Is Invision worth its price?

[Shawn Gossman]

Invision Community software is $500. After that, it's $200 a year for support and updates.

That's a lot of money.

Sure, you get features like user blogs, downloads, commerce, and events but not every community owner is going to need those features. In all honesty, they'd be better as official plugins.

Do you think Invision Community is worth its price? If so, why is that? If not, why not?

 

[JBCreates]

My personal experience from using it, I believe that it is worth the investment for a community that is looking to offer more than just forums. The Pages and Blog options are worth it alone, along with the overall software suite.

You could compare it with Woltlab with the feature set; the only issue is that most of the support for them is in German.

 

[Eclipse]

For forums, I think it's way overpriced. The UI is beautiful and modern, but I would rather stick to XenForo (even though their price has increased as well over the years) for forums since they have all the same capabilities that are needed to run a successful forum. I also love the consistent XenForo updates and available themes/plugins which I am more familiar with.

 

[Page]

I personally think IPS is worth it if you actually use the ecosystem properly. Yeah, $500 upfront and then $200 a year for renewals is expensive, especially for smaller communities, but you are getting a very polished platform with a lot built in already. At the same time though, I do agree not everyone needs things like Commerce, Blogs, Downloads, or Events. For a lot of forums, those probably would make more sense as optional official plugins instead of part of the main package.

I’ve had IPS on baysidegamers.com since 2014, and honestly the pricing back then to get everything was actually more expensive than what it is now. Back then renewals were every 6 months too, whereas now it’s yearly, which makes it feel a bit easier to manage financially.

For me, the biggest reason IPS is worth it is stability, support, security updates, and the overall quality of the software. A lot of cheaper forum software can end up costing you more in time, plugins, fixes, and headaches in the long run.

 

[Jason76]

I personally think IPS is worth it if you actually use the ecosystem properly. Yeah, $500 upfront and then $200 a year for renewals is expensive, especially for smaller communities, but you are getting a very polished platform with a lot built in already. At the same time though, I do agree not everyone needs things like Commerce, Blogs, Downloads, or Events. For a lot of forums, those probably would make more sense as optional official plugins instead of part of the main package.

I’ve had IPS on baysidegamers.com since 2014, and honestly the pricing back then to get everything was actually more expensive than what it is now. Back then renewals were every 6 months too, whereas now it’s yearly, which makes it feel a bit easier to manage financially.

For me, the biggest reason IPS is worth it is stability, support, security updates, and the overall quality of the software. A lot of cheaper forum software can end up costing you more in time, plugins, fixes, and headaches in the long run.

Do you pay the renewals each year?

 

[Page]

Do you pay the renewals each year?

Yeah

 

[Jason76]

Yeah

That's actually only around 16 USD a month, and if you feel that's what's needed, then go for it!

 

[Page]

That's actually only around 16 USD a month, and if you feel that's what's needed, then go for it!

Been paying for it for since 2015

 

[zappaDPJ]

I think Invision Community software is definitely worth the price. It feature rich and under constant development. What I would say is that it's target market is clearly more corporate now and therefore it's priced accordingly.

I'd also say the management attitude and general communication skills leave something to be desired which is the primary reason why I don't use it.

 

[Jason76]

I think Invision Community software is definitely worth the price. It feature rich and under constant development. What I would say is that it's target market is clearly more corporate now and therefore it's priced accordingly.

I'd also say the management attitude and general communication skills leave something to be desired which is the primary reason why I don't use it.

You can't get something for nothing and if you're going the free software route, the price you pay is self-repair. You got to be able to do that or you won't get the full value.

 

[contesthelperr97]

I think it depends on the size and goals of the community. For a serious community that can benefit from the built-in features and professional support, the price may be justified. For smaller communities, there are cheaper alternatives that can do the job just fine.