You tell us:
“we’re switching DEVONthink to a more flexible and modern license model.”
I’m not so sure!
I paid around €40 in 2019 for DVT 3 (I was a user of DVT 2).
A little over 5 years later, I’m offered a DVT 4 upgrade for 55€ (including tax) if I’ve seen correctly, but renewable annually.
It would therefore cost me 6 times more than before for the same 5-year period.
But perhaps I’ve misunderstood???
If so, please explain.
I know I won’t have to renew every year.
But what about any bug fixes? Will I not be entitled to them?
I’ve been very-very satisfied with DVT
but at this price, I think I’ll look for a cheaper alternative.
I’m retired and use the software purely privately.
I’m obviously no longer part of your target audience 
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Where did you get 55 euros for a license? i just upgraded for 110 (incl. tax) and it did not mention anything about annual renewals.
Probably Standard edition in one case, Pro edition in the second case.
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55 euros (tax included) is the price on the site for the standard edition (upgrade DVT 3 > 4)
with one year of updates
so to get updates (even security ones?) it is 110 per year? you effectively switched to a subscription?
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So am I and so do I. I sympathise with your feelings but, personally, don’t agree with them. Of course, DEVONthink is not "cheap” software by any stretch of the imagination. But it is rock solid, reliable and hugely versatile software with some of the best support I’ve ever come across.
Each of us has to weigh the benefits against the cost but so far as I’m concerned—even though I may never use any of the AI features and even though I use DEVONthink only for personal matters—it is worth what I’ve paid for the upgrade to version 4.0. My databases have very significant value to me as do all the automations that enable smooth filing and manipluation of 60+ years of diary entries (which I’m sure regular readers are thoroughly sick of hearing about 
).
I don’t seek to criticise your views but merely to provide a balancing view.
Stephen
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It is not a subscription. A subscription effectively cuts off all use after the period expires. Ours is similar to a service contract where you still can use the application as long as it runs on the operating system you’re running. You just will not receive updates beyond the expired service date.
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Yep, I know, jetbrains has the same license model. But it ends up being a subscription in real life (at least in case of jetbrains development cycle).
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I’d compare it to Tinderbox instead. Eastgate has used this model for as long as I can remember but their upfront used to be steeper to get in.
At some point, while having each tool justified individually makes sense on one lens, having a stable of these tools starts to represent a monthly load in the aggregate - for instance, if you have panorama, and tinderbox, and DEVONthink, and … you’re at real money monthly. That point will be different for each person.
But, as far as recurring costs go, the way tinderbox has always done it and what it appears that DT is doing with this move, they won’t leave you empty handed if you have to choose between eggs and software one year.
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Will we still get security patches if we stop extending? or small updates so DT4 can run in the future MacOs versions.
I have some old iPhones which don’t get the new features anymore, but they still get occasionally security fix. This is a fair model.
Welcome @Keither
Our updates all include additions and improvements, not just fixes. In fact, in almost 13 years here I can only recall two hotfixes we’ve released.
That being said, if there were a need for a hotfix for someone out of license, we would handle it professionally and fairly in that situation.
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how do you define a hotfix?
A bugfix-only release for a critical issue, e.g., crashing on launch.
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Well interesting approach.1. first thought-does D4 offer enough improvements/new power to bother upgrading in one’s use case? insufficient data right now. can try the trial and test this. 2. it is still valuable to be able to pay once get the new product and a year of updates. 3. updates after that are indeed subscription however it is worded but you are paying for what you get. I assume Bullfrog et al do not work for free! Devonthink has to have a financially stable financial model or it will cease to exist or improve. 4. I will wait and see feedbacks on D4 advantages, then test it and decide. I have been using chatgpt for several months and do find that type of AI useful in targeted cases.
The money is still trivial for my uses. Thanks for continuing to improve.
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You’re right: DVT is very solid (even if I’ve had a few synchronization problems)
and the support is exceptional (the developers and this forum).
It really is one of my favorite programs, which I’ve already recommended to other people.
And I won’t change my mind about it.
But multiplying the price by 6 seems a bit exaggerated.
I’d like to think that DevonTechnologies was already on a sound financial footing.
x2 or x3 would have been fine…
Moreover, to come and tell us “more flexible and modern license model” also seems a bit exaggerated to me.
What’s in it for us, the users? I’ve searched and searched, but I can’t find it.
Why not propose a model for non-professional users?
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Beyond the Server edition being geared toward business and academia, we make no distinction between professional and non-professional customers. You get no less advantage or support than someone running a company.
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I’ve been using DEVONthink since 2012. I’ve purchased every upgrade and the mobile DTTG versions. Kudos for offering a one-time-payment option for DTTG 3. DT is a great tool, and I especially love the item link feature that allows linking to DT documents from various apps. I may not use every feature, but it’s still a pleasure to work with. I’ve recommended DT to many people looking to digitize their paper documents.
However, I’m now seriously considering leaving DT. A sixfold price increase is significant. It feels like reverse compounding interest—the longer you stay, the more it costs.
Unfortunately, much of the software I value has adopted the subscription model—often with steep price hikes. Mathematically, it may make sense: even if you lose half your users, you could still end up tripling your revenue. But for many customers, this kind of shift feels like the beginning of what’s now widely referred to as “enshitification.” That’s exactly what happened with Evernote, which I used before DT. It feels similar to how Europeans react to sudden US tariffs: a sense of betrayal in a relationship that once felt stable, only to realize it’s all just a numbers game 
I do appreciate that DT lets users export their data and continue using the software without an active subscription. I understand this message won’t change your mind, but I still hope you’ll consider a middle ground—such as a basic one-time-payment tier that includes more than just hotfixes. For example, it could cover ongoing support for essential features (like updating broken AI APIs or replacing them when new, dominant alternatives emerge, fixing the item links feature when it fails or fixing Sync when it is broken) without introducing entirely new features.
Thank you for continuing to build a product that many of us have relied on for years. I truly hope there’s a path forward that works for both sides 
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Surely getting the next year’s support will not be as much as buying the software in the first place - although I haven’t seen a pricing structure, so I don’t know. But if you buy an iPhone, which comes with a year of AppleCare, and then you decide to extend AppleCare - you don’t pay another $800. You just pay the $120 (or whatever it is for your model).
So, it seems like if you buy DT pro for $200, it would be totally crazy to expect people to pay another $200 to extend the “service contract” for another year. That can’t possibly be what they have in mind.
I have no idea what they are really going to charge, but, gosh, if it is $200 a year, then that is nuts - it just can’t be. That’s equivalent to buying a new phone instead of buying AppleCare - why do that? The yearly service price just has to be substantially less than the original purchase price.
At least that’s the way it seems to me.
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Adobe Lightroom classic yearly cost is close to what Adobe was billing for the one time purchase before switching to the subscription model (just saying…)
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