Filmora Perpetual Plan vs Annual Plan: Which One Saves You More
Most people comparing Filmora’s perpetual and annual plans want to know which one will cost them less in the long run. The perpetual plan comes out cheaper if you keep Filmora for more than a year and don’t need every major upgrade. An annual plan can make more sense if you only need Filmora for a shorter time, use its AI tools regularly, or want new major versions included.
Check our Wondershare coupon page for the latest offers and see if you can get a better price before you buy.
The annual plan costs less for the first year
These are the prices we found for each plan at Wondershare’s U.S. checkout, before any optional add-ons:
| Plan | Windows | Mac | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perpetual | $79.99 | $99.99 | Once |
| Basic | $49.99 | $69.99 | Every year |
| Advanced | $59.99 | $79.99 | Every year |
On Windows, Basic is $30 cheaper for the first year. After two years, you’ll have paid $99.98, compared with $79.99 for the perpetual plan. The same is true on Mac, where two years of Basic costs $139.98 versus $99.99 for perpetual.
What you’ll pay for future Filmora versions
The perpetual plan includes Filmora 16 and its updates, but not the next major release. You can keep using Filmora 16 without upgrading. With an annual subscription, new major versions are included while your subscription is active.
Wondershare doesn’t list upgrade prices on its shop pages. When Filmora 12 was released, existing perpetual owners could upgrade for $29.99. Using that price as an example, a $79.99 Windows license plus one upgrade would come to $109.98. Three years of Basic would cost $149.97.
Timing can matter too. Filmora 15 perpetual licenses purchased after June 24, 2026 qualified for a free upgrade to Filmora 16. Wondershare hasn’t said whether it will offer the same deal with the next release.
How AI credits affect the cost
Filmora’s AI tools use credits. The perpetual plan includes 1,000 credits that don’t expire. Advanced includes 1,000 each month, but unused credits are replaced when the next monthly allowance arrives.
How long 1,000 credits lasts depends on what you use them for. Some AI video features can use hundreds of credits at a time, while captions and voiceovers use far fewer.
For someone using around 1,000 credits a month, buying extra credits with the perpetual plan can make a big difference to the cost. Three 5,000-credit packs at $25.99 each, plus the $79.99 Windows perpetual license, would cost $157.96 in the first year. Advanced costs $59.99 for the year and includes its monthly credits.
If you only use Filmora’s AI tools occasionally, the 1,000 credits that come with the perpetual plan may be all you need.
Using Filmora on Windows and Mac
Filmora’s regular perpetual licenses cover either Windows or Mac, not both. Buying a perpetual license for each would cost $179.98.
Wondershare also offered a Win+Mac Advanced plan for $59.99 a year. At that price, three years would cost $179.97, almost exactly the same as buying both perpetual licenses. The annual plan also includes major-version upgrades and Advanced’s AI credits.
Check the extras before you pay
Filmora added $4.95 Download Insurance to its regular carts. It was optional and could be removed before payment. Since your license is tied to your Wondershare account, you don’t need Download Insurance just to reinstall Filmora on another compatible computer.
There was also an extra 10% discount for adding a free trial of Creative Assets. That brought the Windows perpetual plan down to $71.99, but the trial became a separate $19.99-a-month subscription after 14 days unless canceled.
The discount makes sense if you want Creative Assets or cancel before the trial ends. If you don’t, even one month of the subscription costs more than you saved on Filmora.
How discounts affect each plan
Filmora doesn’t always discount its annual and perpetual plans at the same time. During Cyber Week 2025, the Win+Mac Advanced annual plan dropped to $53.99, while there was no perpetual offer listed in the promotion.
Education pricing looks a little different. Filmora’s education store listed the annual license at $39.99 and the perpetual license at $49.99 with Student Beans verification. You can check Wondershare’s current Filmora plans and pricing on its official website. For an eligible buyer who doesn’t need future major versions, the $10 difference makes paying once much easier to justify.
Education licenses are limited to individual, non-commercial use, so those prices aren’t an alternative to the regular plans for every buyer.