Will I have to pay for updates?

Whether or not you will have to pay for an update depends on what kind of update it is (minor or major), and on when you initially purchased the software. Our update policy is as follows:

• All minor updates are free.

  Minor updates are updates that don't involve a major version number change. The major version number is the number that comes first. For instance, 1.1 through to 1.9 would be free, as would 2.3 to 2.4 or 3.5 to 3.7 - all of these are counted as minor updates. Such updates usually consist of a combination of bug-fixes and feature refinements, although often contain more substantial changes and new features too.

• All major updates are offered at a discount.

  Major updates are those that involve a major version number change - 1.x to 2.x, 2.x to 3.x and so on. Such updates consist of major new features and UI overhauls, and because of the huge amount of work involved (not only with the code but also with graphics and documentation rewriting), these updates are always paid-for.

We don't ever charge you full price for paid updates, though:

• If you purchased the software at any time during the three months prior to the release date of the major new version, you will receive the update for free.*
• If you purchased the previous version of the software earlier than that, you receive a major discount on the regular price. The discount price will be set at the time of release, but as an example, Scrivener 3 on the Mac is $59.99 but registered users of Scrivener 2 for macOS get a 45% discount.

The best way to be notified about updates is to sign up for our newsletter by filling out the "Keep up to date" form at the bottom of our website.

^{*This window is a bit more flexible for Scrivener 1 for Windows users upgrading to Scrivener 3 for Windows due to unforeseen delays in the update's release. Therefore, anyone who purchased Scrivener 1 for Windows on or after November 20th 2017 is eligible for a free upgrade to Scrivener 3 for Windows.}

How Do I Claim My Upgrade Discount?

Web Store Customers

If you are an existing user entitled to a discount on a major update, the first thing you'll want to do is download the trial version of the new program. The latest version of our software will always be available on our Downloads page.

When you first open the software, you will find an "Upgrade from an older version" link on the trial message that pops up. Upon clicking that link, you will then be able to enter your old license credentials so Scrivener can recognize you as an existing user and generate a coupon code for you. You can then use this coupon toward your purchase of a new license. (Generally this whole upgrade process happens within the program itself, but you also have the option of entering the coupon code on our [web store] by clicking the small red "Add Coupon" link at the checkout window.)

Mac App Store Customers

If you purchased Scrivener or Scapple from the Mac App Store and would like a discount on a major update, please send us an email at sales@literatureandlatte.com with a proof of purchase and we will send you a discount coupon that you can use to purchase the latest version of the software from our store.

How Regular Are Paid Updates?

It's important to stress that we do not charge for major updates regularly. We only release a major update when we are convinced it's the best-ever version of our software, and we are committed to supporting and improving each version we release for a long time afterwards. When we release a paid update, we are never thinking about the next paid update, only about the current version.

To give you some idea of the regularity of our paid updates, Scrivener 1 for macOS was released in January 2007, Scrivener 2 was released in November 2010, and Scrivener 3 was released in November 2017. Scrivener 1 for Windows was released in October 2011 and the first paid update was in March 2021. So we are essentially the George R. R. Martin of paid updates. In between paid updates, we release many substantial minor updates and ensure that our software runs well on the latest operating systems.