With the Nuendo 15 release confirmed for March 25th, I’m trying to figure out the best deal:
Option A (Now): Buy a Nuendo 14 upgrade from a third-party retailer for ~€140 and activate it immediately to trigger the Grace Period.
Option B (Release Day): Wait for the official v15 launch and use the announced 20% discount on the Steinberg Store (which would be €159.20 based on the regular €199 price).
Since the Grace Period is already active, Option A seems like the better deal (saving an extra ~€20).
Am I missing something, or is it smarter to “pre-upgrade” via v14 right now instead of waiting for the official v15 promo price?
Very questionable loyalty upgrade policy by the way..
But does it really work? I asked ChatGPT and it said the upgrade paths would be fixed to the edition they qualify for. (Current upgrade offer is Nuendo 13 to 14) But I already own 14.. so logically I cannot upgrade “from 13”?
If you are already on Nuendo 14, as an update from 13, you can not buy another update for 13, because that license is already “consumed” by your existing update.
You now have a license for 14 and all you can do is buy directly the update to 15, as soon as it is available (unless you have another license for 13, that has not been updated yet).
Exactly my point, but here’s the technical catch: Since I already have Nuendo 14 “Activated” in my account, my old v13 license is already gone—it was consumed for the v14 upgrade.
This creates a massive “loyalty trap.”
While people who skipped v14 can now buy a discounted v14 update and get v15 for free via the Grace Period, those of us who stayed current and supported Steinberg from day one are locked out of these savings. We are forced to pay for the official v14->v15 update, which is objectively more expensive than the “skip-a-version” trick.
It’s frustrating to see that blind trust and immediate support are rewarded with a higher bill, while waiting and skipping versions is incentivized with better deals. This is a very poor way to treat a dedicated user base.
ChatGPT is correct.
You should change the heading line Buy v14 now to something like “I am on 14, I have used up my 13 upgrade coupon. What are my options.
If you want I can answer that.
The grace period update is known for many years and happens always app. four weeks before the release.
There will be a discount for the update from 14 to 15 as it is for all updates, so you will clearly get a much lower price than for a full version. But you can also stay on 14 and wait until next year and update to 16, if you really insist on getting a “free” update.
Sorry, but in my opinion this is a standard way of selling updates in the whole software industry and not just Steinberg.
…Seasons matter. By autumn and winter, momentum slows and a 30 to 40 percent grace falls as a gift.
Most users aren’t waiting at the platform. They’re already on the train, deep into ongoing projects. And in this kind of work, you don’t switch tools mid-journey. You finish the route first.
So upgrades don’t happen immediately. Timing, more than intent, decides adoption.
It is not about creating a trap or trust. There’s a gap between when a company decides and when a user can follow. One runs on vision. The other runs on deadlines.
Your complaint comes up every year when there is a new version, and I think that like everyone else who makes it you’re missing several things.
First of all, the grace-period is there to save people from ending up in a situation where they buy v14 on Monday and then on Tuesday v15 comes out. You know what I mean? That would suck, right? You think you’re getting the lates version for X money and then a day later the next version comes out. So instead of putting users in that situation they basically say “Ok, if you buy starting today we’re going to give you the next version free of charge”. This also avoids a situation where if they did not give a discount then as soon as they announce the new version in advance sales would pretty much drop to zero. This way they get to maintain a reasonable revenue stream and not punish users.
Secondly, you actually still get a discount during the first period after the new version comes out. The 20% discount applies for some amount of time and that is to basically cut early adopters some slack, or “thank them” or whatever.
Thirdly, you also always get a discount on a higher version if you already own an older version. You pretty much never pay full price.
Lastly, in your specific case you are looking at either having spent 140 or 160. That’s a difference of 20. There are a lot of ways you can put that into perspective. I think maybe the most obvious way is to take the amount of time you have been able to use v14 after you updated from v13 to the time v15 comes out and divide 20 by that number. That’s the price you paid to stay current on the latest version - and it’s worth pointing out that you got to use v14, right, so it’s not like you threw away money and got nothing in return. Let’s say then that you updated to v14 5 months ago, that means that you have paid 4 per month for 5 months in order to use v14. Was it worth 4/month? Is it worth fretting over the upcoming extra 20 you’ll pay?
You own Nuendo 14. You see it in your steinberg.net account, authorized and active.
Nuendo 15 releases this Wednesday, March 25 2026.
On Wednesday, with N15 released, you navigate to sb, click “buy now” for N15, go to the very top menu dropdown, click the upgrade-from-n14 choice….add to cart at $199…..and because it’s then Wed March 25, when you click to go to checkout, an extra 20% discount is entered….bringing your checkout total to $160.
You’re then buying N15 pro for $160
Are you really truly quibbling over the $20 diff in your waayyy-overthinking approach?
If you’re mentally connecting it to not being rewarded by loyalty, quibbling a $20 diff on a $700 program that you’re getting as a $160 upgrade is little out there imo.
Then they should at least do it right.. There is only an educational discount on new full purchases. Where isn’t there an education discount for students for example, but instead people who only spend money on upgrades every second year get 20€ off?
well, that’s your opinion. good for you to be fine with throwing away 20€ while other people don’t. That being said it’s really not about the price difference.. I don’t care if it’s 5€ or 100€ difference. I just about customer loyalty imo
Buying the latest version right as it comes out is just a sign of trust in the company and products instead of waiting a year for everyone to review it and so on It’s supporting the company right away. Imo this should be respected
All we current N14 owners who bought upgrades last year from 13 are paying $160 for the upgrade this Wednesday. Many of us having years and years of Cubendo buying.
Is there a reason you should have a higher loyalty discount than the rest of us?
