Yeah that post was like a slap on people who prefer to use the Mac. I cancelled my subscription for all 3 soon as I got that post. Why should I bother? I still can’t even use the newest Gigapixel with the M3…
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I own only Photo AI. It is not currently on auto-renewal. My renewal date is not until Nov 20, 2025. Do I have until Nov 20 to switch my subscription to auto-renewal if I want the reduced price for the upcoming Photo AI subscription. Or do I need to change it to auto-renewal by Sep 16 to lock in the price? I would rather wait until Nov 20 so that I can check out the new version before committing to auto-renewal. I only want the new Photo AI, not the complete Studio AI. Thank you.
I know it’s unlikely, but is there going to be a possibility to get a perpetual ‘Studio’ license without having to sell my own kidney? 
Sorry I am out. Totally blindsided. Went to upgrade my 99USD/Y Photo AI today and put on to 35USD/M. Have moved on from Adobe, now Topaz. Good buy.
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How do I get my perpetual that I paid for back? Time to contact some consumer advocacy.
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My only source of disappointment is that this wasn’t the payment model from the start — it would have made sense, when everyone else is doing it. Unless you’re a homebrew app and small developer, “buying a version” isn’t really how it’s done now, paying for staff, etc. All the costs are in support and development, not in shipping and retail distribution.
Topaz wants to be a big developer with pro-grade tools, and I respect that. Whether it meets that expectation is up to you (users) to decide. I’m happy enough to declare that the AI models are sufficiently impressive to support that, judging by their new usefulness compared to pre-2020s tools, their ongoing distinction to other software the 2020s (even when certain functions are the same purpose), and the broad range and generous quantity of tools — it’s a real Swiss army knife, and feels like an entirely new set of Swiss army knife tools to add to the existing Swiss army knife of digital video tools since the mid-1990s (that have had evolution, whereas this is a revolution).
What gives me concern is the software suite’s general quality that took quite a dip 18-24 months ago, but is probably back on track; the “reload your projects after a crash” thing was a splinter that’s gone but I can still feel it. And there’s the ongoing mystery of how these models are created because their evolution seems explosive (like, REALLY good out of nowhere), and then slows to zero after a while. Is it corporate focus / funding or is it the nature of generative AI tech? I’d say the latter except there are so many versions of some models — I really can tell the difference between Apollo v5 and Apollo v8, and just this month I’ve decided to use Apollo v5 for its superior temporal clarity with HFR content. But where’s v9? If we give feedback like I just did, will it ever force an evolution of v8, or is that it forever? I guess I’m able to build trust with Topaz for offering the old models to me — that’s vital.
So am I happy to keep paying forever? Where it really bothers me is when models are 90% perfect but become unusable because of one flaw. Iris is so much better than Proteus for skin detail and all textures, moving beyond HD into 4K. But Iris still gives “creepy eye” syndrome. I get the feeling that “Iris development is done” and no matter how much I pay, I will never get that fixed.
(Starlight has even bigger flaws but at least I can see the company is highly focussed on it … it really is the “x-squared” version of all the things that make Video AI an incredible tool like dynamite … if you know how to use it and WHEN to use it, miracles can happen … but boy, in the wrong hands, you will wreak devastation upon the history of video archivism … future generations will look at our work and go “GO BACK TO THE SOURCE” or worse, assume the 2020s was just a decade where they made eye-bleeding material and thought “this is fine” — have you noticed how all digital video from the early 2000s is dial-up or ADSL1 quality, and even the same TV networks who made the source video, are using RealPlayer quality clips, so that’s what kids born after that time assume was what video looked like)
So yeah, I’ll pay. But now the loyalty is open for re-evaluation every year. In the old days of Photoshop (or MS Office), you’d stay loyal and keep using the old version if the new one wasn’t great, and it’s fine, just hang on and the company would respond and make a better one eventually, and you’d come back when the reviews said “yep this one’s great!” (This is like buying smartphones today). But on a subscription model, I have to give it a job interview every year — and if something better comes along, I’ll pay it just to try it. And it’s way more likely I’ll stick with it if Topaz just deactivates my old one … maybe Topaz has 1 or 2 tools I’d rather keep using, but without the active software, I’ll give them up. And then forget they exist and use something else I have.
