Hi Jerzy Czopik  and all,

Just to let you know that we currently have a glitch on the Trados store (website) and the Freelance Plus upgrades are currently not being displayed for existing customers of Studio 2021 / 2022.  Our web team is currently working on fixing the page.

Also, as an interesting side note, a Trados Studio subscription is equivalent to what Freelance Plus offers. A subscription is managed via your Trados cloud account, so it works like a license server in a way. This effectively means you can start and use Studio on one device. This will claim your license. When exiting Studio on that device, the license is checked back in to your account. Now you can go to your second device and start Studio there and again log into your cloud account. This will then check out the license again for you. There is a device limit of course, but the Freelance Plus use case is fulfilled through this way of working. 

Hope this clears up the concerns.

Fran

Frances Pearn-Rowe 

Dear Fran

As Ralf already pointed out, any browser based solution is no equivalent to a full-fledged desktop tool. It can be seen as an emergency solution, but cannot replace the well established desktop workflow. A cloud based license requires a reliable Internet connection, which is not a case in Germany, where there is no Internet on a train or even in some bigger cities. This solution can work only with a stable Internet connection at home, and please check how many people here in Germany do have slow Internet due to bad connection. Left alone countryside in developing countries, where you may have no Internet at all.

Hi Jerzy - this conversation is not about browser-based vs desktop (apologies if there was any confusion around that). It's about how you license the desktop. We have two alternatives there - classic single-user license and more recent the arguably more flexible subscription license mechanism. As I explained above, we have all the mechanisms in place to provide subscription licenses robustly, including (long) offline periods. But we provide both licensing mechanisms and will continue doing so, as we know that our customers need choice. The desktop will stay of course, and we are also giving more options there to users in terms of working in Studio desktop or alternatively working in the browser. More on all this at Elevate BTW, watch out for my presentations :). Thanks, Daniel

Hi Jerzy Czopik  - just to add to Daniels comment above - the browser option is not just available with a subscription license.  Trados Studio has been (and was the first) hybrid license offering for a number of years now.  Even with a perpetual license all our customers have the option to work on the desktop, in the browser or a combination of both.  The choice is down to you as the user.

Also to confirm the glitch on the website with the upgrades from Freelance Plus not being available has also been resolved.

Wow, this was fast! Thank you for this. It shows the power of the community and also the flexibility on your side. Chapeu!

I would like to add another layer to that discussion.
Actually, the Freelance Plus option should not exist, since, in 2025, it should be obvious that a translator may work with both a computer and a laptop. Either as abackup solution, or when traveling, or for working the day at their desk and the night from their bed. And even if they were working with 3 or 4 devices, it would still be one same translator, with a valid license, typically able to work on one machine at a time, and it would not cost even one cent more to RWS or draw any more resource from them. That Plus option is just a way to draw more money from users. For more than 15 years, most of software everywhere do allow an installation on a desktop AND a laptop with no additional fee. Is is just common sense. And even if a couple of translators find a way to cheat, is it really a reason to constrain thousands of other translators? 
Professional translators are typically professionals, who just want to be efficient in their work without wasting time with license issues, and the vast majority will not try to cheat or waste energy to try to do it. The basic FL license should allow two installs at no additional fee. 

Good point! I myself am actually prepared to pay some reasonable additional amount for the Freelance Plus version to be able to continue working in the case of hardware issues and, in my view, the Freelance Plus version is something that distinguishes Studio from the products of competitors, and therefore I would always recommend it to fellow translators in search of a good CAT tool.

Good point! I myself am actually prepared to pay some reasonable additional amount for the Freelance Plus version to be able to continue working in the case of hardware issues and, in my view, the Freelance Plus version is something that distinguishes Studio from the products of competitors, and therefore I would always recommend it to fellow translators in search of a good CAT tool.