Topaz subscription renewal. What?????

jerry12953

jerry12953

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Jeremy Moore
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I've just had an email from Topaz saying my subscription for Topaz PhotoAI is due for renewal in three days time. What?????

However they are giving me a "discount of $100" on the normal price of $199.

I bought it outright just a year ago. This is just a rip-off isn't it? Is this standard or have they made a mistake?
 
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This is what they said -

"To clarify the upcoming renewal, the $99 charge covers the next year of Photo AI updates.

We have transitioned to a subscription model, which means your renewal will also provide continued access to the new Topaz Photo. This new desktop app includes unlimited cloud rendering as well as access to the new Wonder model."

I told them I just want to use what I have already paid for.
 
Topaz are moving to the ubiquitous subscription model - surprise, surprise :eek:

As I understand it, if you are currently a user of Topaz Photo AI you will notice a change of name - they've dropped the AI bit - to go along with the change of model. As long as you don't upgrade to the new application you can go on using the "AI" version but won't get any updates. The critical bit is whether, or not, you have unwittingly updated to the newer app - it's been showing as an update in my "AI" screen for some time. There is, reportedly, no way back to the "AI" version if you have updated.

Ah, I see you've had a conversation with Topaz which agrees with my understanding. Personally, I don't think their application is worth $200/year but according to what I see on my account page I can get the first year for $84 when my current subscription* runs out on 20 December.
Screenshot 2025-12-16 211753.png
* I never entered into a subscription agreement with Topaz - I purchased a perpetual license and they just unilaterally changed it into a subscription.
 
Just dont pay. You should hardly need this anyway if you produce quality work and dont play much with ai generative content.

Besides looks like at some point and subscription level you will get this through adobe if you really need it

I am just keeping old individual apps just in case. This year maybe used them twice
 
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Not sure that "Just don't pay" will automatically work if you are tied into a credit/debit card payment - needs an active cancellation.
 
Bristolian said:
Topaz are moving to the ubiquitous subscription model - surprise, surprise :eek:

As I understand it, if you are currently a user of Topaz Photo AI you will notice a change of name - they've dropped the AI bit - to go along with the change of model. As long as you don't upgrade to the new application you can go on using the "AI" version but won't get any updates. The critical bit is whether, or not, you have unwittingly updated to the newer app - it's been showing as an update in my "AI" screen for some time. There is, reportedly, no way back to the "AI" version if you have updated.

Ah, I see you've had a conversation with Topaz which agrees with my understanding. Personally, I don't think their application is worth $200/year but according to what I see on my account page I can get the first year for $84 when my current subscription* runs out on 20 December.
View attachment 470309
* I never entered into a subscription agreement with Topaz - I purchased a perpetual license and they just unilaterally changed it into a subscription.
Click to expand...


That's what happened to me. This is their latest explanation. Nowhere does it say i can keep on using it perpetually if I cancel the subscription. I hardly use it anyway.


>I’ve placed your subscription on Pending Cancellation.

>When it shows that status, you won’t be charged for auto-renewal, but you’ll still have full access for the remainder of your subscription period. Once it reaches the end date (December >19), it’ll simply expire on its own.

>So you know, you can manage your subscriptions from your Studio Account Page; simply click "Manage", and you will have the option to cancel the renewal from there. Please note this >is not applicable to annual commitment subscriptions.

>Warmly,

So I get another two days to use it. What a ripoff.
 
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Bristolian said:
There is, reportedly, no way back to the "AI" version if you have updated.
Click to expand...

If you have a valid licence for the older version, you should be able to download the installer for Photo AI from here and reinstall it

Legacy Applications | Other Apps

Get download links, license key instructions, and information about programs and plugins that are no longer developed by Topaz Labs.
docs.topazlabs.com docs.topazlabs.com
.
 
I got a 'free upgrade' until the end of my prepaid updates for Photo AI ($84 per year) at the end of next February, but I am not going to renew with the new Topaz Photo; I can't justify $199.

Besides, I have found over the last year that Lightroom now does a better job for denoising for 99% of my images.
 
Musicman said:
If you have a valid licence for the older version, you should be able to download the installer for Photo AI from here and reinstall it

Legacy Applications | Other Apps

Get download links, license key instructions, and information about programs and plugins that are no longer developed by Topaz Labs.
docs.topazlabs.com docs.topazlabs.com
.
Click to expand...


Yes, I think I may have just been able to do that. Fingers Crossed.

I hardly use Photo AI but have used it very rarely on "difficult-to-sharpen" images where nothing else works.
 
Still use there Denoise AI on occasions but I also downloaded the free Affinity app alongside DXO pure raw 4 both working well together
Don't get all the AI stuff but for free worth a look IMO
Russ
 
With all these rip-off subscription models who can blame people for using pirated software?

The same is happening with TV streaming services like Netflix etc. Now they've got us hooked, they hike the prices by sixty to a hundred and fifty percent or more, plus or you have to put up with adverts. :headbang:

I can see them all falling flat on their faces as people go back to pirating.

