Why vBulletin cost so much money? - portal.gcgx.com

13 March 2010 [Saturday] @ March 13, 2010 edit

Ive read various reports on IPB v's vB's support. Each time vB's comes out best. I suppose this is going to be bias though being the reports are on forum. From my personal experiance the support here is better than any other software I use. I mean how do you support the thousands upon thousands of users? Luckly there is also quite a big fan base here so support can be given by users as well as the support team.

Theres nothing worse than having a problem and not being able to get a responce quickly. Majority of email support you don't get replies for about 3-5 days, if your lucky!

There has been an annoucment made on phpBB though were they are talking about hosts starting to take phpBB of there servers for fear of security issues if they host it (probabley because it always seems to be phpBB that get nuked buy hackers).

Here is announcement: http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=304052

Checkout the reference to vB in the thread! :)

That's actually pretty sad. I agree though that exploits come with security holes. Majority of hacks take place on boards running older/hacked versions. You can't point the finger to someone else though like that. phpBB is notorious for having getting hacked, not because its unsecure, just because people don't update their forum to the latest version.

phpBB was great for starting a small forum. It just lacks options. phpBB 2.2 (or whatever it is now) looked great. After waiting nearly a year for them to release it I gave in and brought vB. Only wish I did it sooner :(
The price you pay for Open Source tbh.

If you've ever seen an Infopop office, you'd understand. And I find UBB.threads grossly inferior to even some free BBS.

If IPB offers you what you are looking for, go for IPB.
If vB offers you what you are looking for, go for vB.

The choice is always yours. The value of the product is cheap for vBulletin compared to what it is actually worth feature/security/professionalism, and market-wise.

I hate vagueness. Everyones idea of 'feature rich' and 'robustness' is different. What you may find 'feature rich' I may find seriously lacking. And so on. It all just depends on what you are looking for. And some of the plugins for VB can and do slow down your site or add more sql queries. So dont just start installing whatever looks cool. You can have that best looking plug-in on your forum...but because of poor coding have it eat up a ton of your system resources and slow down your forum/site. Discriminate.

InvisionFree is not the same as Invision Power Board....

On the other hand, possibly the developers would be pressured by management to bring out new bigger version updates more often or something.

I'm perfectly happy with the current system.

For Jelsoft to allow discussion of competition, bar none, shows true professionalism.

I hope you've made your decision.

SK, I rarely use support... I think I logged two tickets so far dealing with some technical issues, but other than that, haven't. My max response time? 10 minutes. Even on a Saturday!

I like phpbb. I like the fact it a lightweight board thats very easy to configure and userfriendly. I'm not a fan of the new feature rich phpbb 2.2 version from what I've seen of it so far.

I've used many BBS from YABB to IPB to phpBB to Nuke and have found that vBull is by far the most robust and feature rich bord in comparison to the above mentioned.

I will say this, SMF is giving vBull a run for their money and Jelsoft should seriously take a look at the adminCP of SMF and check the simplicity of how well and easily styles and forums are administrated. Other then that, vBull is very powerful and EXTREMELY customizable as soon as you get used to the back end.

Hello,

This topic has been exhausted. We know how much we ask for our products and we haven't changed our policy on prices in ages. Seeing how our software has developed it should actually have been increased by now.

We have no plans of updating our pricing in the (near) future.

Thanks for your pre-sales questions. If you have more please start a new thread with a new question. And thanks everybody for sharing your opinion.

Because it's worth it. Period.

I think vB pricing is perfect. If you can't afford it, there are plenty of other free alternatives. vB is not the only forum software out there, but it is at the top of the "food chain". When you start a forum, money should not be your first priority. You do it for the love of doing it. It's expensive if you forum has only a few members, you have no good content, very little post, and little traffic. Maybe, you shouldn't start your forum out using vB? I mean $30 for support and upgrade is about 8 cents a day. If you can't even afford that, maybe vB is not the right choice for you? I spent over $1500 for the last 3 years on web hosting alone for my tiny forum, and that's cheap compare to others. I'm not going to make that back, and it doesn't bother me. Because like any other hobbies, I enjoy doing what I do :)

FYI, IPB is NOT free anymore :)

IPB is free but it has alot of Advertisments on it.

Can i just point out... vb IS open source. Open source dosn't have to mean you dont pay for something, it means you have the ability to edit and modify the code as you see fit after purchasing it.

