What is a perpetual license for Live2D? Pricing and monthly fees explained

Nice to meet you. I am cHask, blogger and video contributor.

Before we go any further, let me just conclude that Live2D CubismThe perpetual license for 3-year plan is now available as a buy-out version.

Plan Name	FREE Plan	Single Month Plan	Annual Plan	3 Year Plan
contract period	None	Monthly renewal & payment	Renew & pay annually	3-year buyout
Price (annual sales less than 10 million yen)	free	2,288 yen ($14.90)	15,708 yen ($102.29)	40,392 yen ($263.03)
Price (annual sales over 10 million yen)	free	10,582 yen ($68.91)	72,600 yen ($472.76)	198,792 yen ($1,294.50)
Annual Discount	None	None	Yes	Yes

The 3-year buyout version is effectively 1,122 yen($8.04)/month, which is recommended if you want to use Live2D for the long term.

What about Live2D buy-outs and perpetual licenses?

As noted in the introduction, the current Live2D Cubism does not offer a perpetual license, with the longest plan being 3 years.

In other words, the 3-year buy-out version is also essentially a sales format similar to a subscription type, and there is no single purchase plan that can be used forever.

In addition, the Live2D buyout version has the following features and caveats, which will be explained in detail.

Student & Teacher Discounts are only available for the buy-out version of the 3-year plan.

Starting in April 2020, Live2D is offering a student discount for students and teachers, allowing them to purchase a 3-year plan ($263.03) for $69.45.

This is a substantial student discount of approximately 76% off, but the student discount applies only to the buy-out version; single-month and annual plans are not discounted even for students.

Therefore, if you are a college student, high school student, or school teacher, we recommend the 3-year buy-out version rather than the subscriber version of the plan.

There is no difference in functionality between the buy-in and the subscribe type.

There is no difference in features or restrictions between the Live2D buy-in and subscribe types, so you can do the same thing no matter which one you buy as long as you don’t mind the price.

Moreover, the total payment for the subscriber’s annual plan and the buy-out 3-year plan is the same over 3 years, and there is no actual difference in price.

Plan Name	1st year payment	Second year payment	Third year payment	Total for 3 years
Single Month Plan	27,456 yen	27,456 yen	27,456 yen	82,368 yen
Annual Plan	15,708円	12,936 yen	11,748 yen (same amount after 4th year)	40,392 yen
3 Year Plan	40,392 yen over 3 years	40,392 yen over 3 years	40,392 yen over 3 years	40,392 yen

Obviously, the single-month plan is more expensive, but the features and fees remain the same regardless of whether you choose the 3-year or 3-year annual plan.

Therefore, if you are concerned about whether your Live2D work or activities will continue, you may start with an annual plan.

No returns or mid-term cancellations for the buyout version.

Due to the nature of the product, Live2D is structured in such a way that there is no return or mid-term cancellation for both the buy-out and subscriber versions.

This means that if you purchase a 3-year buy-out plan and no longer need it at the end of the second year, you cannot return it or request a refund.

The same is true for annual plans: if you quit Live2D business in the third month, you will not receive a refund for the remaining nine months.

However, the annual plan can be cancelled at the end of the second year, a feature that makes it easy to quit in the middle of the plan.

Whether the ease of quitting in the middle of a project is an advantage or not is up to the creator, so please use this as a criterion when deciding between subscriptions and buy-outs.

The buyout version has more payment options than the subscriptions.

There is no functional difference between the buy-in and subscribe Live2D versions, but there is a difference in the type of payment method between the two.

Specifically, the following are available for the 3-year plan, which is a buy-out version and can be used for various QR code payments.

plan	Supported payment methods
Single Month Plan	Credit card, convenience store, PayPal
Annual Plan	Credit card, convenience store, bank transfer, PayPal
3-year plan (buy-out version)	Credit card, convenience store, bank transfer, PayPal, Rakuten Pay, d-payment, SoftBank, PayPay

This means that a 3-year plan has the advantage of participating in the PayPay and Rakuten Pay’s Great Redemption Festival.

It is not uncommon for QR code payment offers to give back 10% or more, so you can save Live2D by taking advantage of those offers.

In fact, you can get a substantial discount on purchases of 50 or more bottles.

If a business owner or corporation with annual sales of 10 million yen or more Live2D purchases 50 or more at once, they will receive the following discount.

Number of contracts	discount rate
50-99	25%
100-199	35%
200～299	45％
300～	50％

The discount itself applies to both the subscription and buy-out versions, but the flexible subscription version is recommended for large-volume contracts.

Also, discounts for large purchases cannot be combined with other promotions or student discount coupons, and must be discussed in advance with the Live2D contact form.

Nevertheless, the advantage of up to 50% off is significant, and is recommended if you are considering a Live2D modeler’s class or professional company.

When did Live2D lose its perpetual license?

The Live2D perpetual license was discontinued in 2017, and the sales format was shifted to a subscriber model at the beginning of the Vtuber boom.

Currently, Live2D is updating regularly and appears to be a good fit for subs sales.

Therefore, it is unlikely that a perpetual license for Live2D will be released in the future.

How to buy Live2D at a discount [coupon code]

There are several ways to purchase Live2D at a discount, including the following, and the only way anyone can use them is with a coupon code.

The coupon code for Live2D is “7VA2 GLMEVL“, and everyone gets 10% off for the first year only on the annual plan.

Note, however, that coupon codes cannot be used in conjunction with student discounts or large purchases, if applicable to other promotions.