A free license...

[Patty_Mayo]

There should be a free license with like half the features of a paid license. The free license also would have the domain be something like: https://yourwebsitename.xf.com/ or https://yourwebsitename.xenforo.com/ . The reason why I really want this to be an option, is mainly because there are a lot of people that can't afford the paid licenses. but they could start off with the free license and then upgrade to a paid license in x months, or x years. The free license should be free forever. Cuz people like me, really want to use xenforo for a community site for their gaming community but can't afford to pay for a paid license, so they are having to opt to some other site that is free meaning less creators using XenForo. If a free license was added and was free forever with limited features, then this site here could have a lot of potential. I my self, own a mc server and can't afford to buy a paid license on this provider so i am having to use a free provider that doesn't let me do that many things. I hope this is taken into consideration and possibly added as a plan that anyone can use.

 

[frm]

Maybe a cheaper cost to renew would be better.

I think if XF made a subscription model where it's automatically renewed and you save 5-10% when it's renewed, they may actually make more money as some will opt in to a renewal for this discount as opposed to waiting 9 months on an "expired" license and renewing when more convenient.

However, I'm not going to insult their business model and am positive they've already weighed the pros and cons of this (such as automatic renewal, install updates, and a chargeback, etc.).

But I'll throw it out there if they had this, I would opt into renewals in this manner as opposed to waiting out a newer update and updating to the latest release (stuck on 2.1.5 and renewing as 2.2 is more convenient) while throwing it out there a 10% discount then is still more money as a dollar is worth more today than it is tomorrow.

 

[frm]

It's somewhat entertaining reading messages on someone else's forum offering "helpful advice"

I think the current system is better than vbulletin 15+ years ago where I bought a leased licence every year and would have saved money if i bought an owned one They did do a free limited version then and obviously from experience know it's not the route to go down.

I have a vB4(?) license and looking to open a second and third forum soon, but I'll still go XF + the first party add ons for it that I see needed in the beginning and brand free over starting on vB4 and importing later. That was terrible at times as it was constantly bombarded with spam attacks and needed babysitting 24/7 to delete posts (there was literally no way to stop them at the time [2011-2012]).

I just suggested that the license shouldn't be "leased", but subscribed to in order to save money (you own the license outright and can cancel the subscription before it renews, but if it renews you get 5-10% off or something)... if they haven't already looked into an option like that (I'm positive they have, but if not, it might be something to look into).

On top of that, they could look into how many own multiple licenses (I will have 3) and quite possibly add a tiered discount instead, making even more money. Automatic renewals on the first, maybe 2.5%, 2nd one 5% on both, and third 10%. This would at least cancel out half of VAT (if applicable) as a lot of people hate paying more in taxes.

You must weigh in what 1 dollar is today versus 9-15 months later if they don't unsubscribe and wish to keep support and/or upgrade along with updates.

Actually If I order a NEW licence (say 160 dollars) , after 12 month to renew the license the price is the same (160 dollars) or less ?

I would propose it to be cheaper if it automatically renews (yearly subscription) when the license expires for support and updates (not get on and renew it yourself as it stands whenever you want) so that they can project earnings into the future, and quite possibly earn more from those that question if they should renew or not... essentially giving you a discount while they potentially make more money because they get more renewals on the date; however, I'm not in their finances. Just an idea.

 

[Paul B]

Actually If I order a NEW licence (say 160 dollars) , after 12 month to renew the license the price is the same (160 dollars) or less ?

If you're asking about the current pricing model, a renewal is $55 for a basic license.

 

[Chromaniac]

I should post something from my experience. I just have a single forum and I started it back in 2004. I do not remember much from the time and I actually had to use archive.org to check it... It was started on IPB (footer says Powered by Invision Power Board(Trial) v2.0.0 © 2004). And I am pretty sure it was a free license back then (Hence Trial). I doubt Invision has a similar product today. Would need to google for accurate details. But from what I remember, the free version had a limit on either number of members or number of threads. After that you had to upgrade to a paid license or something like that. By the time I reached that figure, it had enough members and I had enough interest to go for the paid license.

I don't really remember why I went with Invision over one of the free alternatives like phpBB. But it worked out well for me in the end. Since then, I have been to vB and then back to IPS and then to Xenforo. It has been a fun ride.

I am not saying that XenForo should offer a similar restrictive license for free or low cost. There are much better free/open source options available today. Discourse, Flarum, NodeBB and so many more! If I were to start a community today, I would probably go with one of these. But a hosted solution with monthly subscription is something that would be great for folks like OP here. From what I have seen, the XenForo team is quite small so it would be quite a risk to venture into that field.

 

[frm]

a hosted solution with monthly subscription

An IPB 'cloud' service is ridiculous. It costs $45/mo when you can host XF for ~$10 (with a somewhat technical background) when beginning.

I must point out that you can have unlimited registrations, but you can only have 65 concurrent online visitors at any given time. While I'm unsure if bots count, even a small forum with 10 members could have 80 bots crawling the site, essentially rendering it useless. Then, you need to double your monthly payment for 100 when, even in the beginning, I was up to 150 bots crawling like 30 posts!

