Many of you have already seen the email about the exciting changes coming to Topaz Labs later this month with the release of the Topaz Studio collection and changes to our licensing agreement.
We know this raises a lot of questions, and we’re here to help. Our support team will check in and respond to new comments as quickly as possible.
If you have a question about how this transition impacts your account specifically, please contact us directly at help@topazlabs.com so we can assist you one-on-one.
[We are merging below the current questions and Topaz Staff replies, all gathered here on this post]
EDIT: Keep in mind this is a user forum and while you are welcome to share amongst users here, we are focusing on replying to users that write in by email, as we can specifically look at your account and how it impacts you and answer any specific questions you have. Contact us directly at help@topazlabs.com so we can assist you one-on-one.
In my case, I effectively paid for 9 months of updates last September, and earned the right to now pay a “reduced” subscription rate for using Topaz Studio going forward. (Not to be confused with the legacy Topaz Studio, and Topaz Studio 2 that I have perpetual licenses for.)
Yup… That about sums it up. All that talk about upcoming releases and better models just to realize it all went up in smoke - at least for a perpetual license owner.
Some of us have received an email welcoming us “founders” (their expression, not mine) to the new release of something they (once again?) call Topaz Studio that will launch in mid September.
It will be a subscription based thing in a whole different manner than what we have now (smells a bit like Adobe if you ask me), and your current version will if I and a few in the Gigapixel thread understand things correctly basically “freeze” to its current version when they launch Topaz Studio.
My interpretation (hoping I’m wrong) is that whatever upgrade that gets released
after Topaz studio is launched will be something you’ll lose access to if you stop paying your yearly fee, and you will be bumped down to the version you have before the mid September launch. Basically leaving GAI 8.5 that they have been talking about for a while now, and any major PAI that might come after the “cut off” out of the “keep it forever” deal…
As I said - I might be wrong, and I hope things will clear up in the next coming days, but this is what the FAQ have to say about it:
I feel you… I’ve been waiting for that wonderful GAI 8.5 that there’s been talk about for some time now with its new and improved models. Won’t see those now by the way things are looking. (No, I ain’t gonna even take it out it’s for a spin if I know it will only be a joyride with a rented vehicle…)
The question is, is there anything in the earlier(!) FAQs or subscription receipts that clearly says: “All updates within the subscription period are OWNED and do not expire”. Or, did Topaz staff write or post such a statement.
If not, Topaz will probably come up with: “You get every update within your current subscription period, which is what you paid for. However, all updates from 8.x.x on will have to be paid for annually to remain functional. We have never guaranteed that all updates within a subscription period remain functional thereafter”.
Apart from those legal considerations, I guess pretty much every subscriber within the last years - ending today - assumed that one would get “owned” updates until the end of the subscription period. If Topaz rolls out the subscription model before Sep 2026, there are likely subscribers not getting what they believed they paid for.
Although this - maybe - being legal, it would be an inexcusable breach of trust to everyone running a subscription by now.
Really… The only correct way of doing this transition would be to:
Stop accepting new sign-ups for the old subscription model.
Let the 1 year of updates/upgrades for all currently subscribing users (of the old subscription model) run it’s course honoring the year of upgrades we were promised and make sure that it’s compatible with/gets added to the perpetual version.
From September 16th (I think that was the date) start taking new orders with full transparency. “if you buy today, this will be your deal.”
“We’d much rather that more people have access to all our models.” what a sad excuse. this is explicitly so they can justify a subscription. why pay a one time payment of $299 every 3-4 years when $20 per month fills out their bank account that much quicker i guess.
Adding a subscription option for people who cant justify $300 is one thing, but is the plan here to get rid of the perpetual licenses all together?
I just paid to renew Gigapixel for a year of updates 2 weeks ago and I have received no emails nor was told anything about this new subscription model at the time. Does this mean I paid for nothing?
I’ve got the same mail today. I’ve renew my subscription until August 2026.
We will seen what happened in the next weeks.
I hope getting updates until next year in August.
I hear you—many of our long-time users have preferred the one-time purchase model, and I understand why this change feels frustrating, especially if you’re used to owning software outright. To clarify:
If you already have a perpetual license, you’ll keep it. Nothing about the new subscription model takes away what you already own.
Subscriptions are being introduced to let us deliver improvements and new features more quickly, rather than bundling them into larger paid upgrades every year or two.
For Founders, you’ll always be able to use your existing perpetual licenses for the products you already own (as long as those apps remain compatible with your computer), even if you stop your subscription. Perpetual access applies to the licenses you held before September 16
Topaz Studio at no additional cost applies as long as you keep 2+ upgrade licenses actively renewing. If you turn off auto-renewal and come back later (whether that’s months or years down the line), you’d rejoin under the current pricing at that time. If you keep auto-renewal on for 2+ apps, Topaz Studio will continue to be included at no additional cost.
Our goal is to make sure you’re always getting the best version of our tools without extra hassle or hidden costs. We know some customers prefer the old model, but this shift allows us to provide faster innovation, better support, and more value over time.
