Has the Standard (Perpetual License) Option Been Removed?
Okay, here's what I've done to get ATI 2021:
Order a physical copy from Amazon. See link attached.
When you receive it, all it contains is a piece of paper with the license key.
Go to second link attached and download the installation software. Then use the license key provided.
That's it. Acronis makes it hard but it's possible!
I came looking for an upgrade for my ati2020 but was really disappointed to find another subscription method. Some time ago I got a refund for ati2021 as it performed even worse than 2020.
I will not go down the subscription route and will give Macrium a try.
Never ever Acronis. I don't need Cyber protection, have other software for this.
Good bye Acronis, you have a shitty products.
ATI 2021 cloning disk does not work (ATI technical support admitted this, promised to fix it in the next version, but there is no new version!!!).
AcronisTrueImage2021.iso creates unbootable USB disk.
Macrium Reflect, free for home users, works very well.
I like many have been a user of Acronis and have purchased upgrades every 2-3 years for well over a decade and would have continued for a decade more at least. It is a shame that they the owners want in on the Netflix/Anti-Virus/Office 365 et al subscription dollars and have chosen to alienate their loyal customers.
I won't be paying for any such subscription for a backup solution and only buy security based apps from companies whose sole business is to make such programs.
Something tells me this model will backfire on them and they will be scrambling to get their past customers back. Time will tell but by then most us will be long gone.
RIP Acronis
I only use ATI because it came on a WD hard drive I bought for making archival backups of decommissioned personal systems. I was considering upgrading to the non-WD version, but that seems highly unlikely now in light of this topic.
Andrew, the WD OEM version of ATI is fine provided you have a WD drive connected to meet the licensing conditions.
It will be interesting to see how Acronis manage that aspect of ATI going forward as OEM vendors such as WD, Crucial, Seagate etc are unlikely to be bundling free versions of ACPHO when it requires a subscription else operates as a 30-day trial program?
@Steve
OEMs will package ATI just like they do today with AV; with a 3m-6m or 12m subscription. You try it - you like it - you ultimately subscribe to it. The racket works perfectly for all those without any technical experience - just go with what the OEM provides. The best part is when you go to someone's home (who is non-technical) and they have a PC problem. They say "I got McAfee when I bought the PC" - and there it is - 2-3 years later not running (no active subscription) and they wonder why they have a virus.
But to your point - definitely something other backup companies must be already thinking of - how to steal that OEM business from Acronis.
Also one other point - I have never found the Acronis subscription pricing to be a good value. If they charged 25% of the perpetual license for a subscription - then you could make a case. Office 365 can be had on sale for a year - and for that you are always up to date with the latest and greatest; the single license without subscription is far far more unless you get an education discount. Acronis wants the subscription model but is not charging a reduced amount; which I am sure is a factor for some that are balking.
I've been buying Acronis products since ~2006. My friends/family and.. $$$$$$ for work. I see what Acronis has become (antivirus LOL!), and rental only software.
Bye!
Hello all. I'm new to this forum. I have found a solution. I downloaded and installed the trial version of the Acronis True Image 2021 suite, from the Acronis website, that contained all the bells and whistles. I then purchased a perpetual license for the basic ATI 2021 version from a third-party reseller website (I found a few by googling). I then entered the purchased licensed key in my trial version and it was easily activated by the Acronis server. It looks like I only have the basic version activated, as I see prompts to try the extended protection services, but I too only wanted the backup part of the suite. Therefore, I believe this is a great workaround. If you decide to try this solution, please report back on your success on this forum.
Perhaps it's ok for occasionnal user, but from a professional perspective, it's totally unthinkable…
Hello Everyone,
sorry to know that you're disappointed with the recent changes! We understand that the new licensing options might not be welcomed by all users, however this change will allow us to provide constant security and service updates and develop the new updates more efficiently. The subscription model also ensures a Customer always has a valid support contract with an active subscription.
We hope that our software will better suit your needs in the future and if you haven't used the latest product version Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, we'd encourage you to install a free trial from https://www.acronis.com/products/true-image/
Here you can find the answers to the frequently asked questions about the product https://kb.acronis.com/ati2022/faq
Ekaterina wrote:Hello Everyone,
sorry to know that you're disappointed with the recent changes! We understand that the new licensing options might not be welcomed by all users, however this change will allow us to provide constant security and service updates and develop the new updates more efficiently. The subscription model also ensures a Customer always has a valid support contract with an active subscription.
