Why Is ProTools Cheaper?

Because after 12 months you get to keep SONAR Platinum and it keeps on running with whatever features you have.

From what I can tell, PT 12 ceases when you stop putting a quarter in the meter.

It is not cheaper. Only first time SONAR members would pay $49.99/Mo with a $19.99 renewal. For users of X3 SONAR, Platinum is currently $14.99/Mo with a renewal price of $19.99.

But you are not a first time buyer and as Dave points out SONAR provides a non-expiring license. Over time even first time buyers would still pay less for SONAR based on published prices.

very true!  Plus what does PT have to offer that Sonar doesn't?  For real

Realistically, it's lacking a lot that Sonar has.
 

The Avid perpetual license model is virtually identical to Cakewalks. If you buy a perpetual license it's a yearly fee of $200 for support and updates. The Avid site does say that bug fixes are not part of the subscription so even if your subscription expires you can still get bug fixes. If you don't buy a perpetual license, PT stops working when your subscription expires whether you've paid for a year or not.

TomHelvey
The Avid perpetual license model is virtually identical to Cakewalks. If you buy a perpetual license it's a yearly fee of $200 for support and updates. The Avid site does say that bug fixes are not part of the subscription so even if your subscription expires you can still get bug fixes.

The main, big, huge and even rude reality of Avid is - pay annually these $200 - or buy new when you need an upgrade later. The license is frozen at that stage you stopped paying.
 
Options then are:
a) buy new perpetual license $899
b) start renting by the month $30, or by comitment for the year $25/month. Stop working within 4 days after lapsed payment.
 
There is no penalty for staying out a year when it comes to Sonar. Meaning you can make a statement if not satisfied, for a year or until something new or something is fixed on bugfront - and then just re-enter again for whatever annual fee is for your version. This is a true dialog - that I appreciate.
 
Avid's statement is more like - one way from a dictator. Avid holds all the aces up it's sleeve.
If you want any - new feature - you options are listed above.
 
The only thing that Avid claims - that might be one up on Cakewalk - that they will provide bugfixes as a separate thing for perpetual licenses. So you can update that forever for the frozen perpetual license you've got. Yet to be seen though - how much of that is really showing up. What I mean is that is quite a task to separate any version out there - from any new feature. You are to keep a separate tracking of which new code was in what version - and do bugfixes on that for each persons frozen license - and provide as separate update. So don't hold your breath till that happends.
 
And remember that ProTools has plenty artificial limitations - like track count and no on-track monitoring being part of native ProTools(without hardware which is like $3000 starters).

Anderton

TomHelvey
The Avid perpetual license model is virtually identical to Cakewalks.

But I think the upfront price is a lot more...$899 for PT vs. $499 for SONAR Platinum. 

Yeah, and if your subscription expires, you have to buy a new license at full boat retail. My copy of PT came with some hardware I got for a decent price so my total investment so far has been $200 for the 11 update. Getting 12 for me isn't altogether unreasonable but I haven't seen much worth pulling the trigger for yet other than the promise of updates. I use SPlat pretty much exclusively for my backing track work (It has notation, utterly indispensable for me) and Live for my creative stuff.