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Corona Renderer 7 and Older - Licensing Information

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Corona Renderer 7 and Older - Licensing Information

 

This article includes information relevant only to Corona Renderer 7 and older. 

Please note that starting from Corona 8 we offer new licensing options. 

For information about current Corona licensing, see: What is included in the Corona / V-Ray license?

 

 

Table of contents:

 

 

FairSaaS License

This article includes information relevant only to Corona Renderer 7 and older. 

Please note that starting from Corona 8 we offer new licensing options. 

For information about current Corona licensing, see: What is included in the Corona / V-Ray license?

 

 

Corona FairSaaS is our answer to the inflexible perpetual license model, which slows down development and innovation progress, and makes software practically unaffordable in certain economies. Corona FairSaaS is a liberal subscription based model without the hidden agenda written in small print. It has been introduced to make Corona really affordable for everyone.

 

Quick Facts

  • Unlimited access to all major, monthly, and daily experimental builds.
  • Paid annually or monthly
  • Cancel any time without any penalty
  • One floating workstation license (usable also as a render node) + 3-10 floating render nodes
  • Prices start at 24.99 €/month or 289.99 €/year

 

Benefits of FairSaaS

Lower initial costs

Your upfront investment (and risk) is precisely zero. You pay just for the usage of the software. This makes the software affordable to veterans as well as newcomers who are starting their business. Should you quit for any reason, you won't be stuck with a license that cost hundreds of euros.

Better cashflow

We know how much starting a business costs. With Corona you can lower these upfront investments, and lower the risk. The development of Corona will benefit also, as it is much easier to plan the development with a steady cash flow instead of living "from release to release".

Continuous innovation

You can always use any version you want – be it the latest daily build, or an older major build. We will be releasing new features as they are implemented, without having to stash them for the next big paid box upgrade.

Cancel any time without penalties

There is no minimum contract length – if you go for holiday, simply cancel your license and save some money. This is not always the case with some vendors and the entire SaaS concept gets bad reputation because of it. This cannot be stressed enough.

Freedom to switch

FairSaaS minimizes the vendor lock-in. Should you at any point decide that Corona has lost its way, you can switch immediately to another renderer without being stuck with an expensive and useless box license.

 

Drawbacks of FairSaaS

Recurring payments

Monthly or yearly payments are necessary to access the unlimited version of software. Without the payment, Corona will switch to a version that can still access and modify scenes, but cannot render them.

Internet connection is necessary

To use the license, internet connection is necessary at least once in every few days, so the system can check validity of your license.

FairSaaS Prices

  1. 1WS + 3 NODES for 24.99 €/month or 289.99 €/year
  2. 1WS + 5 NODES for 29.99 €/month or 349.99 €/year
  3. 1WS + 10 NODES for 44.99 €/month or 529.99 €/year

 

If you need a large number of nodes for a short time period (couple of days for Amazon Cloud Computing Services for example), please contact us and we will tailor a solution for you.

 

 

FairSaaS FAQ

 

Can I get more render nodes on SaaS? 3 is not enough.

YES. You can get the FairSaaS license also with 5 or 10 bundled render nodes instead of 3.

 

Can I buy separate render node on SaaS?

No. There is instead the option to get 3, 5, or 10 render nodes with each workstation license. For even more nodes, you can buy a second FairSaaS license. There are no individual render nodes, because the transaction fee we would have to pay to our e-commerce provider would be simply too high.

 

Can I buy separate render node pack without workstation license?

No. You can use the included workstation license as a render node as well. The reasoning is that we try to keep the system as simple as possible, and we do not want to introduce another product with a separate price (which would not be significantly lower than buying the regular workstation+nodes bundle anyway).

 

Can I use Corona on my home PC as well as on my work PC?

Yes, with the FairSaas license it is possible (but not with Box).

 

I want to use FairSaas, but I do not want to pay monthly!

We understand it is sometimes more convenient to avoid monthly payments, so we also offer a one–year upfront payment. Because this saves some transaction fees, the price is slightly lower. Choosing this payment is possible during checkout. There is only a small disadvantage: if you cancel, you will not receive a refund for the rest of the year. So you will be giving up this particular advantage of FairSaaS.

 

Are FairSaaS and box licenses equal?

Because we created the FairSaaS license as an improvement of the Box model, we think FairSaaS is the better solution. It eliminates cash flow problems and makes Corona affordable to anyone without large investments. We have however decided to keep the Box option to satisfy all customers.

 

Why did we invent the FairSaas?

In the traditional “upgrade model”, a company releases paid version 1.0 of a software, then it works on new features for another 12-24 months, while releasing some minor updates for free in the meantime. As this business model is based on paid upgrades, the company must decide which features to release for free as updates and which to stash and keep unpublished until the release of future paid upgrade to version 2.0.

This behaviour is necessity for the traditional “upgrade model”: Companies need income from paid upgrades to survive in the long run. Unfortunately, this model also artificially slows down natural progress of the software development because the development schedule is forced to adapt to the business needs.