VB is good value for what it is, as a php coder i find some of the code to be almost inspirational. It is currently the only computer product i've bought that i would have payed more for. ( not much more granted...) the $30 is a bit of an annoyance; it'd be nice to be able to buy a lifetime support thing, or at lest get say a 5 year suppor thing for say $120 up front. but hey if thats the way jelsoft decide to price it, thats the way i'll pay for it.
Just a small correction Carnage, open source means a software follows the GNU/GPL guidelines and can't charge money for it. What you are refering to is "Visual Source" :)

Their pricing has only changed once...

Anyway, while vBulletin may not be "pocket change," it's also not terribly expensive, compared to other BBS out there. (UBB.threads costs over $700!) vB is arguably the best BBS on the market right now, with hundreds of available features, templates, styles and hacks. You'll be glad you purchased a license. Remember there is an online demo you can check out anytime to see if vB is for you.
Eiiighh....Quillz, several times, not just once.

If you want to make custom pages but your coding is under the intermediate level then go with vb.
Looking at the ipb code will make your head hurt.

The best advantage is that if you buy the yearly license you get to keep it forever but you loose support. (they might've changed it)

Please, can you explain me why vBulletin is so expensive?

You said it yourself: because it is professional. ;)

I agree with some of the other comments here about the price being relative to ones own perspective.

Look at it this way, if your some college kid earning your way through college on minimum wage then the price may seem steep because - and lets be honest here - you'd rather blow that $30 yearly renewal on comics, beer, a weeks worth of starbucks mocha lattes, video games, CD's and other non-essentials.

Those of us who run successful sites either for pleasure or for business, value the software for what it can do and feel the price is more than justified.

I think vBulletin's pricing is in the "sweet spot" .. Just expensive enough to make money, and still reasonable enough to bring in buyers.

I'm incredibly pleased that a commercial package comes with the full source, and not crippled by compiling it with some binary php loader. We all make a lot of modifications to our forums, which wouldn't be possible if it were compiled. Not to mention, vBulletin offers the vb.org site to cater to those who wish to modify their forums. You get the benefits of the source, along with the benefits of commercial support (on the unmodified parts, at least) ;)

(You do get support for the lifetime of the product when you buy an owned license. The $30 is only if you want to continue to download updates. :D)

SK[']I was a big fan of phpBB. My forums started off as phpBB before I moved them to vBulletin. I know now though that if I am going to make another forum for another site I will go with vBulletin from the start. It's hard to explain how impressed I am with this software. 'Amazing' is one way of summing it up I guess.

I think if it wasn't such a professionals choice why would this (http://www.big-boards.com/statistics/) be like it is :)

I know what you mean, it is hard to describe the feeling, I had the same experience, going from phpBB to vB and it means I can actually control the way the board works, and do it in a non-intrusive way, instead of my board members controlling it.
In phpBB you feel like your stuck in a really small glass bottle, unable to get out, with vB you feel like you've landed on a tropical island, the sky's the limit, the soft warm sand at your feet and the sun gleaming with a cool breeze from the south, you lie on the beach, waiting for the next wave to come and refresh your feet.

In short, vBulletin is a class product with a vast amount of features, especially in 3.5.

Its well worth the money, as the money means vBulletin actually gets plenty of development time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for Open Source, I run open source sites. But vB is definately worth the money

That also include using money to pay bills and getting it to buy VB! :D that's what I did. :)

Possibly, but there's no more chance of that than there is pressure to do exactly the opposite under the current system lol.

Come to think of it, isn't IPB more expensive than vBulletin.?

I've not checked their pricing ever since it started changing every 2 weeks, so I'm not sure.Owned license, yes. Leased license, no. ;)

I think you need to get out more. :D

Hehe, do ya think I went too far?!

Come to think of it, isn't IPB more expensive than vBulletin.?

I've not checked their pricing ever since it started changing every 2 weeks, so I'm not sure.
Their pricing has only changed once...

Anyway, while vBulletin may not be "pocket change," it's also not terribly expensive, compared to other BBS out there. (UBB.threads costs over $700!) vB is arguably the best BBS on the market right now, with hundreds of available features, templates, styles and hacks. You'll be glad you purchased a license. Remember there is an online demo you can check out anytime to see if vB is for you.

InvisionFree is not the same as Invision Power Board....

Ah sorry. I thought it was lol :o

I for one think vBulletin is priced perfectly.

The only change I would like to see is the removal of the leased option, and removal of the $30 / year for the owned option. I would just like to pay $160 and own it with all upgrades. Maybe a fee for new major releases.
I believe the original subject is rhetorical. The cost is relative. I find it very reasonable considering the support you receive. I don't mind renewing my licenses to ensure that support will be there. I'm tired of installing addons only to find the developer decides to abandon the project afterwards.

