Bluebeam Revu 20 and earlier were licensed under a different model from today’s subscriptions. Licences were registered to computers with a serial number and product key, and optional annual subscriptions added Maintenance, Enterprise licence management or Open (pooled) licensing.[1][3] Bluebeam no longer offers these licence types.[1] With Revu 21 it moved to named-user subscriptions, so that “admins can manage named-user licenses, rather than lists of serial numbers”.[1] Bluebeam describes the Revu 20 end of life as completing “Bluebeam’s transition from perpetual licenses (Revu 20) to subscription plans”.[6] Many organizations still hold Revu 20 installations, so this article explains how to identify them and what happens to each type.
Editions
The legacy FAQ compares three licence types:[1]
| Type | Serial prefix | How it worked |
|---|---|---|
| Perpetual | 1 (for example 1334567) | One-time purchase; Revu registered to individual workstations with a serial number and product key |
| Enterprise | 980 | One-time licence plus required Maintenance and an Enterprise License subscription. Seats dropped from the pool after 15 days of inactivity, with a temporary 5% installation overage |
| Open | 960 | Annual subscription with Maintenance included. Shared pool of seats (one per active user), managed in the Bluebeam Gateway |
Revu 2019 and earlier are already end of life.[1] The old Webstore Terms of Sale still describe this model. A purchase produced a “License Certificate” with a serial number and product key, and “Services” included Maintenance, enterprise licences and open licensing.[11] Catalog: Serial number prefix identifies the legacy licence type.
Metrics
Seat (archived EULA). One copy of the Software on one Device for one Licensed User.[3] The EULA calls this one-to-one relationship the Single User Ratio. If the number of Devices or Licensed Users that can connect to a Seat “exceeds a one-to-one ratio or has the potential to exceed” it, the licensee is in breach and must stop or buy more Seats.[3] Catalog: Seat.
Enterprise seat. Under Addendum B, an Enterprise License Key lets the licensee assign, unassign and reassign Seats between Devices and Licensed Users, as long as the Single User Ratio is kept.[3] Catalog: Enterprise License seat.
OL Seat. Under Addendum C, Revu may be installed on an unlimited number of Devices, provided that “at no time shall the number of Licensed Users exceed the number of licensed OL Seats”.[3] Catalog: OL Seat.
Counting / floors
Enterprise overage. Licensees could exceed the Seat count by up to 5%, the “Overage Allowance”. Beyond that, no Seat could be assigned to a new Device until the overage was corrected. On 20 Seats, for example, one extra Device or user was allowed for up to 30 days. After 30 days over the allowance, Bluebeam could unregister Devices, and after 60 days it could terminate the Enterprise License.[3] Devices checked in with Bluebeam’s licence server. After 15 days without contact, the server released the Seat automatically.[3] Catalog: Legacy Enterprise License: 5% Overage Allowance and 15-day seat release.
Open License changes. New OL Seats could be added at any time for a fee pro-rated to the months remaining. Seats could be reduced only once a year, with written notice at least 15 days before the renewal date.[3] In the Gateway, releasing an Open License seat was temporary. The original computer reacquired it within about 20 minutes unless Revu was opened on the new computer first.[4] Catalog: Legacy Open License: unlimited installs, users capped at OL Seats.
Upgrades. An Enterprise licensee that downloaded an Upgrade had to unregister the old version within 30 days. Otherwise Bluebeam would invoice the full retail price rather than the upgrade price.[3]
Virtualization & partitioning
The archived EULA forbade using software or hardware to change the licensed number of Devices, Licensed Users or Seats, “including for purposes of ‘multiplexing,’ ‘pooling,’ or ‘virtualization’”. The licensed number had to equal the number of distinct inputs to the multiplexing or pooling front end.[3] For terminal-server or VDI use of legacy licences, this means counting every user or device that can reach Revu, not the number of servers. Catalog: Legacy Seat: one device, one user; pooling and virtualization counted per input.
