What would be your willingness to pay for SmartPLS per year?

cringle · Post by **cringle** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:36 am

In order to ensure the future development and improvement of SmartPLS, the core team needs financial resources. Acquiring corporate sponsors or financial support by the users did not work in the past. For this reason, we may need to sell SmartPLS in the future.

What would be your willingness to pay for SmartPLS per year?

Holger Schiele · Post by **Holger Schiele** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:30 am

Dear all,

first of all, I hope that it will continue to be possible to provide this excellent software for free. I would argue that SmartPLS has the character of a neteffect-good which means that it needs to achieve a high penetration rate - for the benefit of the entire community. Therefore, there needs to be a penetration pricing applied, preferrably distributing the software for free. If SmartPLS costs money fewer people will use it and we will have more difficulties in achieving the critical mass (with users and subsequently with journal reviewers).

However, if there is no sponsor: since the SPSS/Amos packages costs 70 € per year, SmartPLS should be priced somewhere lower, since it is offering an alternative to a part of this package, only.

Still, I was wondering if rather then finding firms as sponsors, wouldn't it be possible to apply for money from sponsors of academic research? Someone like DFG, Volkswagen-Stiftung or Thyssen-Stiftung financing a researcher who is developing the software?

If there is any way how I could help, feel free to ask me.

Kind regards

Holger Schiele

jaldas · Post by **jaldas** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:03 am

Dear All,

Firstly I see absolutely reasonable to pay for a product that has demonstrated its continous improvement and quality. My questions is why are you considering a year basis for the licenses. Most of software products sell a license for a certain version and consider additional payments for upgrading.

Takint this into account, the prices of very specific statistical products like EQS or Mplus move around 600 euros, that's why I think that 100 euros per year could be a reasonable price if new versions are someway guaranteed each 5-6 years. In the case the development team thought significantly improved versions could take more years to be developed, 50 euros could be a more reasonable price.

However I consider that a single payment for the software of about 600 euros should be considered as an alternative.

Best

Max · Post by **Max** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:41 am

How about releasing SmartPLS under a GPL License? I know some java. Probably others know a lot more, wouldn't there be enough community support for the development possibilities to be given to the entire community?

garson · Post by **garson** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:56 pm

I think you need to follow the example of some other specialty stat programs like HLM which understand that TEACHING their package is creating customers, therefore there is a free mostly full-featured version for instructions. If I remember right, the HLM package is totally full featured except it will handle only instructional-size datasets, which are still large enough to meet data assumptions of the procedure.

I don't know how much our lab would pay to install SmartPLS as it is one week of a course for about 6 doctoral students. Maybe $100? Not sure. Even if it is just a small amount, getting the academic bureaucracy to approve, process a purchase order, etc., can prove a practical roadblock to its use.

I would not pay out of my own pocket to buy copies for students simply for the privilege of creating future customers for a company.

a.vanriel · Post by **a.vanriel** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:39 am

I think it would be wise to differentiate the price according to user type and region. I am convinced that professors/researchers in Europe and the US will have the necessary means to pay a decent price for the product. To stimulate the use of SmartPLS in graduate and PhD research methods classes, and in final thesis projects, I think it would be wise to maintain a free (maybe 'limited') edition for graduate students, and a less expensive (unlimited) version for PhD candidates. Also, I suggest that in different areas of the world different prices should be asked, since economic development is not the same everywhere (think about developing countries, where professors' salaries are generally < 300€ a month).

mschmaltz · Post by **mschmaltz** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:56 pm

First of, I am generally willing to pay for SmartPLS - especially given that it is so much easier to use than certain competitors.

That said, I really dislike subscription style pricing models - in my opinion, a one time license fee would be much more reasonable.

Also, please keep in mind that many PhD students will be paying for this kind of expense out of their own pockets. Thus, I suggest you come up with a tiered pricing model as suggested above. As for commercial use pricing, I think an appropriate license fee might be considerably higher than academic licensing fees.

As a nice example, consider the tiered pricing offered by GlobalPark for their (very capable) online survey platform under their Unipark program (http://www.unipark.com/). Of course, this requires some volume of commercial rate business in order to cross subsidize the reduced research rates.

Eremita · Post by **Eremita** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 2:54 pm

200 - 250 euros is enough.

Considering the software has a lot of issues yet, and covariance modeling is "de facto" stardard, people will pay 500 US dollars or more for popular software and high levels of support. I'm not sure you can provide this kind of service at the moment. Obviously, if you go to ask money for your program, you must have a decent support service, forums are not enough.

Besides, I will be happy if you ask money because in that case I can pay it and to ask a good level of service. Now, I feel I'm a little bit alone and I have my hand tied to put claims.

konglong · Post by **konglong** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 7:50 am

first of all, I hope that it will continue to be possible to provide this excellent software for free. I would argue that SmartPLS has the ch

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quaddusm · Post by **quaddusm** » Sun May 12, 2013 1:26 pm

I don't like yearly payment. An one time fee should be the alternative. But make sure you can provide high level of support.

Hengkov · Post by **Hengkov** » Mon May 13, 2013 4:42 am

Some suggest about the issue:
1. SmartPLS become popularity software in context PLS-SEM rather than another software PLS because free access. I think, if will sell future, maybe popularity this software will less. For this reason, many user in this forum are student. So, they not interest for buy commercial software (just some people). And than, have another packages such R still free.

2. If will sell future (maybe or not), for calculation not per year, but per version. Because SmartPLS not release new version each year.
I don't know how much money, but for comparison XLSTAT-PLSPM 55 $ per year (discount 30% after that), WarpPLS 75 $ per version.
Note: In XLSTAT-PLSPM and WarpPLS realese new version per year).

3. SmartPLS must add many feature and make some bug software before sell, because competition with WarpPLS and XLSTAT-PLSPM very hard, if same commercial software. B-)

4. For purpose commercial software, SmartPLS must provide student version similar LISREL or full version but limited time.;-)

jialin3105 · Post by **jialin3105** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:24 am

Honestly, our PhD students are educated to use AMOS. I chose to use smartpls because it is also well-accepted in MIS area and it is much easier to use than AMOS. However, if smartpls is charged, I do not think our college will buy it and I will use AMOS since I will not buy it as an individual.

bradley7680 · Post by **bradley7680** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:28 pm

Hi,

I prefer a perpetual license. The yearly fee thing with companies really gets me offside.
to pay for major releases thereafter also make sense.

best regards

Brad/

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