Last I heard, no one is forced to use vBulletin. There are cheaper alternatives. But generally you do get what you pay for. I consider vB a bargain.

cuase people who write code have to eat
Hah, good one.

But, nevertheless, vBulletin is one *hell* of a product. Distributing it for free would be a loss. vBulletin can handle millions, upon millions of users and posts... and still at a great speed, without any modification. I highly doubt Gaia-Online (http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/? - biggest "phpBB" board on the net), SMF, MyBB, USeBB or anything else can do that. IPB can do it too, because alot of hard work and testing wa sput into it.

The developers at Jelsoft are getting paid... therefor, they do the best they can possible.

Once you purchase it, you won't regret it, and you wqon't look at another bulletin board system ever again.

Before Red Hat changed its product lineup, Red Hat charges you for the discs/costs for manufacturing the product and support for the product. It does not charge you for the download. You could even download it for free.

When they moved to the enterprise edition, they did something funny with the license agreement or found some sort of loop hole. Either way, they used that loophole to charge people.

Anyways, some key differences between Visual Source and the Open Source/GNU/GPL Licensing:
-the right to redistribute copies.
-the right to improve the program, and release the improvements to the public

You are prohibited in doing that to vBulletin.

cuase people who write code have to eat

I know what you mean, it is hard to describe the feeling, I had the same experience, going from phpBB to vB and it means I can actually control the way the board works, and do it in a non-intrusive way, instead of my board members controlling it.
In phpBB you feel like your stuck in a really small glass bottle, unable to get out, with vB you feel like you've landed on a tropical island, the sky's the limit, the soft warm sand at your feet and the sun gleaming with a cool breeze from the south, you lie on the beach, waiting for the next wave to come and refresh your feet.

I think you need to get out more. :D

Invision Power Board is a good choice for people who are relatively new to Forums and want to start a Small to Medium community.

While vBulletin looks like alot of money, it is well worth it for people who have medium to large, and even corporate communities. I am attached to vBulletin, because of its features and it's good reputation.

UBB, for such an awful product, the price is extortion!

I used my tax refunds to get my license. Normally the refund would go for pizza and soda pop. A license lasts for a long time, a pizza doesn't, except in rare cases! :D

That also include using money to pay bills and getting it to buy VB! :D that's what I did. :)

IPB costs $185, not $190...

And if use the latest version of phpBB, you'll see that (currently), it's rather secure. Of course, older versions are in fact full of holes.

haha if you saw the .bash_history from my server you'd know how much i like keeping things updated.

Besides, why would you not want the latest version of the best bb software arround ;p

The price has only changed in the sense that the Lifetime license was done away with and replaced with the Perpetual license. Anyways, that doesn't matter in the slightest, since this thread is about the cost of vB.

I thought you could still run IPB 1.3 trail version unlimited, as that changed?

I own 2 vBulletin license - they make a great product.

And if you do things right - that $160 is NOTHING compared to some of the money you can make using the software and the mods available over at vbulletin.org

Edit: In fact - i've had people say to me "How much did you pay for that forum software?" and I tell them and they say "THAT'S IT??? Wow that's cheap - I thought that it would have been really expensive".

It all depends on how you implement it. If you want to have a small site for you and your buds to talk about drinking at the bar - probably not worth it.

I was a big fan of phpBB. My forums started off as phpBB before I moved them to vBulletin. I know now though that if I am going to make another forum for another site I will go with vBulletin from the start. It's hard to explain how impressed I am with this software. 'Amazing' is one way of summing it up I guess.

I think if it wasn't such a professionals choice why would this (http://www.big-boards.com/statistics/) be like it is :)

It is quite odd, its not like their software is even nice or user friendly. phpBB easily looks better than UBB. I would never consider UBB for my forum.

Both have there pro's and con's against each other and both are good boards with a proven track record and good support.

There is no comparison whatsoever in the level of support provided by IPB against that of vB.

Hi.
I'm Gil and I'm from Israel.
in Israel most of people using IPB and PHPBB, 'cause they are free.
Well, I have to say that vBulletin is very professional, But it also very expensive.

Please, can you explain me why vBulletin is so expensive?

TNX! ;)

wrong.. IPB costs 190 $ so it makes vbulletin cheaper

phpBB is a swiss cheese.. full of holes

Just a small correction Carnage, open source means a software follows the GNU/GPL guidelines and can't charge money for it. What you are refering to is "Visual Source" :)

Actually you can charge money for open source software. You just need to release the source code to the public for free, otherwise Linux distributions like Red Hat and SuSE would be in violation of the GNU/GPL would they not?

