The BricsCAD V19 release has not only given us a new software release (an excellent one – and I’ll be writing about that later), it’s also given us a new Bricsys website and a new pricing structure. In some cases prices are actually slightly lower, but in the vast majority of cases the movement is up. The price movement varies by product, market and currency, and depends largely on whether you choose to opt for All-in Maintenance. The aim of this post is to clarify exactly what has happened to Bricsys prices.
One significant change across the board is the way All-in Maintenance is priced. It was previously a fixed amount (e.g. US$220) to pre-emptively keep up to date with each of the three BricsCAD types (Classic, Pro and Platinum). Now it’s a percentage (e.g. 30%), which means All-in is now cheaper than it was for Classic users and more expensive for everyone else.
You’ll also note that the rarely-used subscription (rental) pricing is now much easier to find on the web site. The annual cost equates to about 40% of the cost of a perpetual license.
Those 30% and 40% figures look high, but remember that they’re a percentage of much smaller sums than you get with Autodesk. For example, the difference between buying BricsCAD Pro with and without All-in is US$255. Going Subscription (rental) for a year is $488. For comparison, keeping an old perpetual AutoCAD license up to date is in the region of US$500+ (it varies considerably under different circumstances) and the current annual AutoCAD subscription cost in the USA is US$1575 (bear in mind that this now includes access to various AutoCAD-based verticals).
Let’s compare the BricsCAD prices before and after these changes. First, US$ prices without All-in. Note that none of these prices include taxes.
| US$ | BricsCAD Classic | BricsCAD Pro | BricsCAD Platinum | BricsCAD BIM | BricsCAD Mechanical |
| V18 | 590 | 750 | 1110 | 1760 | 1630 |
| V19 | 590 | 770 | 1110 | 1720 | 1630 |
As you can see, there is very little price movement at all here. Note that these V19 prices are promotional, which means they won’t stay at this level for ever. (Edit: the promotional prices apply until 16 December 2018).
The Euro prices have moved up a little more:
| Euro | BricsCAD Classic | BricsCAD Pro | BricsCAD Platinum | BricsCAD BIM | BricsCAD Mechanical |
| V18 | 480 | 640 | 990 | 1540 | 1440 |
| V19 | 525 | 725 | 1050 | 1590 | 1500 |
A more useful comparison can be made by comparing the prices including All-in, because (temporary conditions excepted) this is the cheapest way of keeping up to date, and the way I’d usually recommend paying for BricsCAD. I’ve included the post-promotion prices here so you can get an idea of the total movement.
| US$ | BricsCAD Classic | BricsCAD Pro | BricsCAD Platinum | BricsCAD BIM | BricsCAD Mechanical |
| V18 | 810 | 970 | 1330 | 2100 | 1940 |
| V19 (Promotion) | 781 | 1025 | 1470 | 2275 | 2155 |
| V19 (Standard) | 825 | 1105 | 1560 | 2405 | 2275 |
Here’s the same thing in Euros:
| Euro | BricsCAD Classic | BricsCAD Pro | BricsCAD Platinum | BricsCAD BIM | BricsCAD Mechanical |
| V18 | 680 | 840 | 1190 | 1840 | 1720 |
| V19 (Promotion) | 701 | 965 | 1391 | 2115 | 1995 |
| V19 (Standard) | 760 | 1040 | 1475 | 2275 | 2145 |
The upshot is that for most customers, buying and maintaining the low-end Classic product is slightly cheaper than it was, but as you move up the product range, the price increases start to bite. However, the total cost of ownership is still significantly lower than AutoCAD. The following table shows the total licensing costs over several time periods, assuming no price increases from anybody. Yes, I know that’s not a reasonable assumption, but at least it precludes guesswork! The ongoing annual All-in price is assumed to be 30% of the non-promotional product cost.
| US$ | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year |
| BricsCAD Classic (All-in) | 781 | 1276 | 1771 | 3009 |
| BricsCAD Pro (All-in) | 1025 | 1688 | 2351 | 4009 |
| BricsCAD Platinum (All-in) | 1470 | 2406 | 3342 | 5682 |
| BricsCAD Classic (Subscription) | 312 | 936 | 1560 | 3120 |
| BricsCAD Pro (Subscription) | 410 | 1230 | 2050 | 4100 |
| BricsCAD Platinum (Subscription) | 588 | 1764 | 2940 | 5880 |
| AutoCAD (subscription) | 1575 | 4725 | 7875 | 15750 |
| AutoCAD LT* (subscription) | 390 | 1170 | 1950 | 3900 |
* Note that I have included AutoCAD LT here for comparison even though it is a significantly less capable product than BricsCAD Classic, which has 3D and full LISP capabilities.
In addition, BricsCAD Platinum plus Sheet Metal is now called BricsCAD Mechanical, with the price including All-in going from US$1940 to US$2155 ($2275 after promotion). Euro prices go from €1720 to €1995 (€2145 after promotion). Similarly, BricsCAD Platinum plus BIM is now called BricsCAD BIM, with the price including All-in going from US$2100 to US$2275 ($2405 after promotion). Euro prices go from €1840 to €2115 (€2275 after promotion).
It’s worth noting that the price of Communicator, the Bricsys format translator, has dropped slightly in most cases despite providing more format translation options.
If you intend buying a Bricsys product and also want to support this blog, then please use this link:
Bricsys Store
Disclosure: this is a sponsored link. If you buy a Bricsys product using this link, I get part of the proceeds. However, this will not have any effect on the editorial content of this blog. I don’t expect to be able to retire on the proceeds from this link (if any) and I will continue to write what I honestly think about the CAD products and policies of all companies, as I see fit.
