PaperCut's Upgrade Policy

This article covers the license and support side of upgrading, answering questions like ‘does my current license allow me to upgrade’ or ‘should I renew my M&S’. If you’re looking for answers to technical questions about the upgrade process, like ‘how do I upgrade’ or ‘can I jump from version 19 to 21’ check out our article Upgrading PaperCut MF & NG (update procedure).

Q What is PaperCut Software’s upgrade policy?

Major upgrades are released approximately annually with a number of minor enhancements offered throughout the year. We have a well established upgrade policy first introduced in 1999:

Upgrades are always optional, and older versions are fully supported during their life. See our End of Life Policy for more information.
There are no mandatory annual fees.
Minor point releases within a version are free (e.g. version 19.0 to 19.1 to 19.2)
Current Maintenance and Support (M&S) customers will always receive free upgrades. We are committed to ensuring our annual Maintenance and Support fee sits at, or below the industry standard of 20% of the license price per year.
Customers who purchase within three (3) months of a major release receive a free upgrade (see below).

If you have any questions about your eligibility for upgrades, please contact the Sales & Licensing team.

Q I’m a customer with current M&S (Maintenance and Support), am I eligible to upgrade to PaperCut version 22?

All customers with current Maintenance and Support (M&S) can upgrade immediately. You can tell if your M&S is current by checking the “Software updates available until” field in the “About” page. If your M&S is still valid, then your existing license will also work with version 22.

Our major version numbers follow the year, so for example if you have valid M&S, and your ‘Software updates available until’ field shows 4th July 2022, then you’ll be able to install version 22 if it was released on Feb 1st 2022. Since minor point releases are free (see above), you would be able to upgrade to version 22.1, even if 22.1 was released in September 2022.

As another example, if your M&S has lapsed and your ‘Software updates available until’ field shows 4th July 2019, then you would only be able to upgrade to version 19.x, since your software updates doesn’t cover version 20 which was released in 2020. However, if you were running version 19.0.1 and your updates ran out on 4th July 2019, then because minor point releases are free (see above), you would be able to upgrade to the latest version of 19 which is 19.2.5.

If you have any questions about your eligibility for upgrades, please email us at sales.

Q What happens if I don’t renew my Maintenance and Support (M&S)?

If your Maintenance and Support lapses you’ll revert back to the standard upgrade policy (see above). The software as currently installed will continue to work with the exception of subscription based features such as Scan to Cloud Storage. These features will be unavailable if M&S lapses. If your M&S does lapse you will need to pay an upgrade to install any future upgrades. Support services also we be limited to the standard level. If you have accidentally let your M&S lapse please contact PaperCut and we’ll discuss options to get you back on the program.

Q How do I tell if I have valid Maintenance and Support (M&S) or not?

You can tell if your M&S is current by checking in your PaperCut Administration Console, under About → License Info → Software updates available until. If your M&S is still valid, then your existing license will also work with the latest version. For example if you’re thinking about upgrading to version 19.x, and your License Info says that you can have Software updates available until Dec 31, 2020 then you’re good to go ahead an upgrade to version 19!

Q I purchased version 18 just before the release of version 19. Can I upgrade?

If you purchased a PaperCut license within 3 months of major release then you are eligible to run this new version with the exception of subscription based features such as Scan to Cloud Storage. You need an active M&S to use these features. You can check the date your license was issued in the “Issued On” field in the “About” page. If you purchased a version 18.X license within 3 months prior to the date of the release of 19.0 you are eligible to run version 19.0, and your license will automatically work with any version 19 release. However, any subscription based features such as Scan to Cloud Storage will be unavailable if M&S lapses.

If you have any questions about your eligibility for upgrades, please email us at sales.

Q How often do major updates come out?

We have a release often policy. We aim to issue one major release a year with a target date in the December to January period and have conformed to this goal for the past 4 years. As like all software applications, development schedules may change over time and hence future release dates may vary.

Q Should I upgrade?

From a “business” point of view, we are keen to see our customers upgrade. However we always leave the choice in your hands. Many software companies charge a yearly fee for access to updates. We prefer to provide the choice. In general, we recommend holding off on the upgrade if:

PaperCut is running fine and you’re happy
You have no need for any of the new features listed in the PaperCut Release History

We recommend considering the upgrade when:

You find the new features useful and a worthwhile. PaperCut Quota users should also consider PaperCut NG as an upgrade option. PaperCut Quota has reached its end-of-life you can read about it here.
You are considering a hardware or server upgrade. Use this period to also upgrade PaperCut and bring your server up-to-date.

We’d also like to point out that money raised from upgrades goes back into product development and new features. Also once you have upgraded, you’ll automatically gain access to all future point release updates in that given version.

Q How do I upgrade?

The upgrade process is pretty simple, and can be done by installing the upgrade over the top of your current install. All your data and history will be retained.

If it’s your first update on a production system, you may find some of Matt Lee’s practical advise useful: See his blog post on managing updates

Categories: SalesAndLicensing, Upgrading or Downgrading

keywords: assurance, upgrade costs, upgrades, maintenance

PaperCut's Upgrade Policy

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