the desired license."

[hurrycat]

Best thing then is to give us the ticket ID and we can follow up on the situation :)

Hi @TomG,

I have been a long time Corona user, paying monthly. I raised a ticket asking about what would happen to the 3 render nodes previously included and got no appropriate response.

[Ticket ID: 66619]

My licence is valid until the end of the month and I am thinking about switching to Corona Solo annual subscription. Do i get to keep the 3 previously included render nodes?

If I decide to go for the annual Corona Premium subscription instead, are the nodes going to be included then?

Question to all: Are Chaos Scans any good?

Thank you

[maru]

I raised a ticket asking about what would happen to the 3 render nodes previously included and got no appropriate response.

Hi, could you please specify what exactly you mean by "no appropriate response"? I have just checked the ticket #66619 and I can see clear answers to all the questions you asked. If you are not certain about some parts of the support agent's response, please ask that agent directly in that support ticket. It is not a good practice to split a single case between the support portal and the forum so that you are assisted by different people about one single issue.

My licence is valid until the end of the month and I am thinking about switching to Corona Solo annual subscription. Do i get to keep the 3 previously included render nodes?

If I decide to go for the annual Corona Premium subscription instead, are the nodes going to be included then?

These questions were answered in your support ticket:

Q1: My licence is valid until the end of the month and I am thinking about switching to Corona Solo annual subscription. Do i get to keep the 3 previously included render nodes?
A1: Please be informed that your extra Render Nodes are currently included in your Corona Premium Monthly subscription, however if you decide to stop it and purchase a Solo subscription, they will be lost.

Q2: If I decide to go for the annual Corona Premium subscription instead, are the nodes going to be included then?
A2: we can provide you with a payment link with which you can migrate it to a Corona Premium Annual license which is the more profitable option when you divide the price per month and will also allow you to keep your extra Corona Render Nodes

If anything is unclear to you, please discuss it with the support agent in your support ticket. You will get the most accurate answers there as our support teams are trained to correctly handle cases according to their specializations.

[Marijan]

Yes, our support team should get this sorted for you so that you keep the extra render nodes.

Hi Maru, I would also like to use BF discount and keep my extra render nodes.
Answer from support team was that this is not possible. (ticket 67818)
Can you please clarify this.

[dj_buckley]

Yes, our support team should get this sorted for you so that you keep the extra render nodes.

Hi Maru, I would also like to use BF discount and keep my extra render nodes.
Answer from support team was that this is not possible. (ticket 67818)
Can you please clarify this.

Well it should be, all of the evidence from the Corona team that it is possible is in this thread.  What a mess.  If only they put the same energy into internal communications as they do pricing.  Chaos.

I should add that Maru has been super helpful with my case and mine has now been sorted.

[maru]

Yes, our support team should get this sorted for you so that you keep the extra render nodes.

Hi Maru, I would also like to use BF discount and keep my extra render nodes.
Answer from support team was that this is not possible. (ticket 67818)
Can you please clarify this.

This will be straightened up, don't worry.

[dj_buckley]

Yes, our support team should get this sorted for you so that you keep the extra render nodes.

Hi Maru, I would also like to use BF discount and keep my extra render nodes.
Answer from support team was that this is not possible. (ticket 67818)
Can you please clarify this.

This will be straightened up, don't worry.

Maru - I spoke to soon, my case isn't sorted.  I've got a guy sending me 'custom links' to pricing, the first one was wrong (price to high), he's sent another, again it's wrong (price too low).  I should have taken advantage of the too low price, but I like to think I'm honest and just want it to be correct.

[maru]

All the cases where there were some doubts regarding the Black Friday promo should be resolved now. Please let us know here if there are still some remaining issues.

[jamesdowling]

Hi Maru,

My premium subscription was renewed today, I was told yesterday by Chaos support that I couldn't use the Black Friday code...Was this wrong? On another note the price increase of £135 from what I paid for last year is crazy- for nothing new and now I have a bunch of programs I will never use...also not including the VAT on the price in the email was a bit sneaky...

