One time buy or 12 month license?

[Supreme Corgi]

With the steam sale I wanted get this program to use but I don't know if its just the one payment or if i need to pay for it every year?

[Pte Jack]

The licenses are one year.

However on steam, the license will expire on 31 Dec.

The steam version will not be updated into the new year.

To compensate, Allegorithmic offers Steam user the opportunity to link your Steam account to your Allegorithmic account on their website.

When you link your Steam account there and their website validates the Steam Key, it will give you a download link to get stand-alone products for the products you've bought here and product key links to register them.

This stand-alone product will have a one year license from the date you purchased on Steam and will update until the end of the license period.

Both the Steam and the Allegorithmic stand-alone will be available for you to use after the license expires forever, you just won't receive updates or upgrades for it unless you either op into a subscription or re-buy the product again.

For example I have the original Substance Painter, Substance Painter 2 and now Substance Painter 2018, license for 1 and 2 have expired and 2018 has just started, but I can use anyone of these products and download them from both Steam or Allegorithmic if I change out computers and need to go backwards for a project.

The 2 products will stay in sync for updates and upgrade until 31 Dec 2018 but will fall out of sync for updates after that.

For example, I bought the bundle yesterday, My product license runs from then until the 23/24 of June 2019. I downloaded the steam version and I've downloaded the stand-alone and activated it with my stand-alone key.
Both products will update until 31 Dec 2018 however, the Steam version will stop receiving updates and upgrades on that date, the stand-alone will continue to be updated or upgraded until the 23/24 of June 2019.

The reason stated for this is that the Steam API for the Steam products can not be programmed with individual expiry dates (ie I bought yesterday, you buy tomorrow and our expiry dates are different.) the expiry date on Steam has to be the same for everyone, hence the 31 Dec expiry. One complete year would be 1 January to 31 December, right?


I struggled with this same question and did not want to get in to a situation where I buy a year of updates and upgrades but only receive 6 moths because I bought in June but now that I actually see how this works, I'm fine with it. My stand-alone will be the product I turn to after 31 December.

If you don't want to have 2 of the same product on your computer, buy the steam version, don't install it. Sync your Steam account, download the stand alone, install and activate it and enjoy your year of updates and upgrades.

Hope this helps you understand what is going on with the Allegorithmic products.

[Supreme Corgi]

Originally posted by Pte Jack:

The licenses are one year.

However on steam, the license will expire on 31 Dec.

The steam version will not be updated into the new year.

To compensate, Allegorithmic offers Steam user the opportunity to link your Steam account to your Allegorithmic account on their website.

When you link your Steam account there and their website validates the Steam Key, it will give you a download link to get stand-alone products for the products you've bought here and product key links to register them.

This stand-alone product will have a one year license from the date you purchased on Steam and will update until the end of the license period.

Both the Steam and the Allegorithmic stand-alone will be available for you to use after the license expires forever, you just won't receive updates or upgrades for it unless you either op into a subscription or re-buy the product again.

For example I have the original Substance Painter, Substance Painter 2 and now Substance Painter 2018, license for 1 and 2 have expired and 2018 has just started, but I can use anyone of these products and download them from both Steam or Allegorithmic if I change out computers and need to go backwards for a project.

The 2 products will stay in sync for updates and upgrade until 31 Dec 2018 but will fall out of sync for updates after that.

For example, I bought the bundle yesterday, My product license runs from then until the 23/24 of June 2019. I downloaded the steam version and I've downloaded the stand-alone and activated it with my stand-alone key.
Both products will update until 31 Dec 2018 however, the Steam version will stop receiving updates and upgrades on that date, the stand-alone will continue to be updated or upgraded until the 23/24 of June 2019.

The reason stated for this is that the Steam API for the Steam products can not be programmed with individual expiry dates (ie I bought yesterday, you buy tomorrow and our expiry dates are different.) the expiry date on Steam has to be the same for everyone.


I struggled with this same question and did not want to get in to a situation where I buy a year of updates and upgrades but only receive 6 moths because I bought in June.

If you don't want to have 2 of the same product on your computer, buy the steam version, don't install it. Sync your Steam account, download the stand alone, install and activate it and enjoy your year of updates and upgrades.

Hope this helps you understand what is going on with the Allegorithmic products.

Thanks for the informations this does help me out. I did have a student license for substance painter but when I went to use it for a second time it uninstalled the program but I do want to use the program. Thanks again for the information.

[Pte Jack]

If you buy 2018, I don't think you get stand-alones for the previous 2 versions (at least I didn't for Designer), they have been retired and no longer available unless you have previous keys for them. (Besides, the newer version is usually better than the older anyway... LOL)

[Hans Blitz]

Your making me jump through hoops for the extra 6 months of updates when if i bought this product on this client halfway through the year. so you have to download through a website and grab a different version, how does that work wouldn't they share the same key hence my steam version will automatically make the license redundant for the last 6 months or does the version you download on the site use a different key tied to a purchase date on Steam. If i bought any timed license on this client i expect the full time to expire on here not half because its easier on your service clients to manage.

Also what if i redownload the product after 6 months on steam will it only update to the 31st of December 2018 or do i lose all updates for that year, does the program lock you out of all previous updates leaving you with the base program you first downloaded un updated or updated to the point of your initial download when you first purchased the product, hence the program i bought will lose all its updates when the license goes.

[Pte Jack]

no, The stand alone has it's own key and it registers the stand alone with the Allegorithmic Servers. And it's not the developer's saying it's easier or being lazy, it's the Steam API that doesn't allow it. The developers hands are tied because of that.

What you are getting is not only the steam version but the actual stand alone Commerical version as well. You can load both on your computer or just one. If you decide to just load the steam version, the license it will stop updating on the 31 of Dec because of the Steam API restriction. If you load the Stand-alone, it is being fed updates direct from the Allegorithmic servers. The Allegorithmic servers know when your license began and when it expires. There will be no break in the updates.

If you want to save space on your computer nd download bandwith, you would buy on steam, sync your Steam account with the Allegorithmic Website, Download the standalone, install and use it for the full year and not bother with the Steam Version at all. Next summer sale, do the same thing or buy a subscription from Allegorithmic.

[AnzalinaJolie]

Does anyone know if the bundle is for personal use or can be purchased for indie license?

[Pte Jack]

I think I aswered that on your other post... Based on the 4 license available, I would assumeSteam is Indie (Under 100k)

[Sober Mans Secret]

It is under 100k just picked bundle up myself at start of sale.

[joneskids0001]

So if I bought these then I can use them forever but they won't update at the end of the year? So, I wouldn't lose any function I just wouldn't gain any functionality?

[Pte Jack]

see this, https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1426573908 I think I got it right...