Following the changes to the Pro Tools pricing and the release of Pro Tools 2019.6, which opened up HEAT to Pro Tools Standard users, Avid has now announced that all Pro Tools subscribers will soon have access to the Complete Plug-in bundle and HEAT at no extra cost, and there is news for Pro Tools Perpetual license holders who would like to have HEAT but have found it too expensive.

• Pro Tools Standard subscribers will get access to HEAT and the Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle.

• Pro Tools Ultimate subscribers will get access to HEAT as they already have access to the Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle.

UPDATE: As of August 24th 2019 Avid HEAT is now available bundled with Pro Tools subscriptions and a perpetual license at the reduced price of $199.

Comparative Costs Of Pro Tools Perpetual Vs Pro Tools Subscription - How Has This Changed?

This is all about capital expenditure or operating expense. For those bigger facilities managing budgets, who need to know exactly where they stand, you can choose whether to fund it from capital expenditure with the perpetual route or operational expenditure with the rental subscription route.

For smaller, one person operations, going down the rental option can mean it is an operational expense and can be recharged to the client.

We looked at this back in February 2018 in our article Buying Pro Tools? Which Is Better, Perpetual License Or Rental Subscription but we wanted to revisit this in the light of the changes make by Avid to the Pro Tools Pricing and today’s announcement that HEAT and The Complete Plug-in Bundle will be included in Pro Tools subscription plans.

We will start with the comparison for Pro Tools Standard as this is likely to have the biggest changes with the doubling of the perpetual annual upgrade plans and the inclusion of both HEAT and the Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle. This table looks at the comparative costs over 3 years.

Notes

• Avid HEAT is only available as a Perpetual license and with the promotion is a one off cost of $199. This means when we come to work out the monthly equivalent cost we have split up the one-off cost of $199 across 36 months as this table covers the comparison over 3 years.

• The Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle is only available as a rental subscription. You cannot buy it as a perpetual license, so Pro Tools Standard perpetual license holders will need to continue paying the $49.99 annual subscription to maintain access to the Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle.

• The rental subscription option is the 1 year paid-up-front option.

It Now Takes 12 Years On A Subscription Plan Before It Is Cheaper To Have a Pro Tools Standard Perpetual License

As you can see from this table even after 3 years the perpetual license option will cost $37.39 per month whereas Pro Tools subscribers are paying $24.92 per month.

In fact it takes 12 years before the perpetual license option cost drops below the subscription cost. After 12 years the monthly perpetual figure is $24.91, whereas the monthly rental figure is still $24.92.

It Now Takes 6 Years On A Subscription Plan Before It Is Cheaper To Have a Pro Tools Ultimate Perpetual License

Moving onto Pro Tools Ultimate we can do a similar set of calculations to establish what the break even point is between Pro Tools Ultimate perpetual with upgrade plans and HEAT and Pro Tools Ultimate with a subscription plan.

Notes

• Avid HEAT is only available as a Perpetual license and with the promotion is a one off cost of $199. This means when we have come to work out the monthly equivalent cost we have split up the one-off cost of $199 across 36 months as this table covers the comparison over 3 years.

• The Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle comes with Pro Tools Ultimate, as long as you keep your upgrade plan up to date so this isn’t included, as both options already have it.

• The rental subscription option is the 1 year paid-up-front option.

As you can see from this table even after 3 years the perpetual license option will cost $97.11 per month whereas Pro Tools Ultimate subscribers are paying $66.58 per month.

In fact it takes 6 years before the perpetual license option cost drops below the subscription cost. After 6 years the monthly perpetual figure is $65.18, whereas the monthly rental figure is still $66.58.

What Is HEAT?

HEAT has been designed to help you get the warmth and sonic character of analog “in the box” with HEAT (Harmonically Enhanced Algorithm Technology), you get an add-on that gives you the characteristics of prized analog gear without the expense or added bulk.

The History Of Heat

In 2010 with the release of Pro Tools 8.1 came HEAT. HEAT software allowed customers to add the realism of vintage analogue sound to the Pro Tools mixer via a single global control, eliminating the time-consuming and complex task of managing plug-in changes across multiple tracks and allowing customers to remain focused on the craft of mixing.

Designed in collaboration with engineer Dave Hill of Crane Song, the HEAT software option for Pro Tools HD systems was an innovation for mixers who valued the warmth and sound qualities of tubes, tape machines and analog consoles, but wanted to eliminate the complications and expenses of using tape machines and vintage outboard processors, or managing plug-in changes across multiple tracks.