We hope that our software will better suit your needs in the future and if you haven't used the latest product version Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, we'd encourage you to install a free trial from https://www.acronis.com/products/true-image/
Here you can find the answers to the frequently asked questions about the product https://kb.acronis.com/ati2022/faq
Hi, Ekaterina.
This is an excellent example of how enterprise companies are not listening to their potential customers. The goal of any company is to reach a maximum high number of sales and have loyal customers. By creating a subscription, you are trying to achieve both goals. Still, the main issue is that company tries to consolidate backup & recovery solution utility with other types of solutions like anti-ransomware, antivirus, and protection against malicious websites. Maybe soon, it will receive an integrated VPN, etc.
But the main point here is that custom has an issue, and it seeks a solution. Maybe it already has an antivirus solution that satisfies him.
Functionality, Actual requirement, and Price.
Functionality
If the user seeks for AntiVirus solution, there should be Acronis Anti-Virus. If users seek for "Backup and Recovery" solution, there should be a solution of Acronis True Image. If users seek both Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office.
Actual requirement
If the customer already has an AntiVirus solution with a subscription for 3 years and needs only "Backup and Recovery" without extra features, why even try to sell something that he does not needs.
More brilliant is to have an upgrade option. For example, to upgrade one product of "Backup and Recovery" to another with more features like "Home office".
The idea is to be more modular and more flexible to provide customers with what he needs.
Price
I don't remember who said that great quote, but "The customer is always right." If the customer wants to buy the product for a few years, you need to give him that option (Of course should be a lifecycle for each product). In case that customer whats to get a monthly subscription, no problem, you have it.
By removing the purchase options, you increase the chance to think about another alternative product.
Although I have purchased various updates of AcronisTrue Image Home since 2011, I have no intention of purchasing a subscription for the latest version. Acronis is producing software that goes far beyond backing up PCs by implementing security solutions and in my view this is overkill. I already use well-established security packages and do not need - nor want - such a package from a newcomer who is not well-established in the security market. Why can't Acronis continue to develop AcronisTrue Image Home separately from the security package on a non-subscription basis? Then they can satisfy both markets.
Acronis has lost another loyal customer; There are some excellent free backup programs available such as Macrium or AOEMI which meet all my backup requirements and there is also Reboot Restore (Freeware) that can replace Try & Decide.
I avoid subscriptions like the plague, including this one. For the foreseeable future I shall stick with ATI 2020 that I currently have. And the very large corporate I work for, which has used Acronis for a long time, is now in the process of moving across to a good competitor product which still supports perpetual licencing, provoked to do so solely by Acronis moving to subscription only. If ATI 2020 at any time ceases to be viable for me, I shall then consider moving across to my company's same choice ... time will tell.
Hello,
first of all, I'm sorry because English it's not my native language. So I will try to do my best.
I have read part of the thread... but I still have some doubts. So I have decided to ask in this forum.
I knew Acronis True Image since many years ago. That's why, last year, I finally decided to purchase a perpetual license of ATI 2021. However, at some point, I received an email warning that the program was going to change to Acronis Cyber Protection Home Office. I remember that, in that moment, I thought: OK, I will have an updated suite with additional features.
For the last 13 years, I've been using Kaspersky Internet Security and Malwarebytes softwares, so I didn't need more antimalware or antivirus options. When I updated to the new program I discovered all the (for me unnecesary) new features of Cyber Protection Home Office. I disabled most of them (because I only need a recovery software for creating recovery images and reinstall them). I continued using the program without problems.
The big surprise has come during these last months. My license code began to fail and I didn't knew why...because, in the end, I owned a perpetual license. I contacted the Official Acronis Customer Service and they said to me that, with the new Cyber Protection Home Office software, Acronis had changed it's products to a SUSCRIPTION model. It was like...What? Arer you joking? 40 euros for only one year?
Personally, I don't want to pay a suscription for Acronis software. Like I don't want to pay a suscription for Spotify, Netflix or other services. I want to pay only once for a functional program and use it for many years (I don't mind if I don't have new features or versions that, most of the times, I don't need).
So my current situation is that I have an expired copy of Cyber Protection Home Office and now the only active function is the recovery option (I can't create new recovery images) .
