Milestone Discontinues Free XProtect Essential+

[Ghostface]

Dear Partner,

As part of our ongoing commitment to enhance our offerings and align our product portfolio with our long-term strategy, we are implementing a series of product updates. These include the discontinuation of XProtect Essential+ and the end of sales for XProtect Rapid REVIEW. Additionally, we are introducing new hardware versions for Husky IVO 350R and Husky IVO 700R, which will result in updated pricing for these models.

XProtect Essential+

Following an internal review, Milestone has decided to discontinue XProtect Essential+. This means that XProtect Essential + will no longer be available for download.
• End user customers who downloaded the product before XProtect 2025 R2, will not be affected until 1 January 2026. However, after that date, activation of XProtect Essential+ licenses for such previously downloaded product will no longer be possible.

 

[looney2ns]

Simple PR statement would have sufficed "hey we are raising our prices!"

 

[Ghostface]

I fear it’s going to get harder for us enthusiasts and individuals to get our hands on XProtect Express+ base and device licenses.
They mostly go through authorized resellers, and those tend to focus more on businesses or pros rather than regular users.
With the free Essential+ now discontinued, it’s making things even tougher for hobbyists or smaller setups.

I gotta say, I find Milestone’s decision pretty disappointing. It really limits access for people who just want to experiment or set up small systems without needing all the business-level support.

 

[HereBull]

I fear it’s going to get harder for us enthusiasts and individuals to get our hands on XProtect Express+ base and device licenses.
They mostly go through authorized resellers, and those tend to focus more on businesses or pros rather than regular users.
With the free Essential+ now discontinued, it’s making things even tougher for hobbyists or smaller setups.

I gotta say, I find Milestone’s decision pretty disappointing. It really limits access for people who just want to experiment or set up small systems without needing all the business-level support.

Just came across this and dissapointed as well about the free tier removal as its what allowed me to demo the product and really discover its capabilities.

I can say this though, BHPhoto does a pretty good job if you want to still purchase the Express+ license, its a traditional "Add to cart" style purchase without needing a full on corporate account like SHI/CDW or Wesco (Keep in mind you'll need a base license for the first two, then a device license there-after for each, plus the support - IIRC device licenses were around $60-70 per last time we added more on our systems. The support SKU is CarePlus if I recall correctly.