[Jpjapers]

Hi Maru,

My premium subscription was renewed today, I was told yesterday by Chaos support that I couldn't use the Black Friday code...Was this wrong? On another note the price increase of £135 from what I paid for last year is crazy- for nothing new and now I have a bunch of programs I will never use...also not including the VAT on the price in the email was a bit sneaky...

I agree. The VAT isnt even included on the pricing webpage.

Was extremely annoyed to find that the price didnt include taxes so the 20% off code actually only reduced the price by £16...

[maru]

Hi Maru,

My premium subscription was renewed today, I was told yesterday by Chaos support that I couldn't use the Black Friday code...Was this wrong? On another note the price increase of £135 from what I paid for last year is crazy- for nothing new and now I have a bunch of programs I will never use...also not including the VAT on the price in the email was a bit sneaky...

There are various possible outcomes depending on the specific case. Please continue in the support ticket.

I agree. The VAT isnt even included on the pricing webpage.

Was extremely annoyed to find that the price didnt include taxes so the 20% off code actually only reduced the price by £16...

The information about VAT definitely should be visible everywhere. For example, on this page https://corona-renderer.com/prices-licensing it says "Prices do not include taxes".
Also, when you are confirming a payment, you should be informed about taxes.

If you spot a place where tax information is missing, please share a screenshot and explain how to reach that page. It will be passed to the right team.

[jamesdowling]

I mean it is not that obvious when you land on the page...but yes you're right if you scroll down to the bottom of the page it is there, which I bet most people wouldn't do. The email sent about the new pricing did not mention anything about taxes not being included though. Generally in the UK (Cant talk for other countries) the price stated already has the tax included, or has it written clearly next to the price that it is not. It's just a bit misleading.

[hurrycat]

These questions were answered in your support ticket:

You are right and I apologize, everything was clear and I hadn't paid the necessary attention. Everything seems to be ok now!

[maru]

These questions were answered in your support ticket:

You are right and I apologize, everything was clear and I hadn't paid the necessary attention. Everything seems to be ok now!

Definitely no need to apologize and I am glad everything is clear now. Thanks for confirming!

[Freakaz]

maru, is it normal that when upgrading to yearly subscription via support ticket - your subscription starts from the day you pay? I mean, I've upgraded today to use the 20 percent BF deal, even thou my monthly subscription was active till December 7th, so basically I've lost more than a week of time of active license.   

[TomG]

It is normal - the monthly is cancelled (but remains active until it's next expiry, as that has already been paid for), and a new Annual begins on the day of purchase. You should in effect have two licenses right now, the Monthly until its next renewal, and the Annual.

[MAY3D]

So glad I found this thread, shame I didn't see it sooner.

I am currently without any kind of subscription all thanks to the Corona/Chaos support team. Having asked a simple question about applying the Black Friday discount to my yearly renewal, I was subsequently told my subscription had been cancelled and my auto-renewal payment refunded. I was then told I could simply buy a new subscription and apply the BF code, ignoring that this would mean I lose access to render nodes on the new subscription  I have a small "render farm" of 2 PCs, with a plan to add a 3rd soon. The new pricing structure will make it impossible for me to utilise these, as I simply can't afford (or justify) the excessive costs. In trying to save a little bit of money (effectively mitigating against some of the recent price increases), I'm now faced with paying double to get back what I already had... it's a bloody joke!

I have flagged this with support, saying this isn't what I wanted and that I'd like my renewal to be reinstated, only to be told that this is impossible. Once a subscription has been terminated, it cannot be restarted. So, I am currently without a license and cannot complete any work. I am not only facing a significantly higher cost of a new subscription, but also facing a loss of income to boot.

This whole scenario has made me seriously reconsider using Corona at all and switching to Arnold. I've been with Corona for approx 4 years having previously used Vray for approx 7 years prior to that. I don't want to switch, but I also don't want/can't afford to be ripped off by yet another software company (I'm looking at you, Adobe). I was actually quite happy to have Cosmos and Phoenix bundled in, as I had been hoping to try both, but an opt in/out approach would be better imo. I have zero need for C4D, so don't understand why we're being forced to pay for that functionality, these things should be add-ons, not prerequisites!