My question/doubt is:
Has my old Acronis True Image 2021 license key become non perpetual? Or is the serial (the number itself) still perpetual?
I mean, If I remove Acronis Cyber Protect Office, I install once again Acronis True Image 2021 (I've seen tje installer it's still at the official webpage) and I insert my old and perpetual license key of ATI 2021...Will I have a fully functional copy of ATI 2021 once again with the ability of creating new recovery images?
Hope you can help me. If your answer to my questions is NO, I will probable change my recovery solution to one with a non-suscription model.
Regards form the mediterranean city of Valencia / Spain (EU)
Luis, welcome to these public User Forums.
Your ATI 2021 perpetual license is still valid and you can uninstall ACPHO then reinstall 2021 to use for as long as it will continue to work with your Windows OS.
Note: you will need to do a full uninstall of ACPHO, i.e. uninstall it via the normal Control panel 'Programs and Features' option, then download and use the Acronis Cleanup tool (link below) followed by a restart of the system to complete all actions.
Further, do not attempt to enable the Acronis Cyber Protect feature of ATI 2021 as this will still require an annual subscription - just use the option on the Protection page to turn if off permanently!
OK, thanks Steve for all the explanation and the link.
I'll do it.
Regards.
I stumbled on this thread having just completed a 30-day trial of whateveritsnameisnow. I've been a customer of multiple versions of ATI for over ten years, so I was pretty surprised that perpetual licensing suddenly wasn't an option. It's a shame; my 30 trial convinced me it's as close to what I want right now. But is it $130 a YEAR worth what I gain over Arq? No, not even close. So that made that decision easy.
I don't mind paying for a subscription for something that gives me access to a vast amount of content with a total value far greater if I should buy it for perpetual access. This holds true for Spotify, and it kind of holds true for the entire Adobe suite, which used to cost $2500, even though I'm continuously evaluating whether to ditch this subscription.
But Acronis... decided to go the other way. Compared to the last time I upgraded, I would now pay MORE for a one-year subscription than I did for a perpetual license... If a three-seat, one-year subscription followed the Adobe model... maybe $10 per year? I'd consider it.
Upping the price AND making it annual? Goodbye
ATI 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2020. There won't be another...
Dear Tomas Fjetland,
Thank you for the feedback. We have forwarded your concerns to the product's manager.
Tomas Fjetland wrote:... If a three-seat, one-year subscription followed the Adobe model... maybe $10 per year? I'd consider it.
What Adobe model are you referring to, Tomas? Just Adobe Acrobat Pro is $180/yr and the suite is far more.
I came to Acronis to check if there was an upgrade for my Acronis 2021 license. I find out they renamed it to Acronis Cyber Ultra Protect Business Home Office Pro Max+ 2023 or some nonsense like that. I find this discussion thread then check my account to make sure i hadn't accidentally purchased any subscription licenses in the past. Nope. Time to move on. Just wanted to let Acronis know here's another long-term paying customer who considers this company as no longer existing.
I was halfway out the door anyway because of having to delete the Acronis "antivirus" service on any PC I installed it on. As far as a backup program, it never really worked all that well anyway. I have business backup software for my hypervisor that backs up my data for YEARS without failing. It fills the backup volume to capacity then replaces old data with new. My security camera software does this successfully as well, FOR YEARS without fail. Acronis? I have to baby it constantly because it'll fill an external volume then cry that there's no space left. Never did figure that one out and now I don't care. Just going to use inbuilt OS options now because I'm not paying for any software anymore.
All companies eventually do this subscription BS because selling someone a product isn't good enough, you want all the money all the time. Sorry, I don't go in for that. You can have my money ONE time until you make a compelling argument why I should pay for it again. This forces you to make better and better software with features people want. This subscription thing only encourages companies to roll useless features and just increment the version with the year on the calendar. I'm still using pirated Adobe apps from 2017 and I can't tell the difference between my software and my friend's paid apps. Other than the splash screen when you open it, they're identical. That was NEVER the case before Adobe went to subs.
tl/dr: Acronis are a bunch of hosers that can take off.
Marty McFly wrote:I came to Acronis to check if there was an upgrade for my Acronis 2021 license. I find out they renamed it to Acronis Cyber Ultra Protect Business Home Office Pro Max+ 2023 or some nonsense like that. I find this discussion thread then check my account to make sure i hadn't accidentally purchased any subscription licenses in the past. Nope. Time to move on. Just wanted to let Acronis know here's another long-term paying customer who considers this company as no longer existing.
