How do we stop overpaying for Autodesk licences?

Autodesk is often one of the larger software bills in an architecture practice. Yet it’s easy to lose track of who holds each seat, or when anyone last opened it.

You stop overpaying by matching each person to the right product, not the biggest one. Check real usage in your Autodesk Account before every renewal, remove seats the day someone leaves, and move occasional users to pay-as-you-go. None of this needs new software. It needs an owner and a date in the diary.

How does Autodesk licensing work now?

Every subscription now belongs to one named person. Autodesk moved to plans based on people in May 2020 and retired shared “multi-user” or network licences, where a pool of seats served whoever logged in. They can no longer be renewed, and the last date to trade one in for two named-user subscriptions was 6 February 2024.

The buying process changed too. Autodesk’s UK site says that since 16 September 2024 most customers buy direct, though some regions and customer types aren’t eligible. A partner can still quote, but the transaction is between you and Autodesk.

You can pay monthly, or on a one-year or three-year term. For AutoCAD LT, Autodesk says a one-year or three-year term saves 33% over the monthly price. A three-year term also protects you from price increases for that period. Monthly suits seasonal work, because you can add or remove users at any time.

Which product does each person actually need?

This is often where the biggest savings sit. Autodesk’s architecture products come in layers:

• AutoCAD LT does precise 2D drafting and documentation. Full AutoCAD adds 3D modelling and seven specialised toolsets, including an Architecture toolset.
• Revit LT is aimed at the small studio or solo practitioner. Full Revit adds team collaboration tools, plus advanced simulation and analysis.
• The AutoCAD Revit LT Suite bundles Revit LT and AutoCAD LT. It costs less than buying the two separately.
• The AEC Collection bundles Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks Manage, 3ds Max, Forma Site Design and other engineering and construction tools.

The collection is good value if someone really uses several of those tools. Autodesk’s UK comparison shows it costing less than Revit plus other architect tools bought separately, but more than Revit alone. If a technologist only ever opens Revit, a collection seat pays for tools nobody uses.

When does pay-as-you-go make sense?

Autodesk Flex lets you prepay tokens and spend them at a daily rate per product. Autodesk says it suits people who need occasional access, while subscriptions suit frequent users.

• Each product is charged once every 24 hours of use. Revit uses 10 tokens a day and AutoCAD uses 7.
• Tokens expire one year after purchase and don’t roll over.
• You can mix subscriptions and Flex across the practice. If a user has both, their subscription is used first.
• Since 4 June 2026, the minimum Flex purchase is 33 tokens, down from 100.

For example, a director who opens Revit a few days a month to check a model, or an LT user who needs full AutoCAD for one project, may cost less on Flex. Count the days before deciding.

Where do small practices waste money?

The same leaks come up often:

• Seats still assigned to people who’ve left, or to people who barely use it.
• Collection seats for single-product users. A Revit-only user on the AEC Collection.
• Full products where LT would do. Full AutoCAD for 2D drafting.
• Renewals that roll over unreviewed. Auto-renew renews whatever you had last year.
• The wrong term. Paying monthly for a full-time user, when a one-year term may cost less.
• Scattered renewal dates. When you buy a new subscription, you can align its renewal date with an existing one. One renewal date means one review.

How do we see who’s actually using what?

Your Autodesk Account has a Usage report under Reporting. It shows seat assignments, days used, last access date, and whether each person is active or inactive. You can filter it over 30 days up to 12 months, and export it to Excel or CSV. It covers single-user subscriptions and Flex tokens (Autodesk: usage reporting).

You don’t need a higher-tier plan for this. Autodesk says usage reporting, single sign-on and support in local business hours come with all subscriptions and Flex purchases. Its Business Plan needs at least 50 subscriptions of eligible products, so it’s rarely relevant to a small practice.

A primary admin can also schedule an email listing users inactive for anything from 30 days to a year.

Who should own this, and when?

Give it to one named person, usually the practice manager or your IT provider, with a partner signing off changes. As a rule of thumb, start the review at least 60 days before each renewal date. That isn’t an Autodesk deadline, but it leaves time to act.

Timing matters, because of how Autodesk handles changes:

• You can reduce seat numbers only on an active subscription, and the reduction takes effect after it renews (Autodesk: turn off auto-renew).
• Turning off auto-renew doesn’t cancel anything straight away. The subscription runs to its expiry date, and you can still renew manually.

What happens to licences when someone leaves?

Autodesk licences belong in your leavers checklist, alongside email and file access. In User Management you can unassign a product from a person, or remove them from your team. Removal cuts their access to products, hubs and linked projects, so tell your hub and project admins first, as Autodesk advises.

With single sign-on set up between Autodesk and Microsoft 365, your team signs in to Autodesk with their Microsoft 365 accounts, and you control who has access from Microsoft Entra ID (Microsoft: Autodesk single sign-on with Entra ID). Disabling a leaver’s Microsoft 365 account is then a sensible first step. But neither says that alone removes Autodesk access, so unassign or remove the person in Autodesk too. That way the seat can be reassigned or dropped at renewal. Our guide to what happens when a key person leaves covers the wider handover, and conditional access in Microsoft 365 explains how sign-in rules work.

For joiners, assign the product the role needs, not a copy of the last person’s setup. Licensing is one of the things that slow IT down in an architecture practice, and a simple routine keeps it under control.

Related: Managed IT for professional firms

Frequently asked questions

Can two people share one Autodesk subscription?

Not as they could with the old network licences. Each subscription is now assigned to one named user, and multi-user subscriptions can no longer be renewed. If two part-time staff rarely overlap, Flex may cost less than two subscriptions.

Is the AEC Collection worth it for a small practice?

Only for people who regularly use more than one of its products. Autodesk’s UK comparison shows it costing less than Revit plus other architect tools bought separately, but it costs more than Revit alone. Check each person’s usage report before you buy or renew a collection seat.

Can we cut seats halfway through a subscription term?

Not with an immediate effect. Autodesk lets you remove seats on an active subscription, but the reduction applies after renewal. That’s why the review must happen before the renewal date, not after.