with archicad 13 graphisoft also introduces a new licensing system called ‘codemeter’ (by wibu, the same company which provided the previous WIBU-key licensing agent) for all new users of AC13 – existing users upgrading to AC13 remain on the existing system, although they may upgrade to ‘codemeter’ for a fee.

the major benefit as far as we can tell without having been able to test it ourselves yet, is that ‘codemeter’ allows for licenses to be borrowed for offsite usage. previously, you had to either take a physical dongle containing a separate license with you or have had a constant VPN connection to your license server.

license borrowing is a feature we have been posting (here) about before and which is available for most autodesk software (e.g. REVIT) since at least 2004, more here.

more detailed information on compatibility, the actual process and quite some caveats are available here. paticularly, we are intrigued by the following…

If your offices uses a CodeMeter NET license, you can purchase “borrowable” licenses to be able to use CodeMeter’s License Borrowing feature.

If you are an upgrader, but want to use CodeMeter anyway:
You can exchange your WIBU key for a CodeMeter key, for a fee. Consult your distributor.

apparently, the borrowing feature itself and more information on pricing will become available later in the year.