Autodesk subscriptions: auto-renew, refund windows, resellers and what happens when AutoCAD or Revit lapses

Autodesk sells AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit and the Architecture, Engineering & Construction Collection (the AEC Collection) by subscription only, and most of those subscriptions renew themselves. There is no notice period to serve: you switch auto-renew off in your Autodesk account at any time before the renewal date. The catch is who can do it. Only the purchaser on the account can change the setting, a subscription bought through a reseller may not show the option at all, and once a renewal has gone through you have a limited window to ask for your money back.

This guide covers how Autodesk terms renew, how to turn auto-renew off, the refund windows, buying through a reseller, price changes, named-user seats, and what happens to access and files when a subscription lapses. It is based on Autodesk's UK Online Purchase and Auto-Renewal Terms (last updated 8 December 2025) and Autodesk's account and support pages as they stood on 23 October 2026. Prices are left out because Autodesk changes its offers often; check the product pages for the current figures.

How Autodesk subscriptions renew

• Terms: Autodesk's UK store offers the AEC Collection paid monthly, or as an annual plan with a term of one or three years.
• Auto-renew is the default: Autodesk's auto-renewal page says most renewed and newly purchased subscriptions will automatically renew unless you turn off auto-renew or cancel at renewal in your Autodesk account.
• Same length again: section 8.1 of the UK terms authorises Autodesk to renew for successive terms each equal in length to the initial term purchased. A three-year subscription renews for another three years, not for one.
• The exact moment: Autodesk's renewal FAQ gives the example of an annual subscription bought on 10 June 2024, which expires at 23:59:59 GMT on 9 June 2025 if auto-renew is off, or renews at 00:00:00 GMT on 10 June 2025 if it is on.

Turning off auto-renew: no notice period, but only the purchaser can

Section 8.3 of the UK terms says you can cancel an automatic renewal by logging on to your Autodesk account before the effective date of the renewal. Autodesk's cancellation page gives the route: sign in, go to Billing and orders, then Subscriptions and contracts, select the product, and turn Auto-renew off in the Renewal details section, or choose Cancel subscription at renewal. Its stage table says auto-renew can be switched on or off at any time, and the Actions menu can change up to 100 subscriptions at once.

Autodesk's support article on turning off auto-renewal for multiple subscriptions (24 June 2026) says only purchasers can manage auto-renew settings. An admin who assigns seats day to day may not be the purchaser, so find out who holds that role before the date matters, and make sure it is someone who is still with the business.

Switching auto-renew off does not end anything early. Autodesk's article on cancelling before the end of a subscription (29 September 2026) says that outside the return window you cannot end a subscription before the end of its current term, and that no subscription is cancelled immediately when you select cancel. If you pay a longer term in instalments, the cancellation page adds that turning off auto-renew does not cancel any open bill plans, so the remaining payments are still due.

Refund windows after a purchase or renewal

Autodesk's cancellation page says a full refund must be requested within 15 days of the initial purchase or renewal date for monthly subscriptions, and within 30 days for annual or three-year subscriptions. That applies to subscriptions bought directly from Autodesk or through Cleverbridge on Autodesk's behalf. Autodesk's help article on returns (2 October 2026) adds that cancelling a subscription or turning off auto-renew does not automatically issue a refund. Autodesk's how-to-buy page says you request one through Autodesk Support, and that access to the related software ends when the refund is processed.

Autodesk's UK AutoCAD subscription FAQ says 30 days from purchase without separating monthly plans. The cancellation page and the returns article both give 15 days for monthly subscriptions, so plan around the shorter figure. The UK terms describe the purchase as a business-to-business transaction, and none of the Autodesk pages we checked mention a separate consumer cooling-off period.

Bought through a reseller

Autodesk also sells through partners (resellers). Its renewal FAQ says that if you bought from a partner and did not transact with Autodesk, you contact the partner about your renewal options, and that your partner's details are shown in your Autodesk account. Its renewal overview adds that some renewals can only be managed manually, and that if you see no renewal options in your account you should contact your partner. For refunds, the how-to-buy page says to contact the partner directly about its return policy.

In practice that means the reseller's agreement, not Autodesk's account page, may decide how much warning you need to give. Ask the reseller in writing how and by when they need to hear that you are not renewing, or are renewing fewer seats, and keep the answer with the contract. See how to serve a notice of non-renewal for keeping a record that will stand up if an invoice is disputed.

Price changes at renewal

Section 8.3 of the UK terms says Autodesk may change the renewal price as of the next renewal date, that it will give you prior notice, and that you can cancel the automatic renewal, including if you do not agree to the price change. The terms do not say how far ahead that notice arrives, so treat any Autodesk pricing email as a decision with a date on it. The UK store's three-year option is advertised as a way to lock in your price for three years; weigh that against committing to a term you cannot end early, as set out in the multi-year contracts guide.

