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ExpressionEngine new pricing structure and how ProcessWire could benefit

panictree

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panictree Full Member

panictree

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EllisLab have recently changed the pricing structure of their flagship product, ExpressionEngine. Just to some up the changes, they've basically discontinued their freelancer and non-commercial licences, got rid of volume discounts and changed their support structure. So, the only available option now is to buy the fully commercial licence, which currently costs $299.

This has seemed to anger a good chunk of their customer base, who have raised their concern for the future of ExpressionEngine in a number of places. See here for some examples:

http://bit.ly/R2yFLf

http://bit.ly/U8qrBV

Now, I think this is an excellent opportunity for ProcessWire. I believe that a good number of ExpressionEngine customers now looking for alternatives would greatly appreciate the flexibility and power that ProcessWire has to offer, and would find the transition from EE to PW relatively smooth. I'm not suggesting that PW and EE are totally interchangeable, but I do believe they share enough in common to appeal to those EE users currently looking for an alternative CMS.

So, what do you guys think? How could we take advantage of the 'EE exodus'?

Claudio

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MatthewSchenker Hero Member

MatthewSchenker

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Greetings,

I'm glad someone is talking about this here. If it was April 1, I would think that Ellis Labs' decision was a bad joke. But, apparently, it is serious.

I have used EE for a couple of projcts. I stopped using it a few months before I discovered ProcessWire. It's a great system, maybe the best out there after ProcessWire. But the new pricing scheme will drive away all but the most lucrative design studios. Just to lanch an EE site costs about $2,000. With middle-of-the-road support, the first year for that project starts off at about $4,400, with recurring minimum service fees at $2,400/year.

To have same-day support, the first-year cost of a site is -- not kidding -- about $26,000, with recurring minimum service costs of $24,000/year.

Some of my customers could bear that, but I would clearly have to reject all arts organizations, non-profits, community concepts, not to mention any of my own "pet projects."

But the real damage will come from the fact that in the famed Ellis Labs forum there is an understandable reaction from many valuable and active members who are obviously not willing to continue offering free advice to support Ellis Labs.

I'm puzzled by this move. It's too bad -- seriously. I think it will not only drag down EE, but may also take CodeIgniter with it (and CodeIgniter has been having enough trouble lately as it is).

But yes, to the main point of this discussion, it might bring new people over to ProcessWire.

Thanks,

Matthew

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Marty Walker Hero Member

Marty Walker

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I stopped using EE about a year ago. I didn't see all these EL changes coming but the multiple pages of ongoing bugs and having to install a multitude of add-ons to do simple stuff just got tedious. That and the painful upgrade process/add-on compatibility made maintaining a site excruciating. It made selling it to clients a no go.

EE is generally a good product and the developer community have created a wealth of good add-ons. But that has inadvertently stifled any EE development. I can't think of a new feature they've brought out in the last two years whilst the bug list keeps growing. I think it's become a platform for developers to make a few bucks - and not that much from what I've read. The EE community can be really one-eyed too and the loudest are those that have hinged their business on using EE and don't/won't consider using anything else. While it's not a particularly healthy thing, they're generous and helpful as well.

I don't miss using EE one bit and I'm honestly impressed beyond belief that I can do 99% of the work I used to do in EE (and add-ons) now with PW.

Cheers

Marty

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onjegolders Hero Member

onjegolders

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I came here from EE and agree that EE users looking to go elsewhere won't find a better fit than PW.

Bit of a shame for them though, I also found it a nice system to use and in the main real enjoyed using it. The cost for my small sites had begun to get prohibitive as well as the need to install modules to do simple things.

I'm just delighted that PW is here to offer all of the advantages of EE without the drawbacks :)

And it response to Claudio's final question, I think the answer is "talk about PW in their forums".

Not sure whether or not that feels right though...

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Joss Hero Member

Joss

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If someone wants to write an article about how to make the move from EE to PW, I will gladly edit it and give it some spin.

It can go on the Wiki as a useful article and then you can all put it on your blogs everywhere! :)

I am not talking about how to move an actual site, but rather if you do this on EE, this is how to achieve the same thing in PW .... that sort of thing.

