Thread

OK - I need to clarify some costs.

My objective is to provide a solution for a client that has a single domain yet six different entities and six different content managers.  In one solution I assume I have a single EE installation and segment the content and managers by channel - thus only one license. (domain.com/org1, domain.com/org2)

EE- $299.95

The second solution is an installation for each subdomain (org1.domain.com, org2.domain.com) and purchase a Multisite Manager license and a license for each site:

EE - $299.95
MM - $149.95
Others - 5X$49.95

$749.65

Questions: 

Is this the right solution for my objectives?

What is the ongoing maintenance (the cost to maintain support) in each version?

Thanks!

Hi, ideafrog - welcome to the forums!

Are all of the Sites being considered owned by one owner, and not for client sites? If so, the MSM is a contender.  The MSM is the supported solution for handling multiple subdomains in ExpressionEngine.

Here are some Sales FAQ entries that address the ongoing costs:

* How long can I download for?
* How long do I receive support for?

And just to clarify, the Multiple Site Manager commercial license is $199.95, so a bit more than you listed above.  EE + MSM = 3 Sites, so you’d need Additional Sites for each Site beyond the initial three.

I hope that helps.  Please post back if you have any other questions!

Yes all 6 “sites” would be considered “owned” by one client (just different sectors with different design styles - yet share common components)

OK - so if I understand correctly, if we go with Subdomains, we need:

EE - 299.95
MM - 199.95
Addnt- 3x49.95

For a total of $649.75 to get all six sites up and running.

Is this then the yearly support/renewal cost as well?

Hi, ideafrog -

No, it’s not $649.75/year.  You get a year of support when you purchase the EE license.  Version updates throughout the year may be free or paid; when you purchase one of those, it extends your support by another year.  The cost of those updates will be determined by what is included in the update. 

Does that help clarify?

Not exactly…when you say some Version updates are free and some are paid - can you give me an example?

I’m trying to identify ongoing maintenance costs for the project.

Hi, ideafrog - For instance, EE 2.1 and 2.1.1 were free version updates.  However, there will be version updates that you need to purchase, and that pricing is set when we know what the version update will include.

That seems a little vague - but I guess I don’t understand what types of updates and the typical frequency that exists.

Can you give me an example of the major updates/upgrades that happened THIS year?  How many were paid, and how many were free?

Hi, ideafrog -

I don’t have a history to give you, since EE 2 came out in July of this year and we changed software models.  For example, EE 1 was subscription - it was $39.95/year for a commercial license; again, that was for EE 1.

However, to put it in perspective, a full update from EE 1 to EE 2 was a modest $50 for license holders.

OK - Thanks for your help!

My pleasure, ideafrog.  If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to start a new thread!