Named-user seats, and cutting them at renewal

Autodesk subscriptions are assigned to named users. Its user management page says primary, secondary and SSO admins can assign and unassign access whenever they need, and the UK AutoCAD FAQ says users cannot share a seat. Autodesk stopped offering new multi-user (network) subscriptions on 7 August 2020, according to the same FAQ.

The quantity is where renewal money goes. Autodesk's renewal FAQ says adding subscriptions takes effect immediately, while reducing subscriptions and changing the term take effect at renewal, and the cancellation page's stage table says seats cannot be added or removed once a subscription has expired. So a seat count only comes down if you reduce it before the renewal date. Review who actually used AutoCAD or Revit in the last term a month or so before then; stop paying for unused software seats walks through that review.

When a subscription lapses: 15 days, then suspended, then gone

Autodesk's cancellation page sets out three stages after a subscription expires without renewing:

• Expired, for 15 days: full product access continues and renewal is still available.
• Suspended, for 30 days (15 for monthly subscriptions): product access is removed but user assignments are preserved.
• Cancelled: the subscription cannot be renewed, user assignments are deleted and a new subscription must be bought. Autodesk calls this status irreversible. An annual or three-year subscription reaches it 45 days after expiry, a monthly one after 30.

Renewing late is not a fresh start. The same page says renewing reactivates the existing subscription, the renewal date does not reset, and you may be charged for time when you did not use the product. A lapse you meant to reverse can cost the gap as well.

Your files stay on your own machines. Autodesk says you can continue to view files on your device with the free Autodesk Viewer, though not every file or format may be supported, and its support article on viewing DWG files without AutoCAD (29 September 2026) points to DWG TrueView, a free program for opening, plotting and converting DWG files. Cloud storage is different: the cancellation page warns that after 30 days you may lose access to cloud storage, and that the date varies by product. Download anything held in Autodesk's cloud before the subscription ends.

Why there is no perpetual licence to fall back on

Autodesk announced in September 2015 that it would stop selling perpetual licences of most individual products after 31 January 2016, and its UK AutoCAD FAQ now says Autodesk software is available with a subscription only. If your business still runs an older perpetual copy, that licence is separate from any subscription and does not renew; perpetual licence versus subscription explains how to record each kind.

Renewal reminders go to the purchaser

Section 8.2 of the UK terms says that for subscriptions with fixed-length terms, such as annual ones, Autodesk will send you at least one email to remind you of each upcoming renewal. Autodesk's renewal overview says the purchaser is the main contact and the one who receives purchase, billing and renewal emails, and its manual renewal page says renewal opens up to 90 days before the renewal date. At least one email, sent to one person, is not much of a safety net if that person is busy, away or has left.

A routine for Autodesk renewals

1. 1For each subscription, write down the product, term, renewal date, seat count, whether it was bought direct or through a reseller, and who the purchaser is.
2. 2A month or so before renewal, review seat usage and decide whether to keep, reduce or leave. Reduce the quantity before the renewal date, because it only takes effect at renewal.
3. 3If you are leaving, have the purchaser turn auto-renew off in good time, or tell the reseller in writing by the date they gave you. Export anything held in Autodesk's cloud.
4. 4If an unwanted renewal goes through, ask Autodesk Support for a refund straight away: 15 days for monthly subscriptions, 30 for annual or three-year, on direct purchases.
5. 5Treat a renewal price email as a deadline, and check it against the renewal date.

Each vendor in this series handles renewal its own way, and UK consumer rules on subscriptions do not protect a business customer in the same way; see the UK subscription rules for business software. If a vendor ever asks you to account for how many licences you use, responding to a software licence audit request covers what to gather.

Tracking Autodesk subscriptions in StackTrackr

Add each Autodesk subscription as its own tool: AutoCAD, Revit or the AEC Collection, with its cost, billing cycle, seat count and renewal date, and tick Auto-renews. If you hold several subscriptions with different renewal dates, record each one separately so every date gets its own reminders. For a three-year term, set the renewal date to the end of the term and record the cost and billing cycle as you are actually invoiced, so the annualised spend figure stays right; recording a multi-year contract covers the detail. Make the owner the person who decides whether you renew, and note the purchaser and any reseller in the tool's notes so whoever gets the reminder knows who has to act.

Autodesk asks for no notice, but a deadline on the renewal day itself leaves no room. Enter a notice period that gives the purchaser time to act, such as 14 days, or the reseller's own figure if it is longer. StackTrackr counts that back from the renewal date to give you a cancellation deadline, and reminds the owner before it. Once auto-renew is off, untick Auto-renews so the reminders count down to the day the subscription ends.

If Autodesk gives notice of a price change, schedule the price change with the date it takes effect so your forecasts include it. Keep the order confirmation, the reseller's written answer on notice and your renewal invoices in the tool's document vault. Have a look at what it tracks, or start a free trial and add your Autodesk subscriptions first.