Must uninstall Advanced Pack if the license is not renewed

[harrytruman]

Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[tarasm]

harrytruman your license was purchased in August 2023, so it is governed by the terms and conditions in effect at that time. So, there is no requirement to renew this license on an annual basis.
Please note that all licenses purchased starting January 1, 2024, will require annual renewal.

[harrytruman]

Hi tarasm, I received this email in August of last year (2024). This is after the date you mentioned above. Legally, I'm not sure the company can retroactively change the terms and conditions (at least in the US). Also, the email clearly states that I can continue to use the extension. I love EspoCRM and I certainly want to support the business. This is why I purchased the extension. However, this whole situation is confusing, and we all need more clarity from the company.

[tarasm]

the information you showed is outdated.
Starting from January 1, 2024, the license needs to be renewed annually. More information is published on the official blog, https://www.espocrm.com/blog/espocrm...sions-license/.

[tarasm]

harrytruman the information you showed is outdated.
Starting from January 1, 2024, the license needs to be renewed annually. More information is published on the official blog, https://www.espocrm.com/blog/espocrm...sions-license/.

[harrytruman]

This is a screenshot of the email I received when my advanced pack license expired. It says clearly that I can continue to use the extension, it's just not available for upgrade.

[rabii]

I do understand your point and as mentioned you should be rewarded for the years of effort you put into this amazing product. My point was about developers who brought clients into espocrm space like 2/3 years were they understood that the license for extension should be renewed when they feel the want to (which was a very attractive offer to them) now with the transition i personally have clients emailing me asking why they see the expiration message appears so i had to explain the new license which contradict what they knew before and kind of disappoint them. I always advise my clients to renew the license and they are happy to do it but most of them are tiny business and sometimes they don't have enough cash to renew a license, so the timing is key here. Also it would be nice if you consider a good discount to encourage clients to renew, currently there is only 10% on a year license renewal and 30% on two year renewal, maybe if that could be improve it would help both the clients and also ensure streaming revenue for you as clients would feel of renewing. As i mentioned a lot of clients are using espocrm because they run tiny businesses and still struggle financially hence why this change might be difficult for them.

But again i understand your point of view and my point was just to find a way between to help clients but also help espocrm generate revenue to support the continuity of this amazing platform.

[yuri]

But are there alternatives other than returning back to the previous license model?

Having the current licensing model, the message is fair as it tells how it is. When the license is on subscription basis, it assumes that usage is not permitted after the expiration. We can't have a license that prohibits usage but don't tell users about that.

Speaking of alternatives. In the beginning, when we started, we could have applied 10x prices and had lived with less stress overall. It's how many recommend to do for startups. Years and efforts we have put into the product were driven mostly by our enthusiasm. I personally feel the current model is fair and giving us hopes for the future.

[yuri]

> Advanced pack, sales pack, voIP integration, Project Management and Google integration

It's quite a few, may feel costly indeed. Though we pay even larger checks for some software we need in our business, despite that having less functionality than Espo has.

[nand85579]

I feel yearly licensing is killing ESPOCRM.

I wanted to buy Advanced pack, sales pack, voIP integration, Project Management and Google integration, for my startup.

I am not going to keep upgrading my application once done and an expense of nearly 1000 USD per year, just for licenses is beyond my budget for a CRM of less than 10 users, forcing to look for alternative solution.

[rabii]

In my point of view a lot of developers/customers would not be happy as they might view this as a big change that could impact how they feel about the main product (Espocrm). But also i understand from business point of view why this has been implemented and totally believe that your team should be rewarded for the hard work you are doing. I would have though about an alternative to the current solution as (have to uninstall the extension from your instance and delete all downloaded extension packages to comply with licensing terms) is not good, customers will feel down with this message.

Definitely this is a complex situation from both sides but i hope there will be compromise from both sides to reach a good solution.

Anyway i guess feedback is important for the team to understand what works and what not.

[shalmaxb]

could the espoCRM team not consider something like a agency subscription. I use espoCRM quite exclusively to install it for clients, not for myself. I use third party extensions, which I can purchase with a discount to install it in my clients installations. I include the update fees into my price model in maintaining the client´s installtions. And acting that way it has some advantages:

1. My clients always have the most recent versions
2. I do not invoice the extensions directly to them, but included in my maintaining invoices. In the end, they pay but they do not consider it as "extra costs". I kno, it is more psycology, but it works.
3. The developers of the extensions get continuing payments from me.

[yuri]

> Have a great weekend!

Thanks. Though my weekends will be full of work as usual.

[yuri]

> Given that, I’m not entirely sure if the “pay or uninstall” clause was necessary.

When there's an option not to pay, the majority won't pay, or skip until the next update (which can take years). Even if they are fine to pay each year. It's like, I'm fine with paying taxes, but give me an option not to pay, I won't. It's just my thoughts based on observations.

> The reality is that most users don’t read license agreements in detail, and they’ll only start reacting when they receive an expiration notice. This will likely lead to frustration and complaints.

I believe that nowadays subscription basis is assumed by default, that users understand how it is.

[emillod]

If users wanted older versions of extensions to work with newer EspoCRM versions, it’s likely because they didn’t want to pay for a license renewal. In the past, they could simply stop updating their EspoCRM and continue using what they already had. There was a clear logic: “You’re paying for access to updates and support.” Now, with the new policy, they not only lose access to updates for the latest EspoCRM versions, but they also have to remove extensions. That’s a significant shift.

As you know, I see things from both sides — as a customer and as a developer. The reality is that most users don’t read license agreements in detail, and they’ll only start reacting when they receive an expiration notice. This will likely lead to frustration and complaints.

You mentioned that many users already thought of the extensions as a subscription, and they were willing to pay on that basis. Given that, I’m not entirely sure if the “pay or uninstall” clause was necessary. It seems like a step that might create more confusion and dissatisfaction among users.

I understand that EspoCRM is a team effort and not just you personally, but from our perspective, you’re the main point of contact. We don’t have direct communication with other members of your team, so we can only ask you to raise this issue internally and discuss it with your colleagues. On this stage i think that's all we can do

I respect your work and i hope that you'll reconsider this issue with your team.

Have a great weekend!