No, I’m referring to when people have DT4 but don’t upgrade after 12 months, letting their license lapse.
If they then wish to take up DT4 again after a gap of, say, 3 months, what is the price?
The current price for me to update my DT4 Pro for another year is $89 because I’m still in the first year after initial purchase and so I get the ‘early’ discount. If I wait till after the current year has finished (July 2026 in my case) it will be $99. Of course at some point, they may increase the yearly update fee because of inflation, but that doesn’t change the principle. You only have to pay the current fee to update, not buy a completely new licence.
Part of the confusion, I think, is that DEVONthink use ‘update’ and ‘upgrade’ with specific meanings:
- upgrade – go to a higher version (e.g. Pro to Server)
- update - buy another year’s improvements for your exiting version (i.e. one more year of Pro).
This is how other apps with this type of purchasing method – such as Tinderbox – work.
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So it remains $99 in perpetuity? Great.
All the pricing is on the page I linked, in very large and colored type 
That should be the source you consult as any changes (if any) will logically be made there.
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As Jim says, under the currently announced system, it’s whatever the current price to update is at the time you update (minus the discount if you haven’t run out yet…).
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Thanks. I’ll keep this conversation in mind when it’s time to renew.
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I agree that this does cause confusion. In my earlier post I was referring to ‘update’ rather than ‘upgrade’. However, if you keep ‘updating’ each year, then at some point won’t you also be ‘upgrading’ when a new version comes out?
When that eventually happens, it will depend on whatever system DEVONthink decide to employ at the time, of course.
But let’s say it happens in 2030 and you don’t update annually till then. You could still pay one yearly update in 2030 to bring you up to the very latest version of DT4 before deciding whether to get DT5.
When you update you don’t skip any year’s updates – you get access to the current latest version in the same way as someone who paid every year.
These questions are better asked on our forums where the people making these decisions are participating.
Notwithstanding my earlier reply, I’m staying with DT.
- I have the Pro version, so I don’t have to pay the $20/year subscription for DTTG 4.
- DT 4 and DTTG4 are great, significant improvement over DT 3 and DTTG 3.
- DT does everything I need, want, and more.
I get tremendous value out of DT and DTTG. Finder cannot replicate the functionality and value. I’m staying with DT and will deal with the $99/year upgrade cost.
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I have the same plan and agree with you.
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See my previous comment about how DEVONthink use upgrade vs update to mean different things… 
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Yes, a typo on my part. I meant to say update. 
But then again, I presume an update would also be an upgrade of sorts.
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You could give MyMind a look. Not the cheapest option, but it does a great job with search and using the robots to auto-tag.
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You’ve probably landed on a solution by now, but I’ve spent the last couple of weeks cleaning up and organizing my various document archives and notes repositories and I am sold on adding AI into the mix. It helps me surface information quickly, put it into context, summarize it, and query it if need be. Your mileage may vary, but for me, the ability to use AI to work with my stuff is notes-app table stakes.
I use DEVONthink, but it’s not the only notes app out there that can leverage the power of AI. Notion is certainly one of them—it’s embraced AI in a big way. You can also use AI in Obsidian, although at the moment it requires a plug-in.
A note about how I use DEVONthink + AI:
- I import anything that belongs in my administrative archives into DEVONthink.
- I index the Obsidian vaults where I keep my research notes and clipped web content in DEVONthink.
- I also index the files where I store my PDFs and ePUBs in DEVONthink.
I don’t use DEVONthink as a workspace for items 2 & 3 until it’s time to search and summarize. (I’m also testing using Claude Code as a way to turn AI loose on my Obsidian vaults.)
I prefer notes apps that 1) store my stuff on my device rather than in a proprietary database on someone else’s server and 2) allow me to use my Claude or Gemini API keys to work with my files. But that’s not for everyone: for some people a service like MyMind that’s AI first will be just what they need.
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What are you using to “take” notes and on what devices? For example, meeting or project notes.
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By note-taking, do you mean literally writing individual notes, or are you thinking more expansively, i.e., about my PKM system?
If the former, I use Obsidian as a repository for research and learning notes and NotePlan as a repository for admin notes that I need to refer to on a day-to-day basis. DEVONthink is my repository for the administrative aide-mémoires I need to retain for future reference because that’s where the relevant documents are stored. My administrative notes in NotePlan often have a link back to a relevant supporting document that I’ve stored in DEVONthink.
If I’m not actively working in either Obsidian, NotePlan, or DEVONthink, I’ll use Drafts to capture a thought or bit of information and then export it to the appropriate repository.
I still take meeting notes by hand, because focus and retention. I usually extract a summary the key issues, decisions, and next steps discussed into a note in Drafts and send it off to wherever it needs to go.
I do as much of my research and learning reading in Readwise Reader as I can because Reader will automatically port my highlights and annotations to my Obsidian Vault.
But … AI is making me re-think everything about note-taking and PKM. DEVONthink + Claude has saved me hours untangling some particularly gnarly issues related to a set of family trusts in the past month alone. I’m testing several ways to use AI to work with my Obsidian vaults and the folders that contain my reference texts and materials. For instance, I can index them in DEVONthink and work with them there. Alternatively, I can load a bolus of related texts and Obsidian notes onto my Google drive and pull them into NotebookLM to work on. Right now I’m taking a look at using Claude Code with Obsidian. (Google it. I had no idea …)
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Thank you for the thorough and thoughtful response! I too have begun to take most meeting notes by hand for the reasons you mentioned, and frankly, it is faster and easier. I don’t need transcripts (in fact, there are many reasons it is best not to have transcripts), I just need to know the issues, the decisions, and the follow-ups. I’m using Apple Notes for storing project notes and reference material related to projects and meetings. I use DT for all research documents. My system is not nearly as sophisticated as yours, but it is working for me. 
Thanks again!
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It’s just n hour from me and I had no idea it was German territory… though one could make bad jokes about the AryanNations folks that were prevalent in the 90s. Seriously, I need to do some research now!
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I’m genuinely curious, why can’t a user just create the same folder hierarchy and structure that you created in Finder? That way, all the files are on disk and not in a proprietary database. Also, the user can use Raycast/Alfred to quickly search the files and even tags.
So what advantages does DEVONthink bring here? I have a similar directory structure in Finder, and I’m trying to figure out what I’m missing that’s available in DevonThink. Also use Obsidian with similar directory structure.