A crossgrade is a special offer from a manufacturer of a piece of software, where they’ll give you a discount if you’re using a competing piece of software from another manufacturer. For example, let’s say you already own software XXX, but you really want to check out software YYY. All you have to do is prove you own XXX, and the manufacturer of YYY will give you a major crossgrade discount on your purchase. It’s sort of like a trade-in, except that you get to keep and use both pieces of software!
Crossgrades are a great way to build your software library, to experiment with different pieces of software, to learn new techniques, to gain new technologies and capabilities for your studio or live rig, and, best of all, to save a ton of money!