Kentico Maintenance Renewal: What You Need to Know in 2023

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Ida Vejzagic
November 15, 2021 4 min read
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Just over a year ago, Kentico added a subscription-based licence as a way to access Xperience, their digital experience platform. This was one of many changes the brand was making at the time in an attempt to modernise the brand and improve flexibility. Now, though, they’ve changed again, and this time it leaves subscription licensing as the only option. 

The perpetual Kentico maintenance renewal licence they once offered has been removed completely from the website. Now, you must pay a subscription fee if you want to gain the many benefits Xperience has to offer, but is that a good thing or will it be harmful to your brand and potentially Kentico’s? Let’s take a look.


What is subscription licensing and when did Kentico make the change?

Subscription-based licensing is a very common way to license third-party platforms, and it wasn’t a surprise when Kentico first introduced it as an option. The idea is that rather than making one-off payments and having access to Xperience perpetually, you’ll pay a smaller fee at regular intervals to maintain your use. 

Kentico first introduced subscription licensing in 2020. Now, in 2021, they’ve announced the phasing out of their perpetual licence. That doesn’t mean it’s immediately gone, but it is a sign that businesses should start transitioning to a subscription.

By June 2024, all Xperience users must have changed to a subscription-based Kentico licence or lose out on support and development. 


Why has Kentico switched to a subscription model?

From Kentico’s point of view, switching to a subscription-based licensing model is a smart move for several reasons. To start with, their perpetual licence simply didn’t keep up with evolving technology and user demands.

One option with a perpetual Kentico licence renewal was to allow for unlimited sites on just one server. Yet, as on-demand provisioning increases and serverless architectures become more common, having a licence that’s limited by a server isn’t logical.

The licence also requires add-on purchases for businesses looking to scale and who need a better-distributed server environment. This doesn’t meet the needs of businesses who want on-demand scale that’s hassle-free. 

Another reason is that perpetual licensing isn’t in line with the rest of the industry. Gone are the days when people were happy to purchase one copy of a platform and use it as it is for years. Now, businesses want the updates, new features, and better support that come with upgraded versions. 

Previously, Kentico was able to give users access to through a maintenance program with an annual fee (a subscription, in other words). The subscription-based model is a much easier way for users to access the latest versions of Xperience, who previously had to wait through lengthy release cycles. 

It’s also simpler, which definitely shouldn’t be overlooked. Kentico has always prided itself on honest, straightforward pricing, and a subscription fee is more in-line with this than a perpetual fee.


How does a subscription-based licensing affect your business?

There are definitely pros and cons to subscription-based Kentico maintenance renewal from the perspective of businesses. The major advantage is that you don’t have to fork out a lot of money in one go, instead spreading it out over many months.

This is a particular advantage for SMEs and start-ups, who might not have the monthly budget for the perpetual fee. It also allows you more freedom to switch the Kentico licence option you choose and to cancel when you want.

However, it does mean that you need to factor the regular payments into your budget for as long as you plan on using it. Rather than paying for Xperience as a one-off fee and having access to the platform forever, in effect, you have to keep paying, or you’ll lose access.


Are existing Kentico customers affected?

All Kentico customers, both existing and new, will have to follow the new subscription-fee Kentico licence. For existing customers looking to upgrade, you’ll now have to switch to subscription payments.

These fees will be lower than upgrading to a perpetual licence for the same upgrades. For clients with load-balanced hosting, your licence will auto-scale, allowing for unlimited servers. As mentioned earlier, all users have until June 2024 to switch over to subscription payments, giving you plenty of time to adjust to the changes. 


Get help with your Kentico maintenance renewal options

At GRM, we’re Kentico Xperience Quality Experts, and we can help you make sure you’re choosing the right options when changing your Kentico licensing renewal to subscription payments. If you need any help, get in touch with our team today, and we’ll make this change simple. 

If you’d like to know more about the switch to subscription-based payments and how it will affect your business, we’ll be more than happy to talk with you, too. Whatever you need, our team are here.