Hopefully Chaos will see sense and recognise that this new approach is really going to impact negatively on a big section of their user base and add back some flexibility in their product bundles.

[davetwo]

I cant help but notice that the Corona Devs have always been open and halpful. But the Chaos Licencing department is prone to mistakes and seems pretty user-unfriendly.

Please take note Corona team. The goodwill and evangelising userbase that Corona has built up is quickly eroded by this sort of thing.

[TomG]

MAY3D, let us know the ticket numbers from your contact with the team please, so we can look into this.

[hurrycat]

I cant help but notice that the Corona Devs have always been open and halpful. But the Chaos Licencing department is prone to mistakes and seems pretty user-unfriendly.

Please take note Corona team. The goodwill and evangelising userbase that Corona has built up is quickly eroded by this sort of thing.

Exactly this. Also, I noticed that Corona is nowhere to be found in Chaos' site. Is this on purpose?

[TomG]

Yes, the sites are not merged on purpose for a variety of reasons, some technical, some just to do with ease of navigation and finding things for Corona and Chaos users :) It has been planned for a while now, but we'll see when we can cross the various bridges.

EDIT - or even IF, could turn out we decide never to merge, we shall have to see.

[maru]

The issue of MAY3D is now resolved. There was some misunderstanding there, and then an additional issue related to buying without additional tax as a business entity.

If anyone needs some additional help/info, feel free to share here!

[karlthh]

I'm late to the party because I was buried in work the last couple of months.  When the e-mail came in I did a quick check and realized I had no need for premium and would need to change to solo.  The fact that you couldn't do this from your account was just wrong in the first place.  Adding the hassle step of contacting customer service to make the change is unacceptable when you upgraded our accounts automatically.  Then I got my first new bill and that really opens one's eyes.

Everything about this is bad business from start to finish. The price of the same subscription DOUBLED and from what I read in cases above that is low for some other folks.  Listing it on your website as 29.90/ month is a lie.  That is the annual subscription divided by 12, not a monthly charge and that's what got me complacent on my quick check.  If Chaos is taking lessons from Autodesk, they are the wrong lessons.  So many of us Autodesk users have one foot out the door.  But the thing is, Corona is easier to replace.  You will win for now and gouge your customers, I will fork up the annual.  But the reality is that within a year's time, I will likely have found a replacement for Corona. 

The need for price increases is understandable.  Gouging your current customers in such a way (the charge, the automatic "updgrade" and the deceptive way of presenting it) is completely unacceptable.  It is not our fault that there haven't been incremental increases along the way.  Even Autodesk understands this and came up with a workaround that left people grumbling, but not running for the door.  It is a shame the path that you have chosen to take is so messy.

[3dboomerang]

I am alctualy a duplicate of the post above, just saw this forumpost now, after working hard the past few months and not having time to visit.

If this was such a live topic and obviously wrong event, why weren't there automatic emails sent out to the customers offering a way back on their auto double payment? What the ?

I thought I was being stupid and missed a mail upfront about the doubling in paying when this was going to "change" if we chose to keep paying monthly instead of yearly. Cause you know, the energy prices have skyrocketed in the past months and I'm sure I'm not the only one struggling with inflation here, so a little humanity would go a long way.

Seeing the souble pricing "suddenly" I cancelled my subscription at that moment. Same situation, the necessity for continuing on the render platform is a given, since all our projects are on corona render.

Waiting for Corona 10 to come out in a stable version, gonna check the Forest Pack support that's been fixed / added. Take it from there...

[TomG]

Emails were sent out to all users on the day of release, explaining the new subscription options and giving at least 30 days notice of the change so that the user could make their choice on which subscription option they wanted. We don't rely on the forum for such things, naturally. I am not sure what you mean about a "way back" as there is no option to keep the pricing the same as it was.

