vBulletin 4.0 is going to cost even more? (vBulletin Leaked)

**Brandon Sheley** · 05-13-2009, 01:16 PM

I saw these tweets on twitter about vBulletin 4.0 and the new vBulletin prices
I know I'll be using vBulletin 4.0, but will you?

Twitter / Floren Munteanu: vBulletin.com private foru ... [PICS]
Twitter / Peter T Davis: Just heard that there will ...
Twitter / David: #vBulletin information lea ...

Does anyone know anything about these price increases? or what information was leaked?

[More Pics with Prices]

*added a few more links that haven't been deleted*

This one by briansol at vB.com
Dear vB/IB:

And this one by Brent Wilson on his blog
More vBulletin Insider Info

*an alternative to view the images*

**glennybee** · 05-13-2009, 01:49 PM

Oh man...if that goes ahead, that will be shocking!

How can they even think about charging that amount?

**KevinL** · 05-13-2009, 01:59 PM

Well, I actually don't think it is all that bad if you read it all.

They say that they want to charge more upfront but have lifetime upgrades at no cost. Which when you think about it could save you a lot of money.

It also says that the risk/reward on the blow back on not taking care of current license holders could be pretty bad if not handled correctly. This is something that should be the thing to keep an eye on. If they were to make everyone with a current license pay to upgrade to vb4 they might make money but would probably lose a lot of license holders doing so.

Like I said over all it wasn't a bad read...

**Nick R** · 05-13-2009, 02:07 PM

*sigh*

I've been hyped up with this all over Twitter and the vBIRC for the past hour I don't feel like going through all of it again here. I just have to say that I am not happy with the planned changes and feel a huge loss of connection with Jelsoft.
Blame IB.

**KW802** · 05-13-2009, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinL

They say that they want to charge more upfront but have lifetime upgrades at no cost. Which when you think about it could save you a lot of money.

It isn't lifetime upgrades; it is free upgrades within the major version (eg: 4.0 to 4.1 but you'll have to pay an upgrade fee again to go to 5.0).

**Brandon Sheley** · 05-13-2009, 02:20 PM

We are chatting in Floris's IRC room
Chat Live on irc.vbirc.com in #chat
I've added the link to the first post

good to see you KW

**KW802** · 05-13-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon Sheley

We are chatting in Floris's IRC room
Chat Live on irc.vbirc.com in #chat
I've added the link to the first post

No java on the work PC.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon Sheley

good to see you KW

I'm always around, just sometimes silently.

**KevinL** · 05-13-2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KW802

It isn't lifetime upgrades; it is free upgrades within the major version (eg: 4.0 to 4.1 but you'll have to pay an upgrade fee again to go to 5.0).

Well yeah...haha

That could be either bad or good

**dvduval** · 05-13-2009, 03:08 PM

I may not be "up" on vbulletin news, but this is the first I have heard of a 4.0. I can understand charging more (as I develop software myself), and hopefully this will make it possible to continue to improve their product and service.

**Noodles** · 05-13-2009, 03:11 PM

Sounds ok, I hate paying yearly renewal fees on vbulletin, it costs me hundreds each year. Good news that 4.0 will be released in July.

And IB isn't so bad, they bought my forum

**Nick R** · 05-13-2009, 03:15 PM

Lol: Keeping Information Secret When the Cat is Out of the Bag - vBulletin Community Forum

**Nick R** · 05-13-2009, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick R

Lol: Keeping Information Secret When the Cat is Out of the Bag - vBulletin Community Forum

Okay well that one's shot.

**Imperial** · 05-13-2009, 03:39 PM

The yearly renewal fees have always been an annoyance to me. I hope that vB4 is such a quality product that I am willing to pay the higher fees for it. Otherwise I will not be a happy customer. I do look forward to seeing what the official CMS will look like as vBadvanced has served me well for the past two years.

**noppid** · 05-13-2009, 03:39 PM

No beta release is not cool.

$15.00 increase in price, not so bad.

Good luck folks.

**ohiosweetheart** · 05-13-2009, 03:41 PM

holy cow. NO beta release? They'll have a real mutiny in the coder/designer ranks, me thinks.

Absolutely insane.

**Nick R** · 05-13-2009, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiosweetheart

holy cow. NO beta release? They'll have a real mutiny in the coder/designer ranks, me thinks.

