Upgrade Policy

Minor and maintenance updates are always free.  For example, a version 5 license will work for all 5.x.x releases.  The Check for Updates feature in Beyond Compare notifies when a new release is available and offers to automatically upgrade.  Types of upgrades:

Multiuser licenses need to be upgraded in their entirety.  You cannot split up a multiuser license and upgrade part of it.  However, an upgraded user may continue to use the older version instead of or in addition to the new version.

To upgrade your current license, see our upgrades page.

Upgrade Protection

When you buy a new license, you automatically get 12 months of upgrade protection.  That means if we release a major upgrade within 12 months of your purchase, you can get the upgrade for free.  You only get automatic upgrade protection when you pay full price for a license.  It is not reestablished when you pay half price to upgrade to a new major version.  If you skip a major version and pay full price to upgrade, it is effectively a new license and you get 12 more months of upgrade protection.  In summary:

If you qualify for a free upgrade you will still need to get a new license key for the new major version.  Log into your account to upgrade your license and we'll send you a new key.  Note that you do not need a new key for minor upgrades.

Annual Maintenance

If you have an unlimited or enterprise license and prefer to budget your license fees, you can renew your upgrade protection annually for 20% of the (then current) license price.  If your upgrade protection expires, you can only reestablish it at the time you purchase an upgrade by paying the annual amount (20%) in addition to the upgrade price (50%).  The upgrade transaction sets the new upgrade protection anniversary date.