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Why ARCHICAD Start Edition is the best alternative to subscription-only models for micro-practices and solo architects

5th of March 2020, GRAPHISOFT released the Spanish version of ARCHICAD Start Edition 2020. This latest version of ARCHICAD, which is the entry-level product line of GRAPHISOFT, covering almost every necessity of micro-practices and solo architects to enter into the BIM world. The toolsets and features offered in this edition includes the full BIM workflow, but with some limitations on few tools for internal teamwork collaboration, modelling and visualisation capabilities in comparison to the full version, which are usually critical for larger practices. If you have micro-architectural practices, several reasons make this version the best choice to invest in your digital transformation. In this article, I selected 4 reasons to invest and buy ARCHICAD Start Edition in Spain: 

1. ARCHICAD Start Edition is a Perpetual License (Read more…)
2. ARCHICAD Start Edition has all the critical features for solo architects (Read more…)
3. ARCHICAD Start Edition Price is competitive and affordable (Read more…)
4. We are with you on your way of learning ARCHICAD (Read more…)

1- ARCHICAD Start Edition is a Perpetual License

It means you pay once, and you own the license right forever. The perpetual license becomes an advantage point when you compare it with the only subscription models. Such models allow you to only rent the software base on a monthly, annual or 3-year term. Still, your license right and usage of the product will always depend on the commercial or strategic policies of the software vendor. It technically means you need to keep paying as long as you need to open or edit your project(s). For micro-practices and solo architects, it would be an unpleasant running cost. In another scenario, you pay once for ARCHICAD Start Edition perpetual license, and you have chance to decide how to manage your software license, where you can: 

1. Keep using the same software version forever (as long as your operating system allows you)
2. Upgrade to next release for a small upgrade fee 
3. Upgrade to full edition with annual maintenance and priority technical support  

I recently read an article written by Neil Blevins explaining "Why Rental Only Software (The Subscription Model) Is A Bad Thing". Please pay attention to the keyword "Only", and this keyword made his article challenging to ignore as the "Only" represents a situation with no options. In his article, he made an impressive conclusion that I find absolutely interesting to reflect here for our audience:  

A film came out in 2010 called "Repo Men" (not to be confused with 1984's "Repo Man" starring Emilio Estevez). In "Repo Men", if your heart was damaged, you could replace it was an artificial heart. But you can't buy the heart upright, you can only rent it. So if you all of a sudden lose your job, or can't continue to pay the monthly fee for whatever reason, the Repo Men came visiting to take the heart back, killing the customer. This is of course an absurdely extreme example, but it makes a good point. The large corporations are taking more and more control over our lives. As a society, where do we draw the line? How much control is too much control? Do we want a world where no one is allowed to own anything anymore? (Neil Blevins, 2020, Read More…)

2- ARCHICAD Start Edition has all the critical features for solo architects 

ARCHICAD Start Edition brings a tangible meaning to "less is more" concept. As an architect, we are familiar with this concept. Still, in the software industry, sometimes we end up with so many features that we do not need, but always, we should pay for them as part of the package. In our opinion, GRAPHISOFT developed this version with the same concept of "less is more" to deliver the most critical functionalities while omitting the none or less significant ones. This concept resulted in a fully functional BIM authoring software with a significantly lower price that made it affordable for micro-architectural practices.  Here I listed some of the most essential features: 

+ BIM Modeling: you can use this software to create a proper Building Information Model with all necessary tools such as profiled or composite structures, priority-based junctions, the shell tool, the morph tool (the conceptual "freeform" modelling environment) and GDL objects.

+ Documentation: You have one of the most complete 2D features to create your model-based documentation and manage your deliveries withing different layout books. 

+ Visualisation: It is simple and effective, although this version does not offer a photo-realistic rendering engine, it provides two critical visualisation method: 

• Real-time shaded 3D environment
• BIMx Hyper-models

+ OPEN BIM: All essential formats of file for an open standard collaboration is supported by this edition with high capacity in latest IFC, BCF, DWG and DXF file exchange methods. Read here to know more about OPEN BIM. 

+ Availability: ARCHICAD Start Edition works both on macOS and Windows with many available extensions for both operating systems. ARCHICAD start edition is also available in your local language (in our case Spanish). The localised version of ARCHICAD Start Edition is not a simple translation of the interface. This version comes with many localised preset elements such as favourites, documentation sets, annotation defaults, etc.

3- ARCHICAD Start Edition Price is competitive and affordable 

In Spain, the market price of perpetual license of ARCHICAD full edition is 4000€ (without VAT). ARCHICAD Start Edition is 50% straight forward cheaper than the full version. Considering the reason 1 and 2, this pricing policy really makes sense. If you compare this 2000€ one-time investment with other similar only subscription products, then you can make your own math. With this investment, you will get:

• Your own software license forever!  
• All the necessary tools for your BIM workflow 
• Possibilities to keep all your options open to upgrade to ARCHICAD full version or to upgrade to next release of Start Edition (Reasonable investment vs Renting) 
• Free ARCHICAD training to become a GRAPHISOFT certified ARCHICAD BIM User (see reason 4)
• And of course, if your budget is limited, you will stay on an affordable budget with maximum benefits 

4- We are with you on your way of learning ARCHICAD

Training is a vital step in the effective use of any software. Through GRAPHISOFT Learn programs, we share our many years of experience and knowledge in BIM and ARCHICAD with our customers. Besides, we provide plenty of free learning resources provided to you to enrich your ARCHICAD BIM knowledge. From the beginning of 2020, we included free registration in ARCHICAD BIM Management Essential program for our ARCHICAD Start Edition new customers. This program enables our customers to become a GRAPHISOFT certified ARCHICAD BIM User. You can check our annual training calendar and find a suitable date and time to attend this training during 2020. This training program includes: 

+ Live training sessions: 

All training sessions are conducted live (online), which means you can attend all the classes with real instructor and classmates just from your office or home. You also can repeat each session as many times as you wish (see the annual calendar).

+ Help and support forums:

In this program, you have access to different internal support forums. The forums are thematically organised, and you can ask your questions about each training session or your professional projects. A BIM and ARCHICAD expert will reply to your questions.

+ Support materials: 

All the participants have access to exclusive supportive contents corresponding to each training session.

+ BIM Mentor: 

A BIM mentor (success manager) will be assigned to you, and he/she will track your learning progress and help you to plan your specific learning path. For companies, monitoring and planning can be done at the company level.

Do we have your attention? 

If you are reading till this point, it means, yes, we do have your attention. To discover more about ARCHICAD Start Edition, you can see its product page or call us for more information. We can help you with different licensing options, purchase process, differences between full version and Start Edition, technical issues, etc. Basically, feel free to call us for any possible doubt or question you may have about ARCHICAD Start Edition. 

1. Download ARCHICAD

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2. Download Sample

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3. Video Tutorials

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4. ARCHICAD Tutorials

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5. Join BIM Classes 2020

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Call ARCHICAD Help Line!

Call 914893929 or 932936672 or send a message

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