I was halfway out the door anyway because of having to delete the Acronis "antivirus" service on any PC I installed it on. As far as a backup program, it never really worked all that well anyway. I have business backup software for my hypervisor that backs up my data for YEARS without failing. It fills the backup volume to capacity then replaces old data with new. My security camera software does this successfully as well, FOR YEARS without fail. Acronis? I have to baby it constantly because it'll fill an external volume then cry that there's no space left. Never did figure that one out and now I don't care. Just going to use inbuilt OS options now because I'm not paying for any software anymore.
All companies eventually do this subscription BS because selling someone a product isn't good enough, you want all the money all the time. Sorry, I don't go in for that. You can have my money ONE time until you make a compelling argument why I should pay for it again. This forces you to make better and better software with features people want. This subscription thing only encourages companies to roll useless features and just increment the version with the year on the calendar. I'm still using pirated Adobe apps from 2017 and I can't tell the difference between my software and my friend's paid apps. Other than the splash screen when you open it, they're identical. That was NEVER the case before Adobe went to subs.
tl/dr: Acronis are a bunch of hosers that can take off.
Dear Marty,
Thank you for the feedback and being with Acronis so many years. We record all comments about transition from perpetual to subscription license and we will forward your message to the responsible manager.
Marty McFly , Tomas Fjetland and other recent participants in this thread: You may find useful information about alternative products in the thread Reflecting on a Post-ATI World.
BrunoC wrote:Tomas Fjetland wrote:... If a three-seat, one-year subscription followed the Adobe model... maybe $10 per year? I'd consider it.
What Adobe model are you referring to, Tomas? Just Adobe Acrobat Pro is $180/yr and the suite is far more.
Sorry for my late reply, BrunoC; I didn't get notified there had been a reply until someone tagged me further down.
I was referring to the model of charging much less in subscription than the full price used to be, and I figured about $10 could be acceptable for a product like ATI. Judging by what I wrote earlier I must have figured the current price would come out at over $130 pr year, which is substantially MORE than the perpetual license cost was.
I pay $40-something a month for all Adobe applications, but that's for a suite that cost over $2300 when it was sold as a one-off, and there's more applications in the suite now. It's still a lot of money, but it's also a much better value than before.
I can't believe Acronis doesn't, at the very least, offer some kind of repeat customer discount. I don't use it often but Acronis is/was my go to for cloning drives. Very disappointed to see the subscription yearly crap
Michael Weaver wrote:I can't believe Acronis doesn't, at the very least, offer some kind of repeat customer discount. I don't use it often but Acronis is/was my go to for cloning drives. Very disappointed to see the subscription yearly crap
Dear Michael,
Thank you for reaching out. Acronis provide variety of discount options, please check out the latest deal: Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (Formerly True Image) - Integrated Backup and Anti Malware Protection
Michael Weaver wrote:I can't believe Acronis doesn't, at the very least, offer some kind of repeat customer discount. I don't use it often but Acronis is/was my go to for cloning drives. Very disappointed to see the subscription yearly crap
You use Acronis for cloning? Wow, that must be infuriating! I've been using Ghost from the command prompt for over a decade! Just copy ghost.exe to a windows install flash drive and you have the best cloning environment ever made. Hell, before Broadcom bought Symantec you could even download it for free! (I don't touch anything Broadcom owns because they SUCK!! But that's a topic for another day)
Don't use Acronis for anything anymore because they hate you. They hate all their customers and your business means NOTHING to them. If you would like to know how to clone volumes with Ghost so they're bootable and whatnot, just axe and I'll send you some links.
It seems to me that every company tries to justify a subscription model. Bottom line, for most companies it is far more profitable. The real reason outlined in the KB looks like a marketing document. Adobe makes lots more money using a subscription model. I have stopped buying Adobe Photoshop for this reason. I have moved onto other products. Perpetual licenses are more difficult to find. I think I have been supporting Acronis since 2005. I think quite of few of us helped Acronis grow. I bought the product for me and many other people and businesses. It no longer looks like the right product for me as an individual. I am looking for an image backup and recovery product. I am not looking for your cyber data protection product, for which I believe you can not truly protect me from anyways. I have a background in security. It would be nice if you had a True Image product and your Cyber backup product. One which is membership based. I think I would point business towards the membership, however, I always like the idea of recommending what I use every day. Good luck in the future, it appears that you will be losing some loyal customers. I like others will move to another product. There are others. It is sad to see how a business decides to anger loyal customers from what I have read above to improve their profits.