I hate corporate greed. :mad:
 
Sky said:
With all these rip-off subscription models who can blame people for using pirated software?

The same is happening with TV streaming services like Netflix etc. Now they've got us hooked, they hike the prices by sixty to a hundred and fifty percent or more, plus or you have to put up with adverts. :headbang:

I can see them all falling flat on their faces as people go back to pirating.

I hate corporate greed. :mad:
Click to expand...
I can see them all falling flat on their faces as people go back to pirating. What's pirating;)
 
Musicman said:
If you have a valid licence for the older version, you should be able to download the installer for Photo AI from here and reinstall it

Legacy Applications | Other Apps

Get download links, license key instructions, and information about programs and plugins that are no longer developed by Topaz Labs.
docs.topazlabs.com docs.topazlabs.com
.
Click to expand...
Ah, thank you for that. I've bookmarked the web page for future use (y)
 
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mstphoto said:
.... and I can't get the results in Lr that PL9 gives me.
To be fair, there's not a huge difference but Photolab still makes a better job IMHO
Click to expand...

Good to hear that DXO is still considered excellent for raw conversion, i went from Adobe to DXO photolab 5 for Raw conversion and Affinity for pixel editing
DXO at the time gave the best results for raw conversion compared to Lightroom, I am now on Photolab 8 elite
 
LCPete said:
Good to hear that DXO is still considered excellent for raw conversion, i went from Adobe to DXO photolab 5 for Raw conversion and Affinity for pixel editing
DXO at the time gave the best results for raw conversion compared to Lightroom, I am now on Photolab 8 elite
Click to expand...
I've been playing around with different software packages lately.
Affinity seems to be quite good as does Neo if you steer clear of the Ai editing ;)
 
Bristolian said:
* I never entered into a subscription agreement with Topaz - I purchased a perpetual license and they just unilaterally changed it into a subscription.
Click to expand...

This, 100%

I have been a Topaz apps user since their very early days. In fact perpetual licence promise was one of their selling points in the early days.
Then they introduced "pay for updates" model with the excuse that to continue offering the tools they needed to making updating them financially viable. I did somewhat understand that.

Now they have gone down full subs model. All the while with no appreciation or care for people like myself who supported them since the early days on promise of perpetual license.

Anyway I still have access to Photo AI and gigapixel AI. I'll use them for now, but will look for other tools in future.
 
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I think the problem for these software companies is that they build a user base when they are young and big improvements can be made easily and quickly. But then the speed of improvements levels off but they still have a company to run and staff to pay. So they have to get some more income in even if the product is no longer up with the competition. Topaz must be worst of the lot for this.

I too was "upgraded" to the subscription model without being asked hence the email asking me for more money. I realise now that I can still use Photo AI but I was not told this when I questioned the extra payment.
 
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I don't have a problem with companies needing to do what they need to do to survive and grow, they are a business after all, they aren't a charity.
But they also need to be conscious of their existing user base and why they supported them in the first place.
I don't feel Topaz care for their users or people that supported them from early days. I enjoy tech, I am an early adopter kind of person. But when my support helps in whatever little way, I expect the company to be appreciative of that.

Here's a screenshot from my Remarkable account, they also have started subs for online storage but they know i was one their early customers and they value it!
Screenshot 2025-12-18 at 09.44.03.png
 
Sky said:
With all these rip-off subscription models who can blame people for using pirated software?

The same is happening with TV streaming services like Netflix etc. Now they've got us hooked, they hike the prices by sixty to a hundred and fifty percent or more, plus or you have to put up with adverts. :headbang:

I can see them all falling flat on their faces as people go back to pirating.

I hate corporate greed. :mad:
Click to expand...
The reason behind the subscription models was, in part, to counter the use of Pirated software - by making the software 'phone home' at regular intervals, and changing from a large single payment to much smaller monthly payments, they made life much harder for the pirates.

I've not used Topaz, but the pricing here does seem an excessive jump - and the auto update to switch to subscription also seems wrong.
 
Bristolian said:
People keep telling me that LR's denoise has improved but I just can't get the results that Topaz Photo AI gives me :eek:
Click to expand...

mstphoto said:
.... and I can't get the results in Lr that PL9 gives me.
To be fair, there's not a huge difference but Photolab still makes a better job IMHO
Click to expand...

I also have DxO PureRAW 5 which I think must use the same engine, and I am finding myself less and less satisfied with both that and Topaz.

Before Adobe added their AI NR I did have solid uses case for them, where DxO that worked well for my Sony FE native lenses and Topaz was better for the huge collection of legacy lenses that I have, but I am finding more and more often that Lightroom is producing more natural-looking results for me, usually with less fuss in getting there.
 
Musicman said:
I also have DxO PureRAW 5 which I think must use the same engine, and I am finding myself less and less satisfied with both that and Topaz.