Steve, so how long is The promotional pricing going to be for? my next Lump sum Income is going To be in early January. I just downloaded The 30 day Trial yesterday, so I can now play with Lisp again. Thanks, Take care. (been using OtterCAD since 1988. BricsCAD Looks definitely better.
I’ll see if I can find out.
The promotional prices apply until 16 December 2018. (Thanks, Sander!)
I am a professional Santa Claus, &I usually get paid in a Lump sum at The End of The Year. even Tho The price will be higher by Then it is still an excellent bargain compared to Ottercats. I will try to get around To sending You some of my old basic Lisp routines (for your evaluation), here is a basic Template that allows fairly quick input, (I use a right-handed mouse Left-handed >long story< ) so This allows command selection & Then immediately followed by The numeric Input:
(defun c:00 () (progn (command nil nil nil)(command ".save" "") (princ)))
(defun c:20 () (command ".arc") (princ))
(defun c:21 () (command ".line") (princ))
(defun c:22 () (command ".pline") (princ))
Take care. I have hundreds of These, from 1989-1993 or so, just basic.
Hi,
I think it would be fair to include AutoCAD LT to your price comparison, since you have BricsCAD Classic in the chart at the end of your article. I was actually quite surprised this version is not priced as unreasonably as the full version of AutoCAD – $390 per month.
I understand your point, but with its LISP and 3D capabilities (the main things missing in LT), BricsCAD Classic is much closer to full AutoCAD than it is to AutoCAD LT.
From my experience, most CAD users use it only for 2D drafting, with no additional scripts. For them, the choice is between BricsCAD Classic and AutoCAD LT, that’s why I think it should be included in your price comparison for it to be fair.
Don’t take me wrong, I think BricsCAD is better offering and I am a BricsCAD user. I would just like to see a fair comparison of products on a high quality blog like yours.
Fair enough, you have persuaded me. Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you for listening. And also kudos for disclosing the sponsored link, the transparency is appreciated.
Wasn’t v2016 the end of promissory, um, perpetual licensing in the US? Seems to me that any form of physical 2016 updating ended with the release of 2017. I averaged one “support” telephone adventure every ten years – without any satisfying happy endings. Even with service packs and hotfixes it’s always been a DIY style of support. Even during Beta days (my) bug reports were ignored. Support is/was a very generous term.
You don’t seem to mentioned that it appears you now have to pay a mandatory fee for the All in maintenance option. This now make the upgrade fee extremely costly. Perhaps some of the Adesk accountants have moved across to Bricsys?
The web site now defaults to including All-in but you can opt out of that during the purchase process. Or do you mean the case where you haven’t been on maintenance and now want to do a catch-up upgrade, and you now have to sign up for one year’s All-in?
I have never had the All-in and I don’t want it now. That being said, can I decline and not have it now or do I have pay for it anyway?
If you’re buying a new license you can easily decline All-in at purchase time.
If you haven’t been paying All-in and want an upgrade then you do now need to sign up for one year’s All-in in addition to the upgrade fee, as I understand it.
If the latter is your situation then yes, an upgrade will now be significantly more expensive. You are, in effect, paying for two upgrades; this one and the next one that will be covered by the All-in.
For a limited time, there will be a special V19 Upgrade offer. It will greatly reduce your cost to switch to BricsCAD V19 with All-In Maintenance. You’ll get V19 today, Priority Support access for a full year, and the next major release of BricsCAD in late 2019.
Hi Steve
for me there is a big gap between V18 and V19, this was the possibility to add BIM and SheetMetal and Communicator to your license.
Now in V19 I don’t see any possibility to add this to my License, I just can Buy BCMechanical or BCBIM. so if I don’t have a “All in” from V18 there is a BIG increase in the Price. If you now compare this Prices of what was Possible 2 days go and Today there is more then 450% price Increase…. not just a little bit…
Bricsys is working on a product that we’ll (likely) call BricsCAD Ultimate. It will consist of Platinum + BIM + Mechanical. It will be competitive price-wise, and less expensive than purchasing a BricsCAD BIM and a BricsCAD Mechanical. BricsCAD Ultimate will of course be available as a perpetual (permanent) license.
Communicator will continue to be a stand-alone module, because we want to give our customers a choice. If they need it, fine. If not, no need to pay for it.
Aha, can I switch to this Ultimate license for a reasonable price? what do I do if I have just one package BIM/Mechanical (SM). Do I have to buy a new license that would be again more the double to triple the price of just adding BIM/Mechanical (Sheet Metal)?Can I Upgrade to this license?
I know you’ll be able to upgrade rather than buying another license. Whether you consider the price reasonable is up to you, of course. If the site’s still not letting you choose this option to see how much it would cost, I suggest you raise a support ticket so somebody contacts you with the details.
Is there an upgrade priced from V. 17 to V. 19?
I know there is, but upgrade prices aren’t as readily discoverable. You’re in a better position than me to find out what the price is by requesting it on the eStore and entering your serial number. I know the upgrade prices have just gone down, too.
Re comparison to LT, surely LT should be compared to Draftsight, which is free. I realise that makes it an almost impossible comparison in that Free has a distinct advantage, but so long as LT remains a non-customisable 2D package then I will always recommend potential users to look at Draftsight first. It’s free, and it’s legal. That’s a very good start!
A major failing of Bricscad Mechanical (which I am seriously looking at buying in a matter of days) is the absence of support for STEP files. These are now the standard interchange in 3D mechanical work, and to have to pay for a “translator” module just to deal with them is very off-putting. I have asked Bricsys about this, but they don’t seem to recognise STEP files as an every day utility, classing then as equivalent to CATIA translations. They are not.
Dear Keith,
DraftSight will no longer be free (announced for later this year);
we have to pay a royalty to Spatial/Dassault for the import/export exchanger (Communicator) for each sold version – and that license fee is not cheap.