Why is XenForo so expensive

[Jake B.]

I don't know why you're trying so hard to change my mind and I really don't care. I've laid out the facts and don't want to keep going round in circles with you. You're welcome to your opinion, but don't foist it on me.

The comparison makes no sense though. You're comparing just XenForo (which is comparable to just the "forums" package in Invision) to the entire Invision suite, which includes packages that aren't even offered by XenForo. If you want to compare just base XenForo without any additional functionality you'd compare it to just the "Forums" application in Invision, which would be:

XF:
Purchase $160
Renewal: $55/yr

IC Forums:
Purchase: $200
Renewal: $25/6 mo | $50/yr

Comparing just base XF to the entire IC suite is just ridiculous, they're not the same and XF doesn't claim that just the base software does everything the entire IC suite does

 

[FTL]

The comparison makes no sense though. You're comparing just XenForo (which is comparable to just the "forums" package in Invision) to the entire Invision suite, which includes packages that aren't even offered by XenForo. If you want to compare just base XenForo without any additional functionality you'd compare it to just the "Forums" application in Invision, which would be:

XF:
Purchase $160
Renewal: $55/yr

IC Forums:
Purchase: $200
Renewal: $25/6 mo | $50/yr

Comparing just base XF to the entire IC suite is just ridiculous, they're not the same and XF doesn't claim that just the base software does everything the entire IC suite does

I've already had this conversation with Tracy Perry above, so I'm not repeating that here. See my views on it from my posts to him.

 

[Chris D]

I know pages in XF are not the same as the Pages product in Invision. I know user upgrades and our purchasable/payment framework is not the same as their Commerce application. I know article forums in XF are not the same as a dedicated Blogs application.

But when people try to claim that XF is “just a forum” and therefore it’s the same as the “just a forum” package at Invision it really is quite disingenuous.

It would be less disingenuous if the $200 for a forum at Invision allowed any kind of pages to be created, but to the best of my knowledge it doesn’t. And less so if it allowed any sort of e-commerce monetisation, but as far as I know it doesn’t. Can you make an article forum in Invision with news/article/blog layouts for threads or does that require Pages or some other significant customisation? I don’t think there is (I could be wrong I don’t know).

Granted we don’t furnish you with a free calendar/events system and there will be differences in feature set and implementation outside of what’s been mentioned.

Simply you just cannot compare the two softwares like for like in this way.

To get to the main point - neither software package is expensive and honestly one doesn’t necessarily present clearly better value over the other.

So please stop comparing them on those terms; especially when that particular line of discussion is basically now off topic.

 

[RobParker]

So please stop comparing them on those terms; especially when that particular line of discussion is basically now off topic.

We should all just agree that BOTH are ridiculously cheap for what you get and the amount of work that's gone in to them.

 

[Chris D]

That's more or less exactly what my point was. They're both excellent value for money and both represent different value for money depending on what features you need.

E-commerce being a great example. If all you need is basic user upgrade functionality and a forum then $160 for XF is excellent value money. If you need more than user upgrades and need something more akin to a full e-commerce system with features such as selling physical products then $300 for Invision is also excellent value for money.

So yeah, it's way more nuanced.

 

[Tracy Perry]

@Tracy Perry the annual renewal for XF is now $70 instead of $55.

Only if you have add-ons. The base price of an XF Forum only extension is $55.

 

[Tracy Perry]

But when people try to claim that XF is “just a forum” and therefore it’s the same as the “just a forum” package at Invision it really is quite disingenuous.
It would be less disingenuous if the $200 for a forum at Invision allowed any kind of pages to be created, but to the best of my knowledge it doesn’t. And less so if it allowed any sort of e-commerce monetisation, but as far as I know it doesn’t. Can you make an article forum in Invision with news/article/blog layouts for threads or does that require Pages or some other significant customisation? I don’t think there is (I could be wrong I don’t know).

Agreed.... and Forum -> Forum XF currently has some features that IPS does not have. AFAIK there is no way (short of having Pages) to make an equivalent of the Xenforo Articles/Pages with the base IPS forum. But WITH IPS Pages you have a lot more ability to control what you pull, how you present it and allow interactions with it. Pages is basically just allowing you to code to access the data in the database directly... generally without having to know PHP and how to use all the callbacks, etc to write a custom add-on.


The point of contention was trying to compare a base XenForo Forum configuration to the full suite of IPS at a cost level. That in itself was disingenuous. As one of my posts stated... you have to look at what you need and what would fit the bill. That's why one of my sites runs on XenForo (it works great on it, better than IPS would due to Bob's Showcase add-on and the higher quality of the XenForo Gallery). On my pipe site there are features on there that XenForo would not support (the classifieds add-on that allows me to actually sell ad spaces if I choose to and also collect funds for items sold via it and multiple custom databases (via Pages) for reviews of pipes, tobacco, shops, etc without having to develop separate custom add-ons) so it's why it runs IPS.

