populus licensing

Are 'open source' web publishing platforms really 'free'?  We continually read web literature touting the benefits of 'open source' solutions because they are 'free'. However, in our experience 'open source' doesn't necessarily mean free. You'll still need to pay for design and CSS build like any other product; you'll still need to host your website and maybe pay someone to deal with any issues that come up, and you might also have to pay license fees for additional plugs in to get the functionality you want.

And there are benefits to working with proprietary products. 

• Control: nothing goes into populus that we haven't thought about ... carefully, and one of the benefits of having complete control over the development path of the product is that we can ensure that we consider our existing client base in any decisions we make about the product development.
• Customisation: we built populus from the ground up, line by line, which means we also know how to change it. We can quote accurately on the changes and commit to timelines because it's our product. 
• Certainty: certainty about the product development path, roll outs, maintenance and the like.

We're not saying that there is anything wrong with open source. Simply don't write off proprietary products like ours simply because someone has told you that open source is cheaper. It's not always the case. However, we understand that it's sometimes hard to work out which solution is the 'best value' because different organisations 'cost' projects in different ways. So if you are trying to compare a populus implementation with a product that doesn't include a monthly fee, please contact us and we'll be happy to structure the pricing in such a way that enables you to compare apples with apples.