[eipi]

I have been a long time user since the beta versions with the monthly Corona Renderer for 3ds Max - FairSaaS - 1 WS + 3 NODES and recently discovered that my render nodes are gone since the update of subscription.
When I have received the email with 2x price increase in November, I have decided to migrate to annual payment as it was the only way to keep more or less the same price. What I didn't know was that I should update the existing license rather than buy a new one from the same account. After contacting the support, I got the message that it was my fault stopping the subscription and they won't bring back render nodes. The whole license update communication was so unclearly and poorly executed and I didn't know that I should contact the support for update rather than buy the license on my own. You can clearly see that I have history of uninterrupted payments (I was even charged double (60 eur) in November because I didn't notice the info about the increased payment, great), but it is not enough for the support. I am really disappointed with the whole customer treatment and it is definitely not the standard that I was used to with the old Corona team that was willing to help and assist you.

[rowmanns]

I have been a long time user since the beta versions with the monthly Corona Renderer for 3ds Max - FairSaaS - 1 WS + 3 NODES and recently discovered that my render nodes are gone since the update of subscription.
When I have received the email with 2x price increase in November, I have decided to migrate to annual payment as it was the only way to keep more or less the same price. What I didn't know was that I should update the existing license rather than buy a new one from the same account. After contacting the support, I got the message that it was my fault stopping the subscription and they won't bring back render nodes. The whole license update communication was so unclearly and poorly executed and I didn't know that I should contact the support for update rather than buy the license on my own. You can clearly see that I have history of uninterrupted payments (I was even charged double (60 eur) in November because I didn't notice the info about the increased payment, great), but it is not enough for the support. I am really disappointed with the whole customer treatment and it is definitely not the standard that I was used to with the old Corona team that was willing to help and assist you.

Hey,

That's not a cool experience, I'm sorry for that. Do you have a ticket number? I'd like to find out what went on..

Cheers,

Rowan

[eipi]

I have been a long time user since the beta versions with the monthly Corona Renderer for 3ds Max - FairSaaS - 1 WS + 3 NODES and recently discovered that my render nodes are gone since the update of subscription.
When I have received the email with 2x price increase in November, I have decided to migrate to annual payment as it was the only way to keep more or less the same price. What I didn't know was that I should update the existing license rather than buy a new one from the same account. After contacting the support, I got the message that it was my fault stopping the subscription and they won't bring back render nodes. The whole license update communication was so unclearly and poorly executed and I didn't know that I should contact the support for update rather than buy the license on my own. You can clearly see that I have history of uninterrupted payments (I was even charged double (60 eur) in November because I didn't notice the info about the increased payment, great), but it is not enough for the support. I am really disappointed with the whole customer treatment and it is definitely not the standard that I was used to with the old Corona team that was willing to help and assist you.

Hey,

That's not a cool experience, I'm sorry for that. Do you have a ticket number? I'd like to find out what went on..

Cheers,

Rowan

Hey, thanks for your response, ticket number is 82840. Cheers!

[3dboomerang]

+1 on the story above, I think this is a story from many members here.

[rowmanns]

Hey, thanks for your response, ticket number is 82840. Cheers!

Ok thanks, leave it with us and I'll try and poke around.

Cheers,

Rowan

[TomG]

eipi will already know, but for anyone else following the story, we have got everything working the way eipi wanted - that is, the way it should have worked. Sorry that it took some extra effort in pinging us here to get it resolved correctly. This is not the experience we want for our users. Thanks for your patience eipi while we got that straightened out.

As a reminder, if anyone is looking to move from an active monthly subscription with free render nodes that come from being a long time user over to annual, do not change anything on your account and instead contact https://support.chaos.com/requests/new with the request to swap over to annual and preserve your free nodes. If you do make a mistake though and try to change it yourself, that's not the end of the world, we can and do fix it up for you in response to a ticket about it (and without having to post here in the forums!).

[dj_buckley]

eipi will already know, but for anyone else following the story, we have got everything working the way eipi wanted - that is, the way it should have worked. Sorry that it took some extra effort in pinging us here to get it resolved correctly. This is not the experience we want for our users. Thanks for your patience eipi while we got that straightened out.