Subscriptions for business products are fine, but it's a terrible choice for the average home user. I, too, will be moving on, once my ATI 2020 is no longer sufficient, but not purely because of the move to subscriptions, also because of the integration of all the anti-malware bloat. I don't want to bloat my backup software with services that I don't need; I'd rather just have a quality backup software, that is as lightweight as possible, and get anti-malware elsewhere. This was already concerning once they started to include the absolutely terrible "Active Protection" module, which does more harm than good, but it's gone too far now.
What I want, is a perpetual licence, lightweight backup client, and an entirely separate product for anti-malware. Luckily for me, there are plenty of others to choose from.
tbh Acronis has been going downhill for years, they've strayed away from the basic reason the program is purchased. I don't want combined backup and AV, if the product is compromised everything fails.
It winds me up that after a decade of using it, backup tasks still get corrupted when you try and save them. It will freeze during "loading user settings", so much flaky coding.
As stated above I'll never buy a subscription for a product that is a "buy once" feature.
Time to look for alternatives.
For my private pc I just need a good backup solution. Acronis (Cyber Protect) provides some very good features for this and I use it for years now. I just saw that the license model has changed. For this reason I will quit with this product. In the last years I bought roughly all 3 years the most current version (of a backup software). But I'm not ready to pay yearly for a backup service that is running on my computer.
Arber Osmani wrote:For my private pc I just need a good backup solution. Acronis (Cyber Protect) provides some very good features for this and I use it for years now. I just saw that the license model has changed. For this reason I will quit with this product. In the last years I bought roughly all 3 years the most current version (of a backup software). But I'm not ready to pay yearly for a backup service that is running on my computer.
Hello Arber
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback with us. We appreciate your loyalty as a long-time user of Acronis!
We take your opinion into consideration and value your input on the recent changes to our licensing model. We are always striving to provide the best value and service to our customers, and we regret any inconvenience that these changes may have caused you.
If you would like to discuss your options further or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team https://kb.acronis.com/content/8153
Has anybody found a good replacement solution for Acronis True Image, a no-BS live imaging tool for Windows?
See the long discussion in forum topic: Reflecting on a Post-ATI World
Thank you Steve for the reference. As a long term user since 2009 and almost abandonning ship with the "toy-like" 2017 update I think it is time to move on. All things have their prime and Acronis seems to have lost it now. One thing is trying to sell other products and services to grow, but to abandon the company's core product like that will throw off a lot of users.
Steve Smith wrote: See the long discussion in forum topic: Reflecting on a Post-ATI World
Acronis, do you not see that users are leaving you product? Seriously all we want is a good backup solution that we buy a newer version of every few years. We don't need anti virus and all the other bloatware. Everyone in this thread is saying your making a mistake but I guess we don't matter.
Jason Matishuk wrote:Acronis, do you not see that users are leaving you product? Seriously all we want is a good backup solution that we buy a newer version of every few years. We don't need anti virus and all the other bloatware. Everyone in this thread is saying your making a mistake but I guess we don't matter.
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us.
I understand that you're frustrated and disappointed with our product. I'm sorry to hear that our current offering doesn't meet your expectations. Please know that I've passed your message along to the team for their consideration. We value your feedback and take it seriously. If you have any further suggestions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let us know. Thank you in advance!
Typical enshitification cycle. Acronis is no longer pro-customer, now they want to milk the customer for as much money while offering nothing in exchange. Hence subscriptions, good for the company bad for the customer. I wouldn't mind paying for a subscription if the service was of value. But for the subscription, they offer no additional value, its just a pure milk the customer play.
Colin Cassells wrote:Typical enshitification cycle. Acronis is no longer pro-customer, now they want to milk the customer for as much money while offering nothing in exchange. Hence subscriptions, good for the company bad for the customer. I wouldn't mind paying for a subscription if the service was of value. But for the subscription, they offer no additional value, its just a pure milk the customer play.
Hello and thanks for the feedback.
There are plans to allow our users with legacy products to upgrade the product (keeping the perpetual license) to a new build of the product that will be released. We strive to offer the best product with the best value to our clients.
Best regards.