Absolutely insane.

I don't even understand the purpose of that. Although they say the gold release will be coming quicker, it'll be more prone to bugs. How can private testers and the development team possibly catch all the bugs that the entire vB community does in ample time? They just can't.

**ohiosweetheart** · 05-13-2009, 03:54 PM

Like I said - absolutely insane.

And having to pay to upgrade to vB 4 is just as insane. Further, another price increase so soon on the heels of the last one will, indeed, come back to bite them in the ass.

**rsdworker** · 05-13-2009, 03:55 PM

i am amazed - i am unhappy because IB needs go its needs go - we prefer standalone one which VB used be - friendly and nice open

fyi: i am in chat - thanks brandon for exellent find - if IB wasn't there - VB would run alone and much happy

**Big Dan** · 05-13-2009, 03:55 PM

I cannot say that I'm shocked about the price increases, I've been expecting it for 4.0. Ever since IB took over all they've done is add crap to the core package (ie the 'social' features) and everything else has been an upsell. The only thing marginally useful is the photo albums which haven't even been implemented well.

I've not been happy about the upsell at every turn forumla from day one (

) but it's to be expected when a bigger company buys a smaller one, they want want to squeeze every drop of profit out.

All in all I don't mind paying a fee for major version upgrades, ie 3.x to 4.x. We pay for MS Office and Windows that way, as well as most other software products. Current owners get an upgrade discount, new owners pay full price. I'm cool with that so long as new and useful features are introduced and the older version is supported with security updates for at least until the following major release.

As for the suite deal mentioned @ $285 for the full boat, forums, CMS, blog, etc. I think that's a great deal. No complaints there from me.

As much as I love vB and think it's the best forum software out there, How they handle their current license holders during this transition will determine weather or not my forums remain vBulletin powered.

**ohiosweetheart** · 05-13-2009, 04:01 PM

Steve does seem to be extremely concerned about how current customers are going to be handled.

I believe that his concerns are well-founded.

**rsdworker** · 05-13-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiosweetheart

Steve does seem to be extremely concerned about how current customers are going to be handled.

I believe that his concerns are well-founded.

i agree - if i was owner of VB - i would have a say like public ownership - meaning public have say before deciding

**briansol** · 05-13-2009, 04:06 PM

vb4 = epic failure on all acounts. The more i learn more about it, the more I want to stab someone. lol

I have ZERO motivation to update/pay again.

I'm on the hunt for alternative software. Until that hunt is completed, i'm staying on 3.7.x on my main site.

**Woody** · 05-13-2009, 04:10 PM

So I have a license that entitles me to pay a further $195 when 4.0/4.1 comes out? I thought I would get all further updates for $40 a year? Or am I reading this wrong?

**Brandon Sheley** · 05-13-2009, 04:11 PM

We've had some ppl say they couldn't see the imageshack picks, so I just uploaded them to photobucket too

**KevinL** · 05-13-2009, 04:15 PM

How I read it...the Gold is the Beta hahah

**briansol** · 05-13-2009, 04:16 PM

vBulletin Community Forum

**briansol** · 05-13-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woody

So I have a license that entitles me to pay a further $195 when 4.0/4.1 comes out? I thought I would get all further updates for $40 a year? Or am I reading this wrong?

wrong..

all 4.x releases will be included in the 195 price.
5.x will need to re-buy

Lizard King · 05-13-2009, 04:30 PM

What amazes me vB 4 will reach Gold stage after a very short beta testing. Do they really expect people to install a heavily tested version with no real support.

**briansol** · 05-13-2009, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizard King

What amazes me vB 4 will reach Gold stage after a very short beta testing. Do they really expect people to install a heavily tested version with no real support.

exactly.

i know i won't be installing 4.0. If I DO upgrade at all, it won't be until 4.3 or 4.4 when all the old 4.0 features are finally included.

**nazia** · 05-13-2009, 04:49 PM

15$ more are not shocking prices..
but these prices are for new customers i think so...

Quote:

there will be no longer any renewal fee

it means we can download the new version from the member area if we have not renew our current account ?

see When price increased from 160 to 180$ check the link below

vBulletin Licensing Changes - vBulletin Community Forum