PC Soft is reinventing itself

1) at this point you can't buy a WX license without calling PCSoft
2) they indicate in their videos that you will no longer buy individual products (Windev, WebDev, etc) you will buy access to the Windev suite based on the size of your organization


What are your thoughts?

I don't know about Oracle but both dBase and Foxpro allowed you to create and sell stand alone software products with no further interaction with the tool maker companies or licence fees to them


Regards
Al

There is no doubt that WX is the best toolset when it comes to building beautiful and at the same time highly functional apps.

But the direction in which the new owners are moving it has amply become clear that we need to find alternatives and use them.

Personally I have been using Frappe Framework for building enterprise ready web app and business solutions.

For building desktop app for windows I still prefer to use the age old WinDev 24 and it works for me.

I am also exploring twinBasic for building desktop apps for windows because in near future (probably in 2027) it will support building apps for Mac OS and Linux.

As an alternative for building desktop app, one can also explore and use Laz with FPC.

As of now I have stopped building for mobile. But if need arises I would surely explore Flutter and FlutterFlow.


What are others in this community adopting?

--
Yogi Yang

Hi look s good tha frappe thing

Iam adicted to Ai though.

I looked at the web site of another software development company also owned by Constellation and also in France, 4D SAS. It is interesting to see how they have split up their subscriptions. They have 4 levels of developer subscriptions starting at $399 / yr for the Bronze level. They also have end customer (users who run their server software and are not developers) subscriptions and purchases.

Their price list is here: [downloads.4d.com]

I'm not sure how this would translate to PCSoft products. On the developer side and the Webdev Server, there is some correlation. Database not so much. 4D always charged for their database server; however PCSoft never has.

The biggest problem for PCSoft is that their customers have historically been used to buying a tool, not an access key to a walled garden software environment. Potential new clients have a lot of other options that use the lock in subscription model. Not sure many would choose PCSoft when so many other options are possible. Many of their traditional clients chose PCSoft precisely because they sold a tool with database that did not require a forever commitment.

Also, if they follow the 4D model, I am not sure how a security key fits in.

And, I am a bit amazed at how half-baked the announcement is. "We're changing everything AGAIN, but we are not telling you to what, but we will real soon now" seems to be the message.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2026 02:32AM by dmontaine.

Hi Donald,

once upon a time I've been at a demo and sales presentation of 4D in about the year of 2000 in Vienna / Austria. 26 years ago. Nice Windows applications but they were asking for runtime fees. I think I owned a copy of one of the early versions of Clarion already. Clarion did not ask for runtime fees. At that time we've had about 1000 customers with a specific DOS application which we planned to convert to Windows. There was a discussion with the 4D-presentator in Vienna about pricing of runtimes. As a longtime user of TAS Professional we never ever paid for runtimes. So, we wanted to have no runtime fees at all but they insisted. So, I started to ask for pricing of 1000 runtimes and it turned into a lengthy discussion just like at a basar in Baghdad. So, no! We've had some discussions then on an improvised forum with early adopters of Clarion like Hans Rakow and several others. We decided to buy WINDEV 5.5 because of its very "European" approach to making applications and English commands ands and docs - without any runtimes! My first WINDEV application has been made within 8 weeks and has been published in the same year 2000 and has found about 300 users since the, it is still a part of our offerings.

Kind regards,
Guenter Predl
gpredl@syspredl.at

This PC Soft reinvention:

Was it the planned outcome all along with the change to subscriptions being the first step?

Or is this a reaction to a dramatic loss of sales and income because of the change to subscriptions?

It certainly seems hurried as the marketing is fragmented and the presentation is incomplete.

I suppose no one knows for sure, but the whole process since the purchase would probably make a great MBA dissertation.

Hello,

For all the changes, there seems to be little information about the WebDev App Server. Unless they go back to the old app server licence as a single purchase without a subscription on the app server licence then developing in Webdev would seem pointless.


Regards
Al



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/2026 04:18AM by Al.

Yes, the WAS subscription is the worst thing they've ever done. The most debilitating for everyone.
Even those who thought they were fine with the latest dongle versions are finding themselves cheated.
Now every new WAS installation need a pcsoft subscprition.

Real new final customer = subscription!
Old customer changing/moving to another phisical server? Moving the old payed licence or subsctiption?
You can't install a WAS 2024/25 (or previous) anymore, if not 10-connections. It need a license you can't buy anymore.

Ok, you force your customers to WAS subscription. Can you develop with dongle and deploy on a WAS in subscription or you have to move all you dev environment into saas?
Too many questions.. too many unclear matters.

I was forced to buy a new WAS for a client even though I have stayed with 2025 for development. One of the elements of the new WAS package is a 2025 version which you can install like the old one and, from what I can see, does not expire. It's a pain that this is not offered separately but it looks like it is still possible to install 2025 by purchasing the new one. Not much makes sense these days.