# Subscribe to PRIMER 8 software

PRIMER 8 is now offered as a subscription product. This means you pay less up-front, and get regular free updates automatically within the term of your subscription.

#### Subscription plan & number of seats
Begin by choosing one of the following ***subscription plans*** from our [pricing page](https://www.primer-e.com/pricing):

- **PRIMER 8 with PERMANOVA+**; or
- **PRIMER 8 Lite**

Choose  a ***term*** for your plan:
- **12 months (1 year)**; or
- **36 months (3 years)**

Also choose the ***number of seats*** you want for your subscription. This should correspond to the number of end-users you wish to service with your software licence.

Click the '**Get Started**' button to go through to our secure payment portal and complete your order. Note that the 'Quantity' you choose in the payment portal for your subscription (pre-populated by your choice) will correspond to the ***number of seats*** you wish to purchase. 

#### Licence key & serial number
After we have received your payment, you will receive confirmation of your subscription, and a unique ***licence key*** (37 characters long) with its associated ***serial number*** for your software licence will be sent to you *via* email. The licence key will enable you to activate the software on your device(s). It contains all of the necessary important information about your licence that will be required to correctly activate your software, including all of the features and entitlements associated with your chosen subscription plan and the number of seats you have purchased. Contact us directly at ***primer@primer-e.com*** and provide us with your licence's serial number if you have any questions about your licence.

#### Customer portal
When you subscribe, you will also receive an email invitation to PRIMER-e's [customer portal](https://subscriptions.primer-e.com/portal/primere).<sup>†</sup> Inside this portal, you can view and manage your subscription(s), view your invoices and payment history, and make payments *via* a secure payment gateway. If you have any questions about your subscription, contact us directly at ***primer@primer-e.com*** with your subscription number (SUBS-), which you can see directly inside the customer portal and also in the ‘Welcome’ email sent from us to you, in which we provided you with your software licence key. There is a unique subscription number associated with each subscription, and you may have more than one (e.g., if you are looking after a lab that has multiple individual licences).

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<sup>†</sup>*Please contact us directly at **primer@primer-e.com** if you have a subscription but did not receive an invitation to the customer portal.*