Dear friends, today we are releasing updates to October CMS that we have been working on for many months: a new platform, new website, new support model, new planning process and a new business model. The new business model is required to put October CMS on a sustainable footing.

October CMS 2.0 is now available. You can create a private Demo and try the platform using the October CMS Demo form on our homepage. You can also install it with Composer; this requires a project license for a modest fee, or a partner subscription.

Version 2.0 includes many improvements in the platform and ecosystem. Below are some of the most important updates.

Changing the business model was a tough choice but we believe it is the right decision that will help both the platform and our customers. We received many questions regarding the license pricing model. We hope, the following makes it clear:

• You don't need a license if you are not updating your installation.
• There is no requirement to have an active license to continue to run a website based on October CMS. The active license is only needed for receiving updates.
• The project license is a once-off payment that includes 1 year of updates.
• The lowest annual subscription tier that includes unlimited licenses is Bronze.
• You can try the platform before you pay using the private Demo.
• If you decide not to upgrade, all project themes and plugins are still available for existing websites, including future updates except when they require the new version of October CMS.
• Paid support tickets are only needed for help with your website or implementation. They are not needed for bugs with the platform.

Please check the homepage for a detailed pricing table.

We are grateful to everyone who has visited our Portal and posted their thoughts on the planned and considered features. If you had no chance to review the Portal and share your thoughts, you are welcome to do it now. We appreciate your feedback!

Thank you for supporting our efforts in making October CMS professionally managed software!

Questions and Answers

Please explain the Pay As You Go pricing?

With Pay As You Go licence you pay one time for a website, and it includes 1 year of updates. We are not forcing the payment for all websites forever, the license is perpetual to the state of the code base current at the time of purchasing the licence.

What does it cost for one more year?

If you need to update the platform or plugins, you should extend your license to cover the next year. You still have rights to use your website forever with just one payment. It is not a subscription service, rather an update service.

Is it safe to upgrade my website?

The current version is a Beta version of the new platform. It may contain bugs which we will try to fix as soon as possible after they come to our attention. Nonetheless, we do not recommend upgrading live websites until the stable release is available.

Should I expect any changes in our workflow after the upgrade?

Composer and the Command Line Interface are now the only way to install and update the platform and its extensions. There is no web installer and Graphical User Interface for the platform or plugin updates in the Administration Area. Please see the Upgrade Guide and Installation Documentation for details.

How can I upgrade to the newest version?

The upgrade process is described on this page.

Can I install the old platform?

Yes, you can install it with Composer using the following command:

composer create-project october/october:1.1.* myoctober

Update for the Private Plugins & Themes service users

Full Composer support provides the same functionality as the Private Plugins & Themes service. We are planning to discontinue this service and encourage all users to switch to the new process. We have updated all existing subscriptions so that they won't renew automatically at the end of the current cycle. The Private Plugins and Themes menu item was moved to the Account drop-down menu. Please contact us if you need help with the transition.

I have other questions

Please check the Questions and Answers section in our previous post. Don't hesitate to email us at hello@octobercms.com.

We sincerely hope that you enjoy working with the new platform and look forward to working with you on many exciting new projects.