Title says what I want to say, I guess?
What leads you to believe that, the model used is Product (you can use your version forever) plus the updates scheme which gives you a year of updates.
If you look at the website it says …
"Buy once, own forever
You own the version you bought forever. You also get 1 year of new AI models and major upgrades with your purchase."
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Thanks for that. A relief.
But the latest email I have for VAI says “$299 …$249 + 3 months free”… 3 months free what?
Nick
Have no idea, you are best to ask the email sender… but if it’s a no reply address try help@topazlabs.com
It looks like you have to renew every 3 month the subscription to get the next updates…
Have to admit that I’m just guessing here, but my first thought when I read the above is that you’re being offered 15 months of updates instead of the standard 12?
Right on the head gosa! I reckon it’s a really weird way to word it.
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That’s what I was suspicious of, but no.
Did it! See gosa’s thoughts 
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Here’s some more information on pricing for version 4:
Buy it once, own it forever. Learn more.
Pre-order now to receive 15 months of complimentary weekly updates. Regular price $299 with 12 months of weekly updates.
Already own Topaz Video AI? If you have an active upgrade license, you can upgrade at no additional cost on October 17.
Expired upgrade license? Watch your inbox for an exclusive upgrade offer on October 17.
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Why do companies want to squeeze out every penny out of their customers? What ever happened to buying software, and just getting free updates for life instead and making the customer happy with that purchase instead of making them purchase a license after more than a year to keep their program up to date! The program is already WAY overpriced, and than asking for money for upgrades is in my opinion very low for a company to do. It very likely will deter more people away from the product than buying it. I dont know what the biggest competitor is of this program, but if they surpass Topaz Video Ai and with free updates or life, this program is done for. And stating on the product page “buy once, own forever”, after the last update you might receive, the program very likely doesn’t work because of a bug and you are basically obliged to purchase a upgrade license. This is why i don’t recommend the program as of now to friends or others, the high price and the upgrade license.
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Actually I am pretty sure that when I purchased some of this software, way back, it was under a license that allowed all upgrades for free. They then had to change that, they announced. I have been paying the annual upgrade licence without complaint. This felt like a subs.
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I am very sorry I triggered this topic.
How do you come to that conclusion, do you know how much it cost to develop?
Don’t worry about it as discourse is always healthy, even if people don’t know what they are talking about. Discussions like this reveal those who simply want to complain and don’t know the facts whereas there are others, like yourself, who are looking for information. 
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the product is aimed for the professional market, not the home user. that is why the price is at it’s scale.
if you want product for the home market , go with HitPaw
Being a developer myself. I can tell you, there’s no way they can make enough money to pay their developers for never-ending updates. In fact, no company can do that today. Unless they have some other source of income that is completely independent from the program being developed (And for some reason they see dumping money into the program as a good idea).
If a program is only getting bug fixes and in full maintenance mode. Yes it would be possible. But don’t get this confused with open source programs that get made by enthusiastic people on their own time. Or frameworks like Angular that get developed by Google, but are free to use, because they know they’ll make more advertising money, the more websites get made with it.