If Apollo and Iris kept improving, I’d be WAY more curious and pay every year. It’d be something I’d keep comparing if (when?) the new competitor arrives. Hear me out: I want the subscription model to work — I want all the models to get revised every year. But if you get me to pay for ALL of them, but only improve on SOME of them, that’s bad for Topaz when the new competition arrives one day.
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Yeh nah, found an AI upscale with similar results for pennies. Thanks for the push Topaz. Cancelled PayPal rebill.
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Same, with the constant re-authentication as if we’re criminals, and the new rentware, pretty much is a deal-breaker for me as well as I would not have bought this program if I knew they would retroactively add Denuvo-styled DRM to the program…
It was a fun ride, that is, until the company itself now resembles EA/Ubisoft/adobe with their anti-consumer business tactics… I refuse to rent my software and rent updates for the perpetual licences,
Not only is it too much money to be drained from the end user, but the potential for being locked out of the program is a strict F-U to anyone that continues, or is expected to continue using the software going forward, if I could delete this program and get a refund I most definitely would…
And thanks to Black Magic software for showing us that you don’t have to milk your customer’s dry nor treat them as criminals in order to be a success…
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It’s a shame it all came to this 
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Would you mind sharing? I’m currently - very casually though - window shopping for alternatives both to PAI and GAI.
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@dakota.wixom - I just want to ask around your response here:
If we have three active current products each expiring on different dates we don’t know when our full studio package would expire and nor do Topaz by the sound of it.
The max date. We’re aiming to be generous here
In my case, I have :
- PhotoAI auto renew in December 2025 ($99).
- Gigapixel auto renew in September 2026 ($64).
I want to clarify does your answer above mean that I will pay $163 for Studio in September 2026 and nothing else?
Hi Ian.
Until we get clarification from Topaz on payment as things stand at this time it doesn’t matter that your current Photo AI and Gigapixel expire on different dates as long as you don’t cancel one of them the two combined will come to the renewal price of $138 for the full Studio package
Hope this helps
The reason, you paid $163 is because, you paid the for full upgrade price if, you had Auto-Renewal activated previously then, you would have paid $138 for your upgrade hence, why Topaz Studio is fixed at $138
Hope this helps
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I must have missed the pricing somewhere. Has Topaz released the actual pricing model? (With hard numbers)
$138 is for two qualifying applications Photo AI and Gigapixel for Founder members only the actual price has not been released yet
To get Studio at the reduced price, you have to switch to auto-renewal before September 16.
Switching to auto does not extend your subscription, so it won’t cost you anything.
If you don’t like the new version, you can still cancel before Nov 20.
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Okay. So at the moment, they are just promising a “reduced” price if…existing founder sign up for auto renewal etc? I’m not inclined to rent software, but if it’s that much cheaper than the average of what I have spent over the last few years, I could consider it.
I’m not going to FOMO into blindly purchasing a vague promise though.
I only have PAI active at the moment, and have not yet seen anything from VAI or GPAI that I want to spend more money on.
I watched the video. My products are all active. There is no option to extend by a year and if I go to the pricing page there is no upgrade/renewal section.
So I have no idea whether auto-renewal is on or off. All I can say is my products are active.
I posted this earlier which worked for me.
“I had the same problem, and found if I clicked the question mark next to the active wording by Photo AI it took me to a page to purchase the product for $199. I clicked the link, and it showed a price of $99. I clicked that, and was able to turn on auto renewal, at a cost of $0. It shows that my renewal date is next July when my year contract ends, so I auto renewed for no cost, and therefore ended up with two auto renewals turned on. ( I already had one) I am now getting the full Studio on the 16th. Hope that helps.”
That’s fair enough but, if you sign up with two qualifying applications and become a Founder member you get access to the Topaz Labs collection, featuring 7 applications, plus hundreds of AI image and video models, including unlimited local rendering on the desktop applications, and unlimited image rendering in the cloud.
Included
Unlimited Local Rendering
Unlimited Cloud Image Rendering
300 Monthly Video Cloud Credits
Always Latest Updates
Founder Exclusive Upgrades
New Wonder Model
New Standard Max Model
Upcoming Starlight Model
Keep Your Current Pricing
All this, for 15% off the upgrade price of Photo AI and Gigapixel, still believe there’s nothing to offer
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