I chose version A. You will most likely already know whether you want the Freelance or the Business version, so all the Business stuff is just a distraction for a Freelance user, and vice versa. 

In terms of a simplified customer journey, I must admit that there are too many different options on the business side. Luckily, this is not relevant to me, but it is not entirely clear how the three business options relate to each other. 

PS: Have you guys gotten rid of permanent licenses? See: community.rws.com/.../is-rws-no-longer-selling-permanent-licences-for-trados-studio-2026

Michael Beijer said:

Have you guys gotten rid of permanent licenses?

No... not entirely.  We still have perpetual for freelance upgrades and for Studio Professional.  Anyone new wanting Studio Freelance has to have a subscription, outside of that people can choose to have perpetual.

Understood, thanks. Incidentally, nowhere on the current pricing page does it mention how many computers you can run the subscription-based licence on. A sensible default would be two, if you ask me. The current Trados Studio "Plus" extra pricing for one additional desktop computer is way too high, if you ask me. By way of comparison, memoQ effectively lets you install it on as many computers as you want. There's no need to be that generous, but I think two computers would be a nice gesture of goodwill. Many of us have one main work computer and a laptop.    

Understood, thanks. Incidentally, nowhere on the current pricing page does it mention how many computers you can run the subscription-based licence on. A sensible default would be two, if you ask me. The current Trados Studio "Plus" extra pricing for one additional desktop computer is way too high, if you ask me. By way of comparison, memoQ effectively lets you install it on as many computers as you want. There's no need to be that generous, but I think two computers would be a nice gesture of goodwill. Many of us have one main work computer and a laptop.    

 Paul Filkin Michael Beijer 

When I looked initially, I chose the second option because I've always used the Pro version, loved using it and watching it grow since the very first version. So I can't imagine using anything else. However, I've had to think again.

Trying to be realistic, I'm asking myself whether I should upgrade at all. The agency I do most of my work for are still using Studio 2022. I'm presuming that is because they have been bought by a much bigger company who have not updated. I imagine that is because they favour the use of Phrase translation software. I don't like it but have complied and use it when required though it's slow and unwieldy at times and coming back to Studio is like a breath of fresh air.

If I move up to any of the options of Studio 2026, be it Freelance or Pro, despite how I love having the latest technology at my fingertips, I have to consider how compatible my work will be for the agency moving forward. I've always worked with the latest version despite their waiting to upgrade until they were sure it would not cause them problems but I'm not sure they will upgrade even to Studio 2024 now. Their and thus my workload dropped radically with the fall in the German economy which added to the struggle to remain competitive with new non-human translation technologies. One has had to accept a lower income one way or another to avoid being priced out of the market.

Looking on the bright side, at 66 I'm nearer the end of my career than the beginning!

All the best,

Ali