Oh and nice bump by the way :p.

I'm willing to bet cold hard cash that most components/mods/etc add a load and (they do) add more SQL queries.

is this (http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?showuser=43102) you? if so, I'm sure you are strong with your opinions (here (http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?showtopic=198228&st=120#) and here (http://forums.invisionpower.com/index.php?showtopic=198228&st=120#)). look, i'm sorry to tell you this, but forum software doesn't change a users "opinion" on your website, nor can it change statistics. it's the content. - are you on IPB or vBulletin man: your forum (http://www.powerrangerempire.com/community/)

Yeah, phpBB wasn't really built for that. Plus I heard that their installation was so heavily modified you couldn't call it phpBB anymore.

When have you seen someone switch from vBulletin to something else, because of speed/the forum couldn't handle it? Nope, never... the only reason vBulletin would be slow is because of the server behind it.

I use both vBulletin and IPB. I have to say I prefer vB.

:D

Gaia is no longer phpbb and hasn't been for several yaers now, they are using something of the original code base, but its more of a thanks to the original developers.

IPB and vB are bascily the same price (bar a bit of pocket change). Which isn't worth bothering about in it being a deciding factor which board you go for. Both have there pro's and con's against each other and both are good boards with a proven track record and good support.

You just have to decide which one suits yours needs best IPB or vB.

If you've ever seen an Infopop office, you'd understand. And I find UBB.threads grossly inferior to even some free BBS.

It might rival VB 2 from what I saw. It wasn't impressive at all. LOL Now I'm curious as to what their offices look like. LOL.

$700 though. Thats just horrible.

There is a Hebrew language pack available in the download forums. Once you are a customer you can download it.

Thread moderated, lets keep things clean.

Couldn't agree more. It's expensive compared to phpBB, but it's so much more professional. You don't quite appreciate what the difference is until you've delved into the software a bit. I guess between a member of a rich nation and a poor nation $160 is going to mean a great deal different, but unfortunately that's life. For what it is, it's really not that bad.

You could always just ask for donations on your forum to help recoup the cost after all, on anything but the smallest forum you would probably acquire enough without too much trouble. That's what I'd do.

What I would like to see changed is the 'yearly' fee. It's not a lot of money of course, but I can just see the next major release being just a little bit too late :). I'd rather have minor (sub-version) updates free, and the current smaller fee for full-version upgrades. I very much doubt it would lose any customers, and would have the added bonus of not irritating a lot of people if their yearly fee is a couple of days short of the next major update.

if it was 160 for ever.......no fees for removal or upgrades then some day vbulletin will make no money lol.
The upgrades thing i am sure goes for development...

30 dollars is abit too much a year tho...i think thats true.
20 is fair.

I dont think its expensive. well worth it :P

Hi.
I'm Gil and I'm from Israel.
in Israel most of people using IPB and PHPBB, 'cause they are free.
Well, I have to say that vBulletin is very professional, But it also very expensive.

Please, can you explain me why vBulletin is so expensive?

TNX! ;)
Some people (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152352&highlight=vbulletin+cost+more+500) think it should cost more. And it is dissenting opinions like this that make the world go round. :D :p ;) :)

Well, i hope that this month i will have enough money to purchase vBulletin (look, 160$ = 500 NIS:o ).

I have one question:

If I'll purchase vBulletin, How can I make it to be in Hebrew?

TNX!

yep my board would not be home without it support is fast and friendly as well. I have used the others you mentioned also, just try out the admincp demo the power and resources there are untouch by the other two you mentioned Vbb 3.5.0 ROCKS!

Thats another way of 'paying' for it, I guess.

Come to think of it, isn't IPB more expensive than vBulletin.?

I've not checked their pricing ever since it started changing every 2 weeks, so I'm not sure.

IPB costs $185, not $190...

And if use the latest version of phpBB, you'll see that (currently), it's rather secure. Of course, older versions are in fact full of holes.

Ha, if it was just about the security, if only!

People who use vB know that it's not just about the security, I could list off the top of my head, 20 things (at least) it is about, and security aint very high for me...

Owned license, yes. Leased license, no. ;)

IPB is $10.05 cheaper on the lease license, and $25 more than vB on the owned license. vB 3.5 Plugin system alone is more than worth the money, especially when it's cheaper to own one :D

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