SOLIDWORKS Licensing: Choices, Not Ultimatums

SOLIDWORKS provides customers with multiple licensing choices; not one size fits all ultimatums.  When I tell my son, “we’re going to have carrots with dinner” his immediate response is “no daddy.”  When my wife asks, “would you like carrots or peas with dinner” he’s quick to respond, “carrots please.”  We all want him to be healthy and grow, but what he wants is the ability to choose.  SOLIDWORKS wants your business to be healthy and grow (and like my much smarter wife!) knows it’s best for everyone if you have choices.

Perpetual Licensing: You own it FOREVER!

That’s right. It’s yours. FOREVER.  SOLIDWORKS is pretty adamant about perpetual licensing, because SOLIDWORKS is all about the community, and the community believes when you buy a seat of SOLIDWORKS it’s your license you own it.

Network (“Floating”) Perpetual Licensing: The Library.

This perpetual license type is growing in popularity because many companies have teams that need access to SOLIDWORKS “some” of the time, but not all at once.  Once a one-time network has been set up, you can add as many licenses to the network as you need.  Think of the network license like a library.  If you can get to the library and the book is there, you can check it out.  Anyone in the company can install SOLIDWORKS on their machine, and if they can see the network, they can check out a license and use SOLIDWORKS.  When done that license is checked back in for someone else to use.  If you are going on a trip without network access? No problem, check the license out for the duration of your trip before you leave the office and you can use SOLIDWORKS away from the network.

Standalone Perpetual Licensing: Access unplugged.

The “traditional” perpetual licensing model that many SOLIDWORKS users love. You can put a standalone license on any one machine at a time, and you don’t need to see a network to check it out.  Fire up your computer in a desert, and SOLIDWORKS runs. No need to worry about whether you checked out a license before you left for your desert trip. New computer? Need to run SOLIDWORKS at home? No problem, Standalone licenses can handle these scenarios with a little planning.

Subscription Services: Long Term VALUE

With SOLIDWORKS, Subscriptions are a SERVICE that brings VALUE to your business.  Subscriptions not only give you access to free local technical phone support, but you also get free version upgrades.  Each year SOLIDWORKS releases a new version with hundreds of enhancements at the request of the community and with the subscription service you can upgrade to the latest version OR keep going with what you have if you’re not ready to upgrade yet (CHOICES!).

Term Licensing: Rent it for a while!

Term licensing with SOLIDWORKS is all about fulfilling a request from the community.  Business needs were changing, and the community expressed a need for short term licensing that could handle short-term staffing changes (like interns or project work), so SOLIDWORKS developed term licenses.  You can rent these licenses for a short period without purchasing the license outright.

Articles like this are not the definitive end to the licensing talk about SOLIDWORKS. Why? SOLIDWORKS is all about CHOICES and as the community’s needs change SOLIDWORKS will continue to provide new and innovative options to address those business needs, the way a business partner should.

Contact CATI at 888-308-2284 today to discuss your business needs, and we’ll try to help find a CHOICE that supports the PARTNERSHIP you deserve.

Brandon Nelms
Application Engineer
Computer Aided Technology, Inc