May not be the right place to post this, but I am done with Waves. Most software companies a “perpetual license” means never having to repurchase or “renew” it. Not with Waves. Also, Waveshell isn’t recognized by my DAW the majority of the time and I have to either rescan or uninstall and resinstall (Waveshell places them in its own priority folder, not where I want or need them). Do the math, if I update the most simplistic plugin (lets say waves Desser LT), which I purchased at around 40 bucks, each time the subscription expires, I am throwing down another 25 bucks for a mediocre plugin?! So, over the course of several years, I could have bought something much more stable, productive and useful. Nope, good by Waves… I’ll use the remainder of my products until they expire, but then this tenuous relationship (purely financially speaking) is over.
Here’s the thing. Nobody works for free so no company could afford to maintain plugins for free. Other devs charge for maintenance when you buy their nice shiny new version with added features. If it were just the new features you’re paying for you’d be paying less.
Since Waves has a different software model where they rarely add new features, you only really end up paying for the maintenance. Which is why its so cheap compared to the full price of the plugin. It doesn’t have to be an annual thing you pay for either.. It’s possible to go a few years without paying for WUP, it all depends on DAW and OS compatibility. If it weren’t for changes on their end, developers wouldn’t be forced into spending money on compatibility updates and testing which means they wouldn’t have to request more money from us.
Don’t get me wrong though, my goal isn’t to try and change your mind, only to provide you with more information so you can make an “informed” decision.