If you already own a license eligible for upgrade, the perpetual license upgrade is the clear way to go, costing $150 (or $135)/year vs $180 to $240/year for the subscription. Once you hit the crossover, there would be no difference.

There is a chance that Phase One will go to a subscription only model in the future, and if that happens before you pay off the initial cost, you could end up paying a little more. After that, the cost is at least 25% less every year ($135 for a discounted upgrade, $180-$240 for the subscription) If you are able to get a promo code for a 10% discount, usable only on perpetual licenses, the cost changes to $405 for the same license + 1 upgrade in two years, so the crossover point is at two years and three months. Phase One now allows for upgrades from any version, but it I haven’t run into that yet, the last several upgrades have added enough to justify upgrading. You can also choose to skip upgrades if it does not look like the upgrade is worthwhile. This may change a bit depending on when in the release cycle you buy the licenses, but it is safe to say that in less than two and a half years the cost of the subscription exceeds the cost of the perpetual license and upgrades. So in 2 years, a license + 1 upgrade would cost $450, a monthly subscription would cost $480, and a subscription paid yearly would cost around $360, so at a year and eleven months paid monthly, and about two years and five months the yearly cost crosses over, and the subscription becomes more expensive (it is actually around the three year mark overall, since the next upgrade costs another $150/$135). Subscription: $20 paid monthly, or $180 paid yearly. Upgrades: $150, released approximately once a year. Perpetual license: $300 ( Buy from Amazon or Adorama, affiliate links) These are current as of December 2018, are taken from, and are subject to change at any time. So, which is a better deal for Capture One users? Let’s look at the costs. The downsides are that there is a constant cost, and in most cases the cost of the subscription will overtake the cost of perpetual license and upgrades. More software is going to a subscription model, which offers the benefits of a smaller up front cost and distributing the cost over multiple lower payments.

Capture one pro sony price