well now that i paid for the pro version, i see this on the control panel: 12-13-2007 to 06-13-2008 Period here only defines period when you can download upgrades. You can use installed script for lifetime, according to license. When subscription to upgrades is over, you can extend it for $40/6 months if you wish. So I guess if I want to be able maintain a secure installation I'm putting out an extra $80/year? Or can I get security upgrades for life? Not happy if this is a hidden cost.
It's not a hidden cost. You can easily see that information on the site before you buy Amember pro. I haven't bought Amember pro yet but it appears to easily be the best deal. I think very few software producers allow free upgrades for life for purchased software. You can't complain about 40 dollars for 6 months of upgrades after your subscription to the upgrades ends. That's very little money, and many developer(s) of software probably rely on the money from upgrades for income even more than the initial software sells.
I have to agree with supergoodguy. I have seen some membership software selling way higher cost -- these software has less features than aMember. I knew about the upgrade cost before my organization purchased it -- we believe it's a good investment and if another software comes out with better price and features, we won't feel guilty folking over lot of money in first place.
I agree with both of you. I know there is some very good open source software out there, but I think the cost of aMember Pro is very reasonable in the first place and the upgrades are very little per year for working websites. And don't forget you get free support for life, you only have to pay for upgrades. Alot of software available charges for support AND upgrades. The very high standard of aMember is only realistically going to continue if they get income from developing upgrades. Prior to aMember I did an extensive survey of other membership scripts out there, and was shocked and appalled that you can spend tens of thousands of dollars on membership solutions!! If you think that the cost of aMember is hard to swallow then it may help to put it into the context of other software out there. Finally, I would have say that personally I would pay double per year for upgrades as I value the support so much, and i am sure others would agree. The timely and helpful support when I REALLY need it is second to none.
Agreed...aMember is certainly worth the small annual mantenance fee, as long as there IS maintenance being done by the author. Last year was an exception, in that no significant upgrades were made available, only one security patch which could be done simply but tweaking PHP settings on your server. I'd like to hear some news on a new version. I don't care about deadlines, I am just concerned if it is being worked on or not...I say, "take all the time you need to get a new version right". I'd like to think that we can rely on Alex's fine work for many years to come.
I don't care about feature updates--I want security updates for more than 6 months. I want to know my membership/credit card data is secure for more than one month. If there are flaws in the software, it ought to be updated at no charge. Certainly for more than 6 months. I worry about software that charges for simple security updates. Like buying a car and finding out it has a 1 month warranty--must be something shoddy about the design if you can't cover it for longer than that.
I guess my next question is: how bad is the security history of this product? Am I going to have to rebuild my site every few months? Or can I install and forget? I was hoping this would be a secure solution, but now I wonder if we'll be constantly updating/patching. Anybody have long-term experience?
okay....i want to amend my remarks. I'm sorry for my tone. I don't mean to beat up on this product. I do think it's likely the best solution out there from what i've seen. I spent some time searching too. I just got worried when i saw it expires in 6 months unless I put out more $$. I thought at least security/fix upgrades would be included for life. But I like what I've seen so far from amember and the support dept. Looking at the upgrade history, it doesn't seem to have too many security related fixes (or many bug fixes at all). Sounds like it must be pretty mature/stable code.
theropodx, I have used aMember for past 3 years or so, I think we had only one security problem (last year). Alex and his team were quick to put out a patch to prevent any further harm. I'm not a programmer, I don't know if it's possible to develop a seperate download feature to allow security patch (free) for older versions while aMember upgrade their products for as part of upgrade cost. I would leave that to Alex to answer if this is possible.