Cloud / BYOL
Legacy Revu used Bluebeam’s cloud Studio service. At end of life Revu 20 loses Studio Sessions, Studio Projects and API integrations.[2] Studio data is tied to the e-mail address used for Studio. It migrates automatically when the user signs in to Revu 21, subject to retention policies.[2] Studio Enterprise, the on-premises server, is no longer developed. Customers can keep using existing Studio Enterprise licences with phased limited support.[9]
Programs
- Maintenance was an optional annual subscription, priced per Seat. It covered support, assignment of the licence in mergers or divestitures, and major version Upgrades.[3] It was required for an Enterprise License and for Gateway access.[3][1]
- Enterprise License subscription and Open License subscription were one-year terms that renewed on payment. Fees were refundable only within 30 days, and either could be ended on 30 days’ notice.[3]
- Trade-in and conversion offers move legacy licences to subscription plans. A traded-in perpetual licence must be retired.[5]
Revu 20 end of support and end of life
Bluebeam’s lifecycle runs through End of Development, End of Sale, End of Support and End of Life. After End of Life, products lose cloud services such as Studio.[7] For Revu 20:[2]
- Bluebeam no longer sells Revu 20 licences.
- End of support, 2026-07-31. Technical support and self-service licence management, including seat releases, ended.
- End of life, 2026-12-31. Revu 20 loses access to Studio Sessions and Projects.
What happens next depends on the licence type:[2]
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Perpetual licence (serial starts with 1) | Can keep using Revu 20 locally after 2026-12-31. No reassignment to other machines, and no Studio or API access after EOL. |
| Open or Enterprise licence (96 or 98) running alongside a Revu 21 subscription | Deactivated after 2026-07-31. |
| Open or Enterprise licence with expired Maintenance, or a not-for-resale licence | Deactivated. |
| Open or Enterprise licence with active Maintenance | Continues under the current agreement until deactivation on or before 2026-12-31. |
| Revu 20 academic licence | Deactivated; move to an academic subscription. |
| Studio Enterprise contract | Continues under the current agreement; Bluebeam will contact the customer. |
After the End of Life date, Bluebeam has no obligation to support Revu 20 or to provide cloud services for it. Continued use is at the customer’s own risk.[2] Catalog: Revu 20 end of support 2026-07-31 and end of life 2026-12-31; Perpetual Revu 20 licences keep running locally after EOL; Open and Enterprise Revu 20 licences are deactivated.
Transfers ended. The legacy FAQ lists the dates after which licences can no longer be reassigned or transferred between computers:[1]
- Revu 2015 and earlier: 2026-05-12;
- Revu 2016 to 2019: 2026-06-23;
- Revu 20: 2026-07-31.
Activated licences keep working on the computers where they are installed. Replacing or upgrading hardware, however, needs a subscription plan.[1] The EOL page confirms that, after End of Support, Bluebeam no longer helps with licence transfers or re-registration.[6] Catalog: Legacy licences can no longer be moved to new computers.
Migration to subscription
Bluebeam’s EOL page sets out four steps:[6]
- Review who still uses Revu 20, which workflows depend on Studio, and where licences are installed.
- Choose a mix of Basics, Core, Complete or Max.
- Buy the plans.
- Deploy Revu 21 and assign seats.
The page adds that users still on Revu 20 should get a subscription “to ensure everyone stays supported and compliant with Bluebeam’s Terms of Use”.[6] The current terms add two limits. A perpetual licence traded in or converted must not be used, reassigned, sold or transferred.[5] And “Terms of Use does not allow converted customers to use Revu 21 and Revu 20 together”.[2] There is one nuance. The subscription FAQ says customers may choose to keep using an older Revu version after moving to subscription, to minimise disruption on active projects.[8] Licence managers should get the trade-in terms in writing before running both versions. Revu 21 on its own shows “Unpaid/Unassigned” until a seat is assigned, even if the user holds a licence for an older version.[10] Catalog: Traded-in perpetual licences must be retired.
Audits (legacy)
The archived EULA gave Bluebeam a periodic audit right over use and installation records, under these conditions:[3]
- at least 30 days’ written notice;
- during normal business hours;
- no more than once in any 12-month period;
- unlicensed use invoiced immediately, with interest and the reasonable costs of the audit;
- the right survives termination for three years.
Catalog: Legacy EULA audit: 30 days' notice, once a year, costs on non-compliance.
Out of scope
- Revu for iPad and other products that reached end of sale earlier.
- Studio Enterprise contracts in detail.
- Legacy price lists.