Bang for the buck, Xenforo on the forum/gallery/RM(files) level still is a better economical choice over IPS.... mainly due to IPS neglecting features in their Files and Gallery, giving priority to the forum application. And there are functions that XenForo can do that requires an additional app for IPS to be able to. But one still needs to look at what the requirements they have now (and in the future) for their site to make a decision. There is no one-shot-deal that fits all situations.

 

[jeetkune]

In fact, the price should be determined according to the countries. Because this is unfair. 1 dollar is a lot of money in other countries.

 

[wedgar]

In fact, the price should be determined according to the countries. Because this is unfair. 1 dollar is a lot of money in other countries.

Norman Collins said , "Good work ain't cheap. Cheap work ain't good."

We all (all countries) should pay the same price to support the good work being done by XF staff if we want good quality software.

If someone can't afford XF, they can use free software until they can afford to buy it.

 

[FTL]

In fact, the price should be determined according to the countries. Because this is unfair. 1 dollar is a lot of money in other countries.

That would open up a grey market and fraud. Of course many products outside of XF are priced this way, but it doesn’t look like XF wants to get into this pricing model. I wouldn’t either.

 

[RobParker]

In fact, the price should be determined according to the countries. Because this is unfair. 1 dollar is a lot of money in other countries.

Taking that argument to its logical conclusion. Pay is less in some countries, hence labour is far cheaper. A team of devs could develop a competing product to XF in say India and sell it far more cheaply as the costs are lower. That sounds like a business opportunity for someone if they really believe their own argument.

 

[Chris D]

 

[nicodak]

We only chat, nothing wrong...

 

[Tracy Perry]

In fact, the price should be determined according to the countries. Because this is unfair. 1 dollar is a lot of money in other countries.

Trying to base a price on the income of the country is not really a valid process. Can you imagine how much of a headache it would be alone.
Even in the "rich" countries many people that want to run XF can't afford it immediately. They do what most people do... save up until they can afford what they want.
Immediate gratification is rarely cheap.

 

[imno007]

In fact, the price should be determined according to the countries. Because this is unfair. 1 dollar is a lot of money in other countries.

Sorry, but it's not that simple. One dollar might be a lot in some countries, but it's very little in the UK or US. They have to make enough money to pay for the costs of living in their country, not someone in Zimbabwe or wherever a dollar might mean something.

 

[Serpius]

Perhaps the price increase is aimed at reducing customers so they can focus more on providing support.

I seriously doubt that Xenforo (or any other forum provider) would increase their pricing of XF products to reduce potential customers.

That is NOT a good business practice.

I think it's more of Xenforo responding to the ever-increasing inflationary cost in the marketplace, which Xenforo has no control over.

Whether the marketplace is reacting to pandemic-related economic platforms pushed by various governments around the world, every company including Xenforo has to keep pace with it.

That's Business Administration 101.

Serpius

 

[dilbert]

They're both great products. Like politics and religion, you can argue these points forever and never come to a consensus.
They both offer trials. Play with them both.
Buy the one you have the most fun with, and make it work.

 

[jeetkune]

If the Xenforo license was $500, would you be as moderate as you are now? Then they should increase the license price for the regions where the dollar is cheap. Let the lower limit be $160.

xenforo is a huge software that has proven itself to the world. In fact, $160 is definitely less for such a large software project. However, as I mentioned above, a raise can provide equality in countries where the dollar exchange rate is low.

 

[Serpius]

If the Xenforo license was $500, would you be as moderate as you are now? Then they should increase the license price for the regions where the dollar is cheap. Let the lower limit be $160.

xenforo is a huge software that has proven itself to the world. In fact, $160 is definitely less for such a large software project. However, as I mentioned above, a raise can provide equality in countries where the dollar exchange rate is low.View attachment 257244

What is stopping anyone from using a VPN to mimic a country that has a lower-priced Xenforo to purchase in that country?

There's no way that the development team of Xenforo can monitor literally hundreds of different pricing points for Xenforo.

It's not possible to do.

The team from Xenforo cannot dictate what other countries do with their monetary system or policies.
If that country does not pay their people good money, that is not the fault of Xenforo.

Like some people have commented in this thread if you can't afford Xenforo, there are some great FREE forum software out there.

 

[Forsaken]

If the Xenforo license was $500, would you be as moderate as you are now? Then they should increase the license price for the regions where the dollar is cheap. Let the lower limit be $160.

xenforo is a huge software that has proven itself to the world. In fact, $160 is definitely less for such a large software project. However, as I mentioned above, a raise can provide equality in countries where the dollar exchange rate is low.View attachment 257244

XenForo can't be expected to account for economic inequality in countries; they are expected to charge the amount needed to maintain their business and pay their staff, and if that requires a minor price increase every so often than so be it.

If it ever gets to the point that the increases are deemed unreasonable, well then you can expect XenForo to start going under at that point.