Whether you own a single Octave BricsCAD license or manage a hundred seats, the underlying decision is the same: a small predictable cost now, or an unpredictable larger one later.

Skipping a BricsCAD Maintenance renewal might look like an easy way to trim the software budget. One year you don't pay and the line item disappears. Nothing breaks the next morning. Your perpetual license still opens and your drawings are all there. The work carries on. But it’s a false economy. The cost of lapsing might not be in the form of a bill that arrives the day you cancel. But when that bill ultimately arrives, it’s usually larger and at the worst possible time.

Let’s do the math.

What lapsing actually does (and doesn't do)

A perpetual license means you own the version you bought, indefinitely. Letting BricsCAD Maintenance lapse doesn't switch off your software. What you lose is everything that keeps that software moving forward:

  • Upgrades to newer BricsCAD versions.
  • Expert support from the BricsCAD technical team.
  • The ability to influence the roadmap through feature requests and logged issues.
  • Free Octave-built PLM/PDM connectors. If your team integrates BricsCAD with Autodesk® Vault Pro or Bentley ProjectWise®, those connectors are a Maintenance-only benefit.
  • For network/floating licenses, the Maintenance plan keeps them flexible.

So, the day after you lapse, you're frozen at your current version without support. The gap only widens from there, which is where the real cost lives.

The 3-version upgrade window

From 2026 onward, only the three most recent BricsCAD versions are eligible for upgrades. (Have you seen all the new features in V26?) This detail can turn a skipped renewal into a rebuy. Stay current (or stay on Maintenance) and you're always inside that window. Let your version age out of it, and the upgrade path closes.

Once you're outside the window, you're no longer renewing Maintenance to catch up; you're buying a brand-new license at full price. The "saving" from the year (or two) you skipped gets wiped out, and then some.

Do the math

Plug in your own product level and current pricing, the shape of the result doesn't change. Say you run BricsCAD Pro, and renewing Maintenance costs roughly the published annual rate. Compare two paths over a few years:

Path A: Stay on Maintenance. You pay the renewal each year. In return, you're always on the latest version, always inside the upgrade window, always on support. Cost is predictable and flat. There is never a moment where you're forced into a large, unplanned purchase.

Path B: Lapse to save a year. You skip one renewal and pocket the savings. For a while, nothing happens. Then a version you need lands—a new feature that removes a tedious step, a fix you've been waiting for, or simply compatibility with a new OS or file format a client sends you. You go to upgrade and learn that your version has aged out of the three-version window. Now, the only route forward is a full new license, which costs multiples of the Maintenance renewal you skipped. Your "saving" was real for a year and then erased in a single afternoon.

The trap isn't the price of Maintenance. It's that lapsing converts a small recurring cost into a large irregular one and removes your control over when that cost hits.

The costs that don’t show up on the invoice

The rebuy is the obvious one. The more discreet costs are often bigger:

  • Security and compatibility drift. When your OS moves on—Windows 10 reaching end of support, for example—out-of-date CAD software stops receiving the updates that keep it secure and running smoothly. Falling behind can mean accumulating risk, as security flaws get patched up with up-to-date software.
  • Lost productivity. Every release folds in features and refinements that shave time off everyday tasks. Sitting on an old version means paying for that lost time every day, in slower workflows. This cost doesn’t show up as a number on the balance sheet, but is very real on a timesheet.
  • Lack of support. The moment you most need help is mid-deadline. Maintenance customers have access to expert support; without it, you're stuck on your own.
  • No say in the roadmap. Active Maintenance lets you log feature requests and issues that the product teams review and consider. Lapse, and you give up your seat at that table.

Reading this as a solo user

If it's your license, the decision is mostly about avoiding a nasty surprise. The renewal is a known, modest, annual figure you can plan around. The alternative is gambling that you won't need a newer version before your current one ages out. Renewing is the boring, cheaper choice, and boring is what you want from infrastructure.

Reading this as a team or enterprise license admin

At scale, every effect above multiplies. And a few new ones appear:

  • Version fragmentation. Seats that lapse at different times drift onto different versions. Now your team can't reliably share files internally, custom tooling behaves inconsistently, and "which version are you on?" becomes a daily question. A fleet on BricsCAD Maintenance is a fleet on one current version.
  • Broken network licensing. Floating/network licenses are tied to Maintenance. Letting it lapse freezes versions and undercuts the flexible licensing model your team relies on to share seats.
  • Unpredictable budgeting. Finance prefers a flat, forecastable renewal line to a surprise capital request for a fleet-wide rebuy. Maintenance turns an unpredictable risk into a planned operating cost, and renewals can be locked in for multiple years to smooth the budget further.
  • Weakened compliance and security posture. For many organizations, running unsupported software is inconvenient, as well as a policy or audit problem. Staying current keeps the whole fleet inside supported, patched territory.
  • Lost data-system integration. The connectors linking BricsCAD to Autodesk® Vault Pro or Bentley ProjectWise® are free with Maintenance and exclusive to it. Lapse, and that integration path closes.

The admin version of the math is simply the solo version times your seat count, except the rebuy risk and the productivity drag compound, because they hit everyone at once.

How to stay in the safe zone

  • Treat Maintenance as infrastructure, not a discretionary add-on. It belongs in the same mental bucket as your OS licenses and backups.
  • Renew before you lapse, not after you're stuck. The whole cost asymmetry exists because catching up later is expensive. Staying current is cheap.
  • Use multi-year renewals to lock pricing and remove the annual decision entirely. (Contact your local partner or sales to learn more.)
  • Admins: audit your seats. Know which licenses are on Maintenance, which are drifting, and consolidate before fragmentation sets in. You can manage active licenses and support contracts from your BricsCAD account.

The bottom line

BricsCAD Maintenance isn't really a fee for support and upgrades. It's a small price to pay to not end up making a larger, poorly timed purchase later, and to keep your tools secure and compatible moving forward. Skipping it saves a known small amount today in exchange for an unknown larger amount tomorrow. For one seat or a thousand, that's a bad trade.

If you're not sure where your licenses stand, check your Maintenance status in your account or review your current BricsCAD setup with your team before your version ages out of the upgrade window. That's the line you don't want to be on the wrong side of when the version you need arrives.

Not yet a BricsCAD user? Get it (with Maintenance) today!