Is paid always better?

[dojo]

When it comes to forum scripts, I have to say my experience with paid platforms was way better. If we talk about other platforms (let's say the ones to manage blogs or articles), I have to consider wordpress to be just amazing. Haven't tried paid solutions, but it has worked wonders for me and my clients.

 

How about you? Do you see paid platforms to always be better? Are the free ones good too?

[bryce12]

I don't think that paid softwares or CMS are always better. As you have said, Wordpress is an excellent example of a very good free CMS. The paid solutions are better if you want to go for a jighly unqie customized solution. I always check the free softwares available in Sourceforge and CNet before buying anything.

[Nathan]

I agree with both of you, for blogs I don't think anyone can beat Wordpress. It's easy to use and has a plugin for just about anything. Not to mention it's out of the box SEO friendliness. I wouldn't use a different paid solution ever over Wordpress.

[posterluis]

In my opinion it depends. I choise all my products, in the internet or out of it, for the quality, not for the price. Well, as cheap as possible, but it comes that sometimes the cheaper/free stuff fit better your needs than the paid/expensiver ones.

 

I love PhpBB forums, and they are free.

[Thrill]

I don't necessarily think paid is better. It some instances, it is. However, I'm a huge fan of SMF and that's free

[SpikeTheLobster]

Function is more important than price. The only reason I'd go for a paid system is if I couldn't get the same functionality for free. Just about anything you could possibly want is available somewhere at no cost these days - it's just a case of finding it!

[crumblepie]

I'm about to find out for myself! I'll be launching a new forum soon that is based on Vanilla. I think the problem with free solutions is that dealing with spam is so much harder. And it doesn't have as many features as other forum platforms.

 

But sometimes, something simple is what you want, and it offers exactly that. If you don't need the extra bloat, paid solutions might actually be a disadvantage because they're so complicated!

[Gidget]

So far, all that I have used is the free ones. I am a college student, on a budget. I don't have tons of money to be throwing around. So cheaper, or better yet free, is always better for me. SMF & phpBB are both very nice as far as forums go.

[Amdac]

I'm going to have to disagree with most of you on this one. It's not that paid forum software is really THAT much better, it's more the image your users see.

 

I get turned off quick by small forums running on free software simply because I'm not convinced the admin is going to stick with it since he has nothing to lose. When someone spends $140+ on a forum license, it shows they're more serious and is more likely to stick with the forum throughout it's growth.

[SpikeTheLobster]

I get turned off quick by small forums running on free software simply because I'm not convinced the admin is going to stick with it since he has nothing to lose. When someone spends $140+ on a forum license, it shows they're more serious and is more likely to stick with the forum throughout it's growth.

 

A few months ago I would have agreed with that but given the number of paid license forums I've seen turn to poo since January, I don't think it matters. You'd be surprised how many people will just write off over $100 (probably the same people buying all those stupid affiliate marketing courses and throwing money away there!). The majority of the forums that I'm on and which are active and interesting run on free software.

[EllaHalligan]

For just straight content, you really can't get better than Wordpress. Hands down, no argument, nothing possibly better.

 

That being said, the free bb scripts drove me completely batty and I found it well worth it to plunk down some cash for vBulletin. Trust me, that's saying something, because I don't like to pay for anything. Just ask my hubs and kids. I'm the original Scrooge McDuck and proud of it. But after a few weeks of wanting to tear my hair out I finally said, "Done! TIme to pay in cash instead of in years off my life and gray hair!"

[Godric]

I was a big fan of VB forums, but right now I am liking IPB way better. Its fast and atleast my experience here was a lot better than other forums. So Paid is definately better, in case of forums.

[mrnothersan]

Paid is usually better, but not always. Paid hosts have better support and usually better servers. Paid hosts will most likely not oversell (although some still do). If you are hosting anything valuable, I'd pick a good, stable, paid web host.

[Amdac]

Paid is usually better, but not always. Paid hosts have better support and usually better servers. Paid hosts will most likely not oversell (although some still do). If you are hosting anything valuable, I'd pick a good, stable, paid web host.

 

Erm, this thread isn't about web hosts.

[TheMightyEddy]

I've always thought paid was better but until I discovered using free software's, I was amazed at how good it can also be.

[DevilKid]

I do think that paid is better but not always. I do prefer paid things when I want better things for my websites but then again, practice makes perfect and if you know how to get around it, then you should be fine.

[Zacko]

For forums, my favourite software is actually the new upgrade from the old Invisionfree boards, cant remember the name off-hand.

[crumblepie]

After playing around with the admin panel of some free software, I've come to the conclusion that nothing can beat vBulletin

[Fallace]

Doesn't matter if it's paid or not. Some are just better than others. For example, in the forum software world, IPB is best (in my opinion), and it is paid.; however in blogging, Wordpress is best (once again, opinion), but it's free.

[Victor Leigh]

I'm going to have to disagree with most of you on this one. It's not that paid forum software is really THAT much better, it's more the image your users see.

 

I get turned off quick by small forums running on free software simply because I'm not convinced the admin is going to stick with it since he has nothing to lose. When someone spends $140+ on a forum license, it shows they're more serious and is more likely to stick with the forum throughout it's growth.

 

True but not always true.

 

It can also mean that someone's dad gave him 140usd and he bought a forum licence with it. I am not just guessing because I have been on a forum where something like that actually happened. It was run on a licenced forum software but the owner, as seen from his posts, was totally clueless about forum management. Actually I don't think he even has any idea about life management because he would go AWOL for weeks then pop up again like as if nothing has gone amiss at all.

 

Myself, I have a very bad attitude towards parting with my money. My basic guiding principle is "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk free?"

 

As for the support for free forum software, worst case, I will have get under the hood and do it myself.

[sumicool7]

Paid forums are not always the final choice for everyone

Like MyBB is a very good free forum software with excellent functionality that are must for a forum software. Accompanied with some plugins and a paid theme that would cost your around 10-15$ or so and you are ready to jump start your online community!

[dexterlablab1]

Too many people fall into the trap of thinking that just because something is paid for that it suddenly is going to be better. Same way people think just because it's paid for it's right off the back going to be secure.

[Marc]

I suppose it depends on how you define better really and what the use is. For example wordpress is excellent and I would use it over any other peice of software for blogging, however if advising a large company of which blogging software to use I would probably go for a commercial solution due to the support (someone to shout at). Whereas in forum software I would always recommend a paid solution as the security issues are generally worked away a lot faster than in other products, and that goes for whether my own use or commercially.

[Victor Leigh]

Paying for something means exactly that.

 

You have just parted with some of your hard-earned money. There is no guarantee that you will get something worthwhile in exchange. Take, for example, managed servers.

 

Paying for server management costs a lot of money. Every month. And most of the work is done at the beginning. Once the server is up and running, there is very little work left to do. So you are parting with your hard-earned money and not getting anything back in return, after the first month.

 

That's the main reason why I learn to set up my servers myself.

[tetutato]

Usually paid forum scripts have better looks by default. But if you really put the time and effort needed into a free forum script, it can get as just good.