Done. I suppose the pending part is because my paid year isn’t finished. Let’s see if more of these come in to the billing people at Topaz. I still consider myself robbed with regards to the unlimited upgrades I’ll never get until mid December (PAI) and mid February (GAI). That’s 3 & 5 months I’ve paid for nothing.
Funny part is (yup, I’m like that) that I would probably have considered jumping onto the studio train if it wouldn’t have been for the policy regarding my perpetual versions.
Edit: @golder-50350 did not mean for this one to be a direct reply to your post, I did it from my phone and probably clicked the wrong button.
My concern with this new subscription model is what is the status of my perpetual licenses. I renewed both PhotoAI and GigapixelAI in August 2025 with extensions to August 2026. You sent an email to me that said “You’ve got another 12 months of the latest Gigapixel updates to achieve pixel perfection.” I assumed when I subscribed that this mean I would get all minor and major updates within that period and that they would include the perpetual license for those upgrades as per your previous practice. I can understand if you want to move to a full subscription model that would be in place at the end of my current one year extension, but I don’t understand why you would be changing the implied condition of my current subscription. It is as if you invoked the new subscription model immediately for me. If I chose to not renew in one year, I will be left with my old legacy versions (with only minor upgrades) and not the new versions (for example Gigapixel 4.5) that might appear in the upcoming year of my renewal. I have been happily paying for each major upgrade in the past, but this may be the end of the line for my support.
I interpreted this thread to be for comments, reactions and discussions about the transition from the perpetual license model to the Studio subscription model only.
I assumed there will be other, separate product discussions threads related to Changelogs & comments re: new releases for the Studio products beginning mid-Sept. That doesn’t mean my assumption is correct.
If the perpetual license products are being put on ice, I suspect that means those forums will remain locked(?).
I have just downloaded the full installer for GPAI just to be sure. Who knows what else may be locked or removed when the subscription based versions are out…?
If you go to the PAI or GAI perpetual licenses product pages and scroll down to the FAQ they still say includes 12 month’s of upgrades including all new models and the latest versions. No mention of what their doing now or you don’t really get what you actually are paying for. No respect for their customers at all. Even now, I have not received that email others have received.
There actually IS Starlight mini for MacOS in the newest TVAI beta BUT
at the moment with abysmal quality (which Topaz know and will allegedly fix in the future?)
and while the current SL mini does run stable on my M2 Ultra it doesn’t seem to do so with M3 chips. So you might have a deja vu there. I really don’t know what problems TL has with the M3 architecture as I’ve not yet heard of any issues with those chips in any other Mac software…
I have a copy of Photo AI, Gigapixel and Video. I did not renew them last year and obviously don’t have auto renewal turned on.
Let’s say I purchase the subscription to Studio later this year, but then decide not to renew after some time. What happens to my old perpetual licensed products? Do they stop working? If they keep working what version would they be?
According to what Topaz staff wrote yesterday, Studio gets installed in a separate directory and does not affect the permanently licensed products purchased earlier. One should even be able to use both on the same machine. So, if you do not renew the Studio thing, the legacy stuff should remain functional.
That being said, failures can occur any time, and to be safe I have downloaded a full installer of the GPAI version I own now. Just in case a reinstall is needed and Topaz decides to withdraw the owned software products after the subscribed ones are rolled out.
How many devices can we install and use the Studio apps? I am just a personal user. I have not found that information.
With Photo AI it was 2 devices so I have it on my home computer and my travel laptop. That was a downgrade from my Denoise AI, Sharpen AI, and Gigapixel AI which allow me to have it on more devices (my 2 home computers in different locations where I spend time and my travel laptop).
I basically see that and that’s all. No additional info
"Exciting things coming soon!
We can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on. Stay tuned to your inbox. If you haven’t received an email yet, that’s okay. We’ll be sending out individual notifications over the next few weeks."
I also renewed my Topaz Photo AI upgrades year on 31 Aug 2025 and have been shocked by the manner in which this whole thing has been dropped on us like a bunker busting bomb - exciting - Wonder(full) - no not really !!!
I THINK you will not be asked to pay anything more on 16 Sept BUT the terms and conditions of what you paid for in August and your expectation that in Aug 2026 you would have an updated perpetual version to keep have been dashed to pieces as I understand it.
You can check with one of the black background text boxes in this topic which refers to “checking your account deal …”
Optimistically, Topaz will recognise that they have broken promises and they may adjust the outcomes for users with current upgrades packages until their original expiry - unlikely but possible if you believe in fairies !
Pessimistically, we have been stuffed and Topaz will be too busy checking their swelling bank accounts to find time to answer or deal with our questions and complaints. That’s the more likely outcome in my view but I can dream about being proved wrong.
I have been a very active beta tester for the last 12 months and of course I volunteered but it feels like we beta testers have been kicked in the teeth and we will never get the GPAI 8.5.0 models we’ve been promised for the last 2 months as perpetual releases !
That is wrong in my opinion - but presumably the highly paid Topaz lawyers are confident there is no likelihood of a class action suit being successful.
I got the email, but I do not see anything listed on the topaz.com website when I login. Per the email, I qualify " Thanks for being a founding customer.
On September 16, we’re launching Topaz Studio, a subscription collection of all our apps. Studio will include 7 products, over 100 image/video AI models, unlimited cloud image processing, and local processing.
Because you own an active upgrade license to Video Al, you get access to the new Topaz Video and new pro-only models at no extra cost. On Sept 16:
Your Video AI perpetual license remains yours forever.
With an active upgrade license, you’ll get access to:
Topaz Video, with a new Nyx XL model and instant previews
The Starlight Sharp model, normally for Pro only.
Grandfathered auto-renewal price as long as your plan is active.
Founding customers with 2+ auto-renewing upgrade licenses get access to the whole Studio collection.
By keeping your existing upgrade license, you get more features at half the cost for new customers after Sept 16. We’ll also have a special gift for you before the launch - no action required."