HEAT was only supported with your Pro Tools HDX, Pro Tools HD Native, or older Pro Tools HD systems but with the 2019.6 release it is now available to all Pro Tools Standard and Pro Tools Ultimate users.

Avid HEAT is still available from the Avid Store as a perpetual license for those who choose not to go down the subscription model or soon it will be included with the Pro Tools Standard and Pro Tools Ultimate rental subscriptions at no extra cost.

More On Avid HEAT And How To Use It

What About Pro Tools Perpetual License Holders And HEAT

There is good news for you too especially if you were interested in HEAT when Avid released Pro Tools 2019.6 but felt it was too expensive at $495. The perpetual license version of HEAT will be available as a promotion at the lower price of $199.

What Is In The Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle?

The Avid Complete Plug-in Bundle offers almost all the Avid plug-ins, some 75 plug-ins. There are a few Avid plug-ins that are not included in the Avid Complete Plugin Bundle including Aphex Aural Exciter and Big Bottom for licensing reasons. These are the plug-ins that are included in the Complete Bundle, which are now included in Pro Tools Ultimate.

• AIR Boom

• AIR DB-33

• AIR Distortion

• AIR Dynamic Delay

• AIR Enhancer

• AIR Ensemble

• AIR Filter Gate

• AIR Flanger

• AIR Frequency Shifter

• AIR Fuzz-Wah

• AIR Kill EQ

• AIR Lo-Fi

• AIR Mini Grand

• AIR Multi-Delay

• AIR Nonlinear Reverb

• AIR Phaser

• AIR Reverb

• AIR Spring Reverb

• AIR Stereo Width

• AIR Structure Free

• AIR Talkbox

• AIR Vacuum

• AIR Vintage Filter

• AIR Xpand!2

• BBD Delay

• Black Op Distortion

• Black Shiny Wah

• Black Spring

• C1 Chorus

• Classic Compressors Bundle

• DC Distortion

• Eleven MK II

• Flanger

• Focusrite d2/d3

• Gray Compressor

• Graphic EQ

• Green JRC Overdrive

• Impact

• JOEMEEK Bundle

• Moogerfooger Bundle

• Orange Phaser

• Pro Compressor

• Pro Expander

• Pro Limiter

• Pro Multiband Dynamics

• Pro Subharmonic

• Pultec Bundle

• Reel Tape Suite

• Reverb One

• ReVibe II

• Roto Speaker

• Smack!

• Sound Replacer

• Space

• Studio Reverb

• Tape Echo

• Tel-Ray Variable Delay

• Tri-Knob Fuzz

• Vibe Phaser

• Voce Bundle

• White Boost

• X-Form

Some of these plug-ins are included with Pro Tools Standard anyway, which at first glance seems a little strange for Avid to include them in with the Complete Plugin Bundle, but looking at the Complete Bundle page on the Avid website they are also marketing it to Pro Tools First users, who don’t get the same plug-ins that Pro Tools Standard comes with, so maybe that is the reason.

Pro Tools Ultimate users already get the Complete Plugin Bundle included and for Pro Tools First users and perpetual Pro Tools Standard users, the Complete Plugin Bundle is still available separately on a rental plan and costs either $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year as a subscription-only deal.

What We Think About These Changes

It is clear from these changes that Avid are looking to encourage users, especially Pro Tools Standard users, to move to the subscription plans.

These changes are especially good news for Pro Tools Standard subscribers who now get the Complete Plug-in Bundle as well as HEAT at no extra cost and these additions make the Pro Tools Subscription model even better value for money. All together the price changes that came into force on July 1st 2019 and the inclusion of Avid HEAT and the Complete Plugin Bundle make the Pro Tools Standard subscription plan very attractive for new customers, with it now taking 12 years before the perpetual and upgrade plan route becomes cheaper, whereas before these changes the breakeven point was around 5 years.

When we look at the changes for Pro Tools Ultimate, before these changes the breakeven point was around 4 years whereas after these changes the breakeven point is now 6 years.

Don’t worry, in a future article, we will explore the options for taking advantage of the crossgrade options and how they work out over a number of years.

There you have it. Does the 12 year breakeven point change your view about the benefits of the subscription model for Pro Tools? Do you think that Avid have done the right thing by including HEAT and the Complete Plugin Bundle for Pro Tools subscribers? Do share your thoughts and observations in the comments below…