Doing the math of $45/mo, you are looking at $540 for a year at the lowest tier (with XF renewal with these 1st party add ons $70, saving you $470 the following year(s)) . In retrospect, you can get XF/XFMG or RM and brand free for $525. Supposing you start out small on a $5 VPS, you even have 3 months free hosting with the remainder (and if you go with a $100 deposit match, you can have $200 in hosting credit to support growth with Vultr or continue to have 'free' hosting for 40 months; remove brand free and it saves $300 to have 100 months of hosting (obviously your intention would be to grow, reducing the number of months as you need more resources/power... but you should also be earning at that time if you put effort into it).

To top it off, if you only go with XF/XFMG, the renewal is $70, if you so choose, (subtract from brand free and you can still host upwards of 86 months, progressively adding resources to the VPS as you grow to a minimum of 1 to 2 years). On top of that, you have a lot of options to install upwards of 5 add-ons that can add even more functionality.

IPB cloud may be your route and user friendly with automatic updates, but financially speaking, it's a no brainer to start small on XF or go completely free with an XF importable board for the future.

(My numbers may be slightly off, but even with the most expensive add ons and opting out of brand free, you could add up to 5 awesome add ons to XF to make a full-blown CMS... with work)

...but, you must have a little technical expertise to run on your own (backup) and 1-click upgrade. Or, if you have a current support license, ask for assistance in test or take from all that wasted money and pay $50 for installation service with as much as you will save in 1-3 years.

To each their own though.

 

[Abraham54]

Look for example at Vimexx.
My forum is now hosted on a Vimexx superserver in The Netherlands, Vimexx is also present in the UK and Germany.

Vimexx, dé best beoordeelde hoster van Nederland en Belgie!

Wij van Vimexx maken webhosting simpel. Webhosting, Reseller hosting en Domeinnamen.Kwalitatief en betrouwbaar

www.vimexx.nl

 

[Chromaniac]

Doing the math of $45/mo, you are looking at $540 for a year at the lowest tier

It is however a great option for someone to get an idea of what he is getting into. Someone who has no experience of running a platform like this. In a month or two, they would get an idea of what the software offers. And if they plan to stick with the project. It would still be smoother way to launch something new for a complete newbie. Otherwise he would be spending more time dealing with server issues than on the project. I know I would have given up if I did not have friends who were there to help me with server management!

Plus, I think cloud based solutions are preferred by corporate clients. Businesses who wants a hassle-free solution for their website. IC website lists some very high profile clients (nhl, lego, reuters and so on). It's likely they are paying for the expensive hosted solutions. This is also what WordPress developers did with WordPress.com.

 

[Evonazya]

I know lot of coders/designers working totally for free. I wrote "Coders/Designers" just because these are the professionals here. But it is also valid for real life. Do you know the word "Voluntaries"? Doctors and Nurses, are the most recent examples.

Job != Volunteering. I have a few free stuff, that I use to advertise to get people to buy my paid stuff.

 

[snoopy5]

There is no free lunch.

Nowadays we have a huge choice of free forum software and paid forum software. I do not see a reason why xenforo should offer any kind of free version. Xenforo is not new and well established.

If XF is too expensive, then buy a used Xenforo licence either second hand or start with one of the many free forum softwares out there. Just make sure in advance that there is an import script available for Xenfore and that free software.

But sooner or later you depend as an admin on reliability, fast bugfixes & security hole fixes and fast responses if you have a question. I mean responses that solve you problem/ answer your question for sure. Also steady progress in new features and quality code. At that point, the free alternatives can not deliver in all these areas. This is why they are free after all.

 

[ŽivaAkcija]

Xenforo=Private Business

What free things people want it?

Someone work hard to bring you best forum software, and they earn money for it.It is wrong?

I want free energy, i want more green thing everywhere, i want to people start think about nature and polution.

If someone cannot afford it, there is free forum software.

Stay positive, live long and prosper.

 

[Cooking Ketogenic]

There is a free license.. just the demo account resets daily

 

[⭐ Alex ⭐]

There should be a free license with like half the features of a paid license. The free license also would have the domain be something like: https://yourwebsitename.xf.com/ or https://yourwebsitename.xenforo.com/ . The reason why I really want this to be an option, is mainly because there are a lot of people that can't afford the paid licenses. but they could start off with the free license and then upgrade to a paid license in x months, or x years. The free license should be free forever. Cuz people like me, really want to use xenforo for a community site for their gaming community but can't afford to pay for a paid license, so they are having to opt to some other site that is free meaning less creators using XenForo. If a free license was added and was free forever with limited features, then this site here could have a lot of potential. I my self, own a mc server and can't afford to buy a paid license on this provider so i am having to use a free provider that doesn't let me do that many things. I hope this is taken into consideration and possibly added as a plan that anyone can use.

Since you have a community, start an online fundraising campaign (there's plenty of tools out there for that). I'm sure you'll find backers that will help you reach $200 usd for an XF license as well as enough for about a year of web hosting.