Joss

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Joss Hero Member

Joss

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And it response to Claudio's final question, I think the answer is "talk about PW in their forums".

Not sure whether or not that feels right though...

Yeah, doesn't really feel the done thing.

However, I am sure people will be talking about it on their own sites - go and comment on their blogs!

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diogo Hero Member

diogo

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We have to raise the position of pw here 

http://alternativeto.net/software/expressionengine/

, this is the first page that appears when you write "expression engine alternative" on google. So, people, go and like pw on that site!

edit: I don't know what's happening, but when i paste this url it gets cut ressionengine/'>http://alternativeto.net/software/expressionengine/

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MatthewSchenker Hero Member

MatthewSchenker

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Hello everyone,

As others have said, it's too bad about EE. At one time, I thought EE was the best CMS, and I still think it is pretty amazing. But I like to experiment and develop ideas freely. Even with the old pricing structure, this was not really possible with EE. Under the new stucture, it's even less feasible.

But what's most relevant is that I can replace everything I did in EE with ProcessWire, and in ProcessWire it feels more "natural" and closer to pure PHP.

I also really liked CodeIgniter. It was the framework that introduced me to frameworks. But even here, Laravel has taken the framework role. I think that with Ellis Labs making such pricing decisions, a lot of excellent and generous CI contributors will feel that their contributions make more sense in the Laravel community. And by the way, there were hints about the licensing issues over a year ago, when Ellis Labs changed the license type for CodeIgniter.

Regarding posting in the EE forum: I would personally be against that unless a discussion had already developed over there about alternatives. I think that posting blog entries and commenting on other blogs is the better way to go.

Thanks,

Matthew

EDIT: I added my "like" to alternativeto.com!

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diogo Hero Member

diogo

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I am trying to post about ProcessWire on alternativeto.com

Create an account and login, search for pw, and on it's page click on the "comments" or the "review" tabs. There you will have a "new comment" and a "new review" buttons.

is there an alternative to alternativeto?

actually there is an even older site for this http://www.osalt.com/ but doesn't feature, neither PW or EE. This is interesting because it's about open source alternatives to commercial software (ex: photoshop->gimp). I can't do it now, but maybe someone can suggest both there?

edit:

"exp" in links will break in IP forum do to bad coding.

ya, one more for the collection...

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panictree Full Member

panictree

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Great responses and ideas, guys.

I'm puzzled by this move. It's too bad -- seriously. I think it will not only drag down EE, but may also take CodeIgniter with it (and CodeIgniter has been having enough trouble lately as it is).

You're certainly not alone in thinking this! Their main argument is that they are basically making things easier for their customers by simplifying their pricing structure which, apparently, caused a great deal of confusion. A bit condescending if you ask me.

I don't miss using EE one bit and I'm honestly impressed beyond belief that I can do 99% of the work I used to do in EE (and add-ons) now with PW.

This is what amazes me about ProcessWire, too. It is an open source project, a free, community driven product, and it offers an experience a good number of paid CMSs can only dream about. I think EE is a great CMS, at least it used to be, but, frankly, I don't know why anyone would choose it over ProcessWire, particularly with the new changes now in place. I might be a bit biased, though. :)

We have to raise the position of pw here 

http://alternativeto.net/software/expressionengine/

, this is the first page that appears when you write "expression engine alternative" on google. So, people, go and like pw on that site!

Great idea! As soon as I'm done writing this, I'm heading to alternativeto.net to like ProcessWire.

If someone wants to write an article about how to make the move from EE to PW, I will gladly edit it and give it some spin.

[...]

I am not talking about how to move an actual site, but rather if you do this on EE, this is how to achieve the same thing in PW .... that sort of thing.

I think this could really make a difference. Once people coming from EE get an overview of how things work in ProcessWire as compared to EE, I'm confident they will see PW as a strong alternative. Ryan already posted a syntax comparison of the two systems, see here: http://processwire.com/ee-pw/. It would just be a matter of maybe using this article as a starting point and then work from there. My knowledge of EE is not enough to take such an endeavour, but I'd be happy to help with anything I can.

Claudio

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