One-time purchase software

"One-time purchase" almost never means what the reader assumes. Of the software that genuinely sells a licence outright today, most is perpetual with an update window, not perpetual full stop: you keep the version you bought forever, but you stop receiving updates after a year or three unless you pay again. That is a different product from the one people picture when they search for this, and it is worth spelling out before naming names.

Every price below was checked against each vendor's own store or pricing page on 22 August 2026.

What does "one-time purchase" actually buy you?

Not one thing. Five different things, depending on the vendor, and the difference matters more than the price.

Perpetual with an update window. You pay once, and updates keep arriving for a fixed period. After that, the app keeps working, but new features and fixes stop unless you pay again. Sublime Text sells this way: "Personal licenses are a once off purchase, and come with 3 years of updates. After 3 years, an upgrade will be required to receive further updates." TablePlus does the same over a shorter window: "Buy once, use forever," and separately, "After 1 year you can continue using the app without any limitations or you can renew for more updates." WinRAR sells a perpetual licence too, but keeps updates behind a separate purchase entirely: "WinRAR licenses are perpetual and valid for a lifetime," but "to stay up-to-date you must purchase a Support and Maintenance Package."

Paid major versions. Instead of a subscription, the vendor ships a new major version every so often and charges for it, at a lower price if you already own the last one. BBEdit works this way: version 16 is a fresh purchase at $59.99, or $29.99 as an upgrade from an earlier version, with minor updates free within that major version.

Subscription with a perpetual fallback. This is the shape most people get wrong. JetBrains sells a subscription, but pay for twelve consecutive months and you earn something extra: "The perpetual fallback license allows you to use a software version indefinitely, even if your active subscription ends." You are still subscribing. What you are buying with that subscription is the right to keep whatever version was current when your active year ends, forever, even if you stop paying afterwards. It is not a one-time purchase in the ordinary sense, but it is the closest a subscription model gets to one.

Perpetual sold alongside a subscription. Some vendors simply offer both, for the same product, and let the buyer choose. OmniFocus 4 does this: a perpetual Standard licence at $74.99 or Pro at $149.99, covering all 4.x updates, sitting next to a subscription option for anyone who would rather rent.

Genuinely one-time, simple. No window, no major-version treadmill, no fallback clause. Office Home 2024 is priced this way: $179.99, one payment, for one PC or Mac.

The shapes, side by side

What each product actually is, and what buying it gets you.

Parallels Standard is worth a separate line: it is perpetual, but there are no free upgrades to future major versions at all, so you keep minor fixes to the version you bought and nothing beyond it. And 1Password is worth naming precisely because of what its page does not say. Its current pricing page shows subscription only, with no one-time option visible. No statement from the vendor about discontinuing a one-time licence was found anywhere, so the honest description is what the page shows today, not a change they announced.

Why did two well-known products just move in opposite directions?

Because the pressure runs both ways, and the same week can carry a company moving toward subscriptions and one moving away from them.

Snagit and Camtasia ended perpetual sales. TechSmith said it plainly: "TechSmith is transitioning to an annual subscription-only model, beginning with Snagit 2025 and Camtasia 2025." Anyone who already owns a perpetual licence keeps what they bought; new buyers get subscription only. Snagit now lists at GBP 34.64 per user per year, billed yearly.

Affinity went the other way, and became free. Canva's newsroom announcement was unambiguous: "Affinity is now completely free, forever." Optional AI features need a paid Canva plan, but the core apps cost nothing at all. This is worth sitting with, because Affinity's entire reputation was built on being the one-time-purchase alternative to a subscription-only competitor. It is now neither a subscription nor a one-time purchase. It is free.

Plenty of other software still sells outright, at real prices, which is the actual point of this page: the format has not disappeared, it is just described far more loosely than the terms on any individual product's own page support.

What should you actually ask before believing "one-time purchase"?

Four questions, in this order, before you take the phrase at face value.

1. How long do updates actually last? Three years, one year, or genuinely forever. The vendor's own pricing or licensing page will say, in words close to the ones quoted above. 2. What happens at the next major version? Some vendors ship the next major version free within your window. Others treat it as a fresh purchase, at a discounted upgrade price if you already own the last one. 3. How many machines or seats does it cover? TablePlus is one device. Office Home 2024 is one PC or Mac. This varies enough between vendors that it is worth checking on the exact product page rather than assuming. 4. Is support included, or sold separately? WinRAR's answer is separately, and its own page says so.

Docket is priced the simple way: one payment, $99 for Pro, no subscription, no update window, updates for as long as the product exists. That is not unusual, it is one of five shapes described above, and it is the one worth naming plainly rather than dressing up.

For the other side of this, what the subscription tools in the feedback-and-roadmap category actually cost once you add up the years, see what feedback tools actually cost. For the two figures inside that most people compare on the wrong basis, see tracked users, seats and workspaces.

Frequently asked questions