The JUCE team is delighted to announce the release of JUCE 8, representing a significant advancement in audio application and plug-in development. This release showcases highly anticipated updates, including substantial low-level improvements to text rendering, lightning-fast Direct2D rendering on Windows, and the introduction of a new animation framework. In addition to bolstering traditional UI capabilities, JUCE pioneers a new era in audio software interfaces by unlocking the potential of WebViews, offering developers a modern foundation for next-generation applications.
An introduction to the main features of JUCE 8 can be found here:
JUCE 8 also brings some changes to licensing and pricing that have been updated after feedback from our community of users. We have put a summary of the most important changes in this email, but please refer to the text of the new licence agreement itself for full details:
Tiers and Pricing
| Starter | Indie | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Revenue or Funding Limit | Up to $20,000 | Up to $300,000 | No limit |
| Minimum Commitment for a Subscription | N/A | 1 month | 12 months |
| Monthly Subscription Price per user | N/A | $40 | $175 |
| Perpetual Price per user | Free | $800 | $3500 |
JUCE 8 features a much more generous Starter tier, with a narrower definition of income and the requirement to display a splash screen removed. This makes it easier to get started with JUCE commercially and fixes some issues with open source projects interoperating with the VST3 and AAX licences.
The price of an Indie subscription is unchanged but, having been held fixed since 2020, the price for the Pro tier has increased and the revenue or funding limit for the Indie tier has reduced.
Revenue Limits
There is a new, narrower, definition of revenue that applies to both individuals and entities without a legal distinction between that entity and an individual.
Licences for product owners
Where an organisation or company has the legal responsibility for maintaining a product containing JUCE, that organisation or company will require JUCE licences.
This is a change from JUCE 7 where an organisation or company could use the licence seats of contractors to licence software containing JUCE. From JUCE 8 the owning entity is responsible for licensing the software. The licence seats required by the owning entity can be used by contractors, and can be moved between subsequent contractors.
The number of licence seats required
We have clarified the language around the terms in the End User Licence Agreement that defines the number of licence seats required:
Every Framework User contributing to or modifying source code, object code, content or any other copyrightable work that is either directly or transitively dependent upon the Framework, or modifying the Framework itself, requires a Licence. This includes any configuration that modifies the functionality of a Product in a way that end users of that Product cannot, but excludes configuration files or “presets” that only use features available to the end users of a Product. Any static content that retains its full functionality if the Framework were removed, such as audio and MIDI files, images, and plain text, is exempted.
Separation of individuals working on Products into teams does not reduce the number of Licences required.
Products that provide JUCE as a service
You may not create, make available as a service, nor distribute software that creates software that contains JUCE. This encompasses all projects and products that provide the ability to generate plug-ins and standalone software that uses JUCE.
Please contact sales@juce.com for an alternative licence agreement if you want to provide products that generate software containing JUCE.
Best wishes,
The JUCE Team
