Hi - apologies if this is the wrong place to post but it didn’t seem like a “support” issue.
I have Cubase 10.5 Artist on elicense, shows in my account. I know that support for the (10.5) dongle is ending 2025, ver 13 looks very nice, and I’m thinking of upgrading to Cubase Artist 13 (or Pro not sure).
How does the “upgrade” work going from eLicense to online? When I log into my Steinberg account, I see the cost and ability to pay on the Steinberg site. So if I buy, when I then install Artist 13 do I have to have 10.5 eLicense fired up and “active” on the computer etc or can it (Artist 13) be installed “fresh” or ??? How would that work in the future if I had to “reinstall” 13 etc?
Does Steinberg’s eCommerce “see” my valid 10.5 license and I get a 13 license code or is it some “upgrade” check procedure? Or??
Am I making it too hard? Do I just buy the 13 “upgrade” from Steinberg, they approve, and it’s good to go?
Edit: ok I found the " Steinberg Licensing: Upgrades from eLicenser-based products" article. So I have to have 10.5 installed and on the eLicense USB and then I update with the “authorization code” to 13 and it maxes out my elicenser license to "non-upgradeable.
So after that if I ever have to install the newer versions (13, etc) I do NOT need to have the elicenser anymore correct?
after the upgrade, your Cubase Artist 13 license would independently reside in the new Steinberg Licensing system. No need to use eLicenser (installed soft eLicenser, or USB eLicenser) any longer (but soft eLicenser might still be installed by theCubase Pro / Artist 13 installer, at least as long as the old license servers are still running).
However:
to be able to fully activate the new license (for installations on up to 3 machines), you’d have to “finalize” the old eLicenser license - the exact one you’d upgraded from - on your eLicenser USB dongle.
Restriction:
the only restriction is that you cannot sell that dongle license (or transfer it after early 2025), since you only purchased an upgrade, not the full retail version of Cubase Artist 13.
But of course you don’t have to install eLicenser or even still use the USB eLicenser, since the new Utilities by Steinberg form an independent, account ID based online license management system (to be unified in terms of one single service utility, some time in the future).
These Steinberg utilities are:
[ -Steinberg eLicenser Control Center (“eLCC”) ]
Steinberg Download Assistant (“SDA”)
Steinberg Library Manager (“SLM”)
Steinberg Activation Manager (“SAM”)
An older post by me, a response to a similar request as yours: