Money hungry?

[xIsabel38]

Hello all,

My name is Isabel and I've been searching for a forum to move my community to for a pretty long time now. We started off using the free proboards host then moved to SMF and even played with myBB for a bit.

So naturally I checked out vBulletin as I heard it was the best there is. However after simply reading terms and just general info and FAQ I have to say, vBulletin seems to me like they're just money hungry.

Purchase a license for $200 (if you don't go suite). Okay I could deal with that. But that's only an annual license? You also don't get to have upgrades unless you purchase that service too? Something doesn't work you can "hire" support. And of course they still demand their "Powered by vBulletin" copyright on the footer unless you want to pay another $170 for removal.

And that's just what I found from browsing around the site for about half an hour. My question to you is, "really?" Is this worth it? I mean it seems really really expensive and I know for a fact that the free ones like SMF, PhpBB, and myBB are pretty damn good.

What is it that this forum can do that no other one can't? I'm asking here because you all use this service on a day by day basis and while it must be great to grow such a following, what does it truly offer over the rest?

It seems to me like for the pricetag this software cost, it should me cooking my breakfast and folding my laundry.

[Trevor Hannant]

That price is for a lifetime license with access to download all future versions of vB4 - there is no annual renewals or further payments required to run or access updated versions of vB4.

[bkerensa]

That price is for a lifetime license with access to download all future versions of vB4 - there is no annual renewals or further payments required to run or access updated versions of vB4.

It's to bad this was never provided to pre vb4 customers... just a upgrade to the newest vb3 costs $50....... I am still considering upgrading but honestly the pricing is not very competitive if you consider the license terms to other industry forums and even some former vbulletin staff who now work for other forum companies will tell you that vbulletin is focused on money these days and not a solid product.

vb3 = amazing features but you pay $50 to upgrade your license to the newest version of vb3
vb4 = very limited in it's mods and styles in fact most developers are jumping ship for Xenforo or IPB so you pay a huge new license fee and get way less

[Froberg]

ON topic:

You wouldn't be here if the free options were "darn good".

I think paying a flat-rate for an entire cycle of a product is more than reasonable.. particularly considering how vb3.x and earlier was licensed. (Which everyone has selectively forgotten.)

Vb: Costly to get, cheaper to operate long haul.
IPB: Cheap to get, costly to operate long haul.
Xenforo: Not a mature platform yet.

[melbo]

I like the fact that vB4 is a one time price, owned license forever. Only pay again if you want to upgrade to vB5 a few years from now, (regardless of what Fabian says about the release schedule).

The way vB4 was rolled out and ill feelings of older customers who had to migrate through the license structure change has no bearing on a new person looking to purchase this software.

[aussiefooty]

Hello all,

My name is Isabel and I've been searching for a forum to move my community to for a pretty long time now. We started off using the free proboards host then moved to SMF and even played with myBB for a bit.

So naturally I checked out vBulletin as I heard it was the best there is. However after simply reading terms and just general info and FAQ I have to say, vBulletin seems to me like they're just money hungry.

Purchase a license for $200 (if you don't go suite). Okay I could deal with that. But that's only an annual license? You also don't get to have upgrades unless you purchase that service too? Something doesn't work you can "hire" support. And of course they still demand their "Powered by vBulletin" copyright on the footer unless you want to pay another $170 for removal.

And that's just what I found from browsing around the site for about half an hour. My question to you is, "really?" Is this worth it? I mean it seems really really expensive and I know for a fact that the free ones like SMF, PhpBB, and myBB are pretty damn good.

What is it that this forum can do that no other one can't? I'm asking here because you all use this service on a day by day basis and while it must be great to grow such a following, what does it truly offer over the rest?

It seems to me like for the pricetag this software cost, it should me cooking my breakfast and folding my laundry.

Point one. This software isn't a freebie. If you want freebie software try phpbb which is a free open source program.

Point two. It is a very professional software. It's one that all people who love working on their forum to keep working on it without the troubles that the free forums have.

Point three. The guys who are mods and admins all work for vBulletin in some way. It's a business that is run by real people and not people that pretend to be ok with everything but aren't.