This is why we do not like this “upgrade model”. We always want to deliver the latest tech as soon as possible, and we never want to make decisions hurting the product to keep the business afloat (such as postponing the release of a new major feature until the version 2.0 is out).

So we had to look for alternatives. That’s why we came up with the FairSaaS as a solution to this problem. It enables us to always deliver the latest tech with fair price and conditions, and it makes our development truly independent of business aspects.

 

Is the license valid for 30/365 days, or until the end of the year?

All monthly licenses are valid for 1 month, not only until the end of the month. Same for the yearly licenses: they are valid for 365 days from the purchase date.

 

How long until I get a license after I pay?

Few seconds. Immediately after the payment you will get multiple e-mails with your invoice, discounts, and login that you can immediately use to activate Corona.

 

 

Box License

This article includes information relevant only to Corona Renderer 7 and older. 

Please note that starting from Corona 8 we offer new licensing options. 

For information about current Corona licensing, see: What is included in the Corona / V-Ray license?

 

 

Corona Box license is the traditional, perpetual license model, aimed at users preferring this more conservative licensing option. Its principal advantage is that you can buy the license once and use it forever without any further charges. There are however some disadvantages compared to the FairSaaS model.

Customers with the basic Box license do not have access to any feature updates, only to bugfixes. Access to all upgrades, stable or experimental, is possible only with a paid subscription. This subscription is non-mandatory and can be purchased only during the purchase of the Box license. The subscription is valid for 12 months after the purchase and can be renewed.

 

Quick Facts

  • Time-unlimited access to the version 6 and all relevant bug fixes
  • One time payment
  • One fixed seat workstation license (usable also as a render node) + 3 fixed render nodes
  • Price is 449 € – paid once
  • Subscription
    • Price is 99 €/year
    • Gives permanent access to future major versions (2.0, 3.0, …), monthly builds and daily experimental builds released while the subscription is active
    • Can be purchased only when buying the Box license, not later
    • Valid for 12 months, can be renewed

 

Benefits of Box License

Pay once, keep it forever

This is the most obvious advantage.

Updates are not mandatory

Neither the subscription nor the one-time paid updates are mandatory. If you are absolutely sure you won't need any future version, then the Box license could save you some money in the long run.

No internet connection is necessary

Internet access is needed only when (re)installing Corona. After a one-time activation, the Box license will continue working as long as Corona is not uninstalled or the computer's hardware significantly changed.
 

Drawbacks of Box License

High initial cost

The upfront payment is much higher when compared to FairSaaS.

No free upgrades, daily or test builds

Feature upgrades are paid – either as a one-time order or via the subscription.

License is not floating

License is node-locked – but it is rehostable. However, this process is not automatic.

Limited number of render nodes

Each Box license comes with one workstation license and only three render nodes. You cannot buy more nodes separately.

 

Box FAQ

 

Are FairSaaS and Box licenses equal? 

Because we created the FairSaaS license as an improvement of the Box model, we think FairSaaS is the better solution. It eliminates cash flow problems and makes Corona affordable to anyone without large investments. We have however decided to keep the Box option to satisfy all customers.

 

Can I get more render nodes on Box? Three is not enough. 

No. If you need more render nodes, you can buy another license. You can use the workstation license as a render node, so each new Box license gives you 4 more nodes. We have decided not to offer a Box render node license, because we are trying to keep things simple (we would have to make special pricing also for the nodes upgrades, subscriptions, sidegrades, etc.).

 

What is the "subscription" for Box license? 

A subscription with Box license lets you access daily builds, monthly builds, and any major versions released when the subscription is active. It can be bought only together with the Box license. It is valid for 12 months and can be renewed. You can use any Corona version released during your active subscription even if you let the subscription expire.

 

How is it with the bug fixes if I do not have subscription? 

All bug fixes released for version 1.0 will be free even for users without subscription.

 

What are the upgrade options for Box license? 

If you did not buy a subscription when purchasing the Box license, you will not have free access to the future feature updates. You will be however eligible for one-time-paid upgrades to future major versions (e.g. 2.0).

 

Can I buy subscription later after a Box purchase? 

No, the subscription is bound to the serial number at the time of purchase.

 

Can I resell my Box license? 

Yes you can, but please notify us first, so we can update our records, thanks. If you are buying a license, do not trust unknown people selling licenses over internet. Please contact us first to verify the seller. Some scammers are buying licenses with stolen credit cards and reselling them. Those licenses will get blocked.

 

Is the subscription valid for 365 days, or until the end of the year? 

365 days.

 

How long until I get a license after I pay? 

Few seconds. Immediately after the payment you will get multiple e-mails with your invoice, discounts, and serial numbers that you can immediately use to activate Corona.
 
 

This article includes information relevant only to Corona Renderer 7 and older. 

Please note that starting from Corona 8 we offer new licensing options. 

For information about current Corona licensing, see: What is included in the Corona / V-Ray license?

 

 

 

 

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