Before Adobe added their AI NR I did have solid uses case for them, where DxO that worked well for my Sony FE native lenses and Topaz was better for the huge collection of legacy lenses that I have, but I am finding more and more often that Lightroom is producing more natural-looking results for me, usually with less fuss in getting there.
Click to expand...
Hi, been a few mentions on DXO Pure Raw 5 not producing results to better version 4, I didn't upgrade to 5 so can't give opinion myself. I do have Lightroom Classic but for noise reduction it is so slow compared to DXO and also Topaz Denoise AI that I still have, it does give good results but the waiting is torture, MAC M2 system. Russ.
 
russellsnr said:
Hi, been a few mentions on DXO Pure Raw 5 not producing results to better version 4, I didn't upgrade to 5 so can't give opinion myself. I do have Lightroom Classic but for noise reduction it is so slow compared to DXO and also Topaz Denoise AI that I still have, it does give good results but the waiting is torture, MAC M2 system. Russ.
Click to expand...

Yes, since a recent update LR does the denoising internally and it seems to take an age -on my PC anyway. It was OK when it worked in the background.
 
there is also the chinese clone now that claims to do pretty much all the same, aiarty or something like that. I haven't really seen the need to go there and test. At least you have another option if you need.
 
jerry12953 said:
Yes, since a recent update LR does the denoising internally and it seems to take an age -on my PC anyway. It was OK when it worked in the background.
Click to expand...
toss up between speed and space - with LRC it no longer produces an extra DNG file. I use LRC and put up with the speed issue and use DXO PR5 for batch processing (which I rarely have to use). DXO are no different - sure you have a perpetual license but you still have to upgrade every year or so if you want to keep up. I enjoy processing and DXO stuff looks less natural to me (PL) so I can't see myself ever doing away with photoshop - have stuck with adobe. I too do not think topaz worth a subscription - only use gigapixel for certain things but wont carry on with it if I have to go subscription.
 
Actually - glad I saw this post as I have just gone on to website and realised that I am on current Topaz Gigapixel subscription model renewing in January. They would have taken $64 form my account in Jan which would have been an unwelcome shock. Have downloaded the Gigapixel AI software (which I have a perpetual licenses for) and cancelled the subscription renewal so thank you for this!
 
Wellsyboy said:
toss up between speed and space - with LRC it no longer produces an extra DNG file. I use LRC and put up with the speed issue and use DXO PR5 for batch processing (which I rarely have to use). DXO are no different - sure you have a perpetual license but you still have to upgrade every year or so if you want to keep up. I enjoy processing and DXO stuff looks less natural to me (PL) so I can't see myself ever doing away with photoshop - have stuck with adobe. I too do not think topaz worth a subscription - only use gigapixel for certain things but wont carry on with it if I have to go subscription.
Click to expand...

Agree that the standard settings on DXO aren’t really that great, way oversharpens but its easy to set it up how you like and save as a template , I am not that computer savvy but I have got the hang of it
I have used DXO to go back and reprocess old Raws very happy with the results
I started on DXO 5 am now on 8
 
Musicman said:
I also have DxO PureRAW 5 which I think must use the same engine, and I am finding myself less and less satisfied with both that and Topaz.

Before Adobe added their AI NR I did have solid uses case for them, where DxO that worked well for my Sony FE native lenses and Topaz was better for the huge collection of legacy lenses that I have, but I am finding more and more often that Lightroom is producing more natural-looking results for me, usually with less fuss in getting there.
Click to expand...
totally agree with this - I have found when comparing DXO PR5 over sharpens things - LRC denoise looks more natural to me. When I look back at some photos that I processed with Photolab 7 when I was finding my way they look really fake to me so I reprocessed them in LRC/Photoshop.
 
Wellsyboy said:
toss up between speed and space - with LRC it no longer produces an extra DNG file. I use LRC and put up with the speed issue and use DXO PR5 for batch processing (which I rarely have to use). DXO are no different - sure you have a perpetual license but you still have to upgrade every year or so if you want to keep up. I enjoy processing and DXO stuff looks less natural to me (PL) so I can't see myself ever doing away with photoshop - have stuck with adobe. I too do not think topaz worth a subscription - only use gigapixel for certain things but wont carry on with it if I have to go subscription.
Click to expand...
While no where close to the size of a DNG, AI-denoising in LRc, still adds between 5Mb and 50mb to the catalogue for every image de-noised,

I've tried to find a link where this is explained, but can't :-(
 
Wellsyboy said:
totally agree with this - I have found when comparing DXO PR5 over sharpens things - LRC denoise looks more natural to me. When I look back at some photos that I processed with Photolab 7 when I was finding my way they look really fake to me so I reprocessed them in LRC/Photoshop.
Click to expand...

Thats just because the standard setting for sharpening is way too high, all I do is turn down the slider to the left and then get really nice natural images
you can adjust the settings and see the results before you export
 
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