I’ve been a Fusion 360 subscriber for more years than I can recall. Several years ago Fusion offered me a grandfather subscription for a set yearly cost forever. They will never increase my subscription cost. I thought this was a great deal so I jumped on it.
A deal is a deal right? Through the years when the software is updated they start turning features into extensions and I will have to pay extra for the extensions. They have made all the multi axis features into extensions (4th axis) I had all of these when I agreed to the offer. This last update they made the 3D steep and shallow milling into a extension.
This week I contacted Autodesk to let them know that they were not giving me the subscription we had agreed on. Here is their response to me;
Hello David,
Thank you for contacting Autodesk.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused. We do understand how frustrating it would be.
In response to your concern, I would like to inform you that we can provide a refund of the recent payment made for the Fusion 360 Legacy (order number: ).
Kindly do confirm with us. Awaiting your response.
Best regards,
Autodesk Client Services
I wrote back to them and said “Please do not refund.”
They got me and there is nothing I can do. I guess it’s like crack cocaine they are the dealer and I need Fusion 360.
My concern here is they will price me out of the software someday. For now it is a powerful software and still very affordable. I’m excited about ordering the MR1 and hope the software will be available for years to come.
Unfortunately this seems to be the way everyone is going. Subscription based bundle crap with add ons. I hate it so much. If I needed 3D modeling capability I’d probably have to go with fusion as it’s the dominator in the industry. Much like Adobe Illustrator.
Luckily Affinity Designer exists to replace adobe very well, but as far as I know there is nothing as capable as fusion for CAD that’s not subscription based. That is, until Langmuir finds a way to disrupt fusions hold on everything.
I have no idea what it costs since employer provided, but at Toyota all that was used was Catia. They claim they work with “mom and pop in the garage” all the way up to Fortune 500. So, you would think they are implying they have some affordable options.
With your skills you could probably learn something new pretty easily.
I am also a “Early Adopter”, who locked in the subscription price, years ago. Also, dislike how they have moved things out of my F360 subscription, into pay-to-play now. However, I must give Autodesk some kudos. I now have some full version software, such as Eagle, which was not part of my initial subscription, so we lose some, we win some.
Take an online class at a JC college (might as well take a CAD Class), once you get your school email address you can get Fusion for free under an educator license, basically in perpetuity as long as you can access that email…