As a reminder, if anyone is looking to move from an active monthly subscription with free render nodes that come from being a long time user over to annual, do not change anything on your account and instead contact https://support.chaos.com/requests/new with the request to swap over to annual and preserve your free nodes. If you do make a mistake though and try to change it yourself, that's not the end of the world, we can and do fix it up for you in response to a ticket about it (and without having to post here in the forums!).

Should this information not go out to all users in an email?  Apologies if it has done, I'm sorted but haven't seen any emails stating any of this and I only found out because I'm on here, so for those that don't use the forums perhaps?

[TomG]

Yes, this information was sent out to every Corona user and everyone was given 30 days to get familiar with the email and take action if needed. There were slightly different emails depending on the specific case (different license types, etc). But all the information and instructions what to do were there. This was sent out on the release of Corona 9, as part of the announcement that Corona 9 was released. We definitely would not make a change like this without directly notifying all customers.

[maru]

(The email subject was "Changes to your monthly Corona subscription" or similar, depending on license type. It should be easy to find it in your inbox by searching for "Corona subscription".)

[britbunkley]

 I'm a dual citizen with New Zealand and USA family. I am a retired artist and art school professor on a pension, who until recently received education versions. So this is all a bit of a shock with a near doubling of the prices.

 I hoped that I was to be “billed yearly $358.80” as advertised instead of $553.49 USD… as on my Wells Fargo and PayPal statements. Somehow it increased by over $100 when charged lots of both Euro and NZ GST. (I usually pay to state US tax...if any). I also automatically upgraded to Premium (with no refund apparently possible to downgrade). I didn't need the extras. I'm not sure about the "nodes".  I have only one desktop that I use. but I do use my laptop when traveling.

[dj_buckley]

(The email subject was "Changes to your monthly Corona subscription" or similar, depending on license type. It should be easy to find it in your inbox by searching for "Corona subscription".)

Weird, I still can't find mine, I knew about the change though, i 100% got an email about that, I just meant did the email include notes about keeping render nodes and having to email support in order to do so.

Doesn't matter now, perhaps I deleted my email.

[TomG]

The wording in the email was this:
"
If you would like to switch from monthly to annual to take advantage of the more economical annual pricing, while still keeping your additional render nodes, or if you have any questions or would like to make any other changes to your subscription, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
"

Hope that helps :) The "contact us" was a link.

[TomG]

I'm a dual citizen with New Zealand and USA family. I am a retired artist and art school professor on a pension, who until recently received education versions. So this is all a bit of a shock with a near doubling of the prices.

 I hoped that I was to be “billed yearly $358.80” as advertised instead of $553.49 USD… as on my Wells Fargo and PayPal statements. Somehow it increased by over $100 when charged lots of both Euro and NZ GST. (I usually pay to state US tax...if any). I also automatically upgraded to Premium (with no refund apparently possible to downgrade). I didn't need the extras. I'm not sure about the "nodes".  I have only one desktop that I use. but I do use my laptop when traveling.

Hi! I am not sure if there was a request for some action here - if there are any problems or questions though, please don't hesitate to open a ticket https://support.chaos.com/requests/new , the team there will be more than happy to explain anything that is unclear, make changes such as downgrading from Premium to Solo, and so on. Hope this helps!

[maru]

We already mentioned this multiple times here, but I will repeat it again: if anything is unclear to you (literally anything: about Corona features, something isn't working, you spot a bug, you would like a new feature, anything about pricing, licensing, invoicing,...) the best solution is to contact Chaos support at https://support.chaos.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
 In majority of cases we respond in less than 24 hours.

We are not some kind of office workers who will just tell you to fill in a document and stand in line. We will actually answer all your questions. Sometimes we use template responses, yes, because this makes our lives easier and otherwise it would not be possible to assist everyone. If you are not satisfied with an answer, let us know (here, or use some other channel, including starting a new support ticket) and we will double check everything.

[Philip kelly]

Maru
Thank you . I always get the answer in the end.
It's apprecaitred, it does not go un noticed.
Phil