ERPNext Free Plan Termination

Just got an email ending my free ERP Next free plan by 15 May. As much as I wanted to support ERPNext hosting I would probably be forced to either do a self hosting / own hardware or moved to another software.

Been using ERPNext since 2016 so a few rant before I decide on my next move

  • ERPNext need a super basic cheap hosting without support, self upgrade etc - probably on a USD3-5 per month rate, this is the rate I’m looking at if I were to get a VPS from hawkhost. The lean towards vps is that I can also install and test other software in it
  • I went to ERPNext from Odoo and GNUCash because it was simple and easy enough to customize invoice/po/etc and has a parts inventory management system. It has grown to a more complex and hence a little bit more difficult platform, unfortunately all the new feature whistle and bell is not what I needed.
  • Forced update with new interface and feature and new way of doing things - not complaining about this before as I am a free user. But if I were to go with hosted ERPNext from Frappe or ERPNext I would expect to have a choice whether or not I need to upgrade and possibly relearn how to put things around.

I’ve been using the frappecloud with $10 /mo plan
2 site $20 per month , i will upgrade to $50 plan for each
I don’t need to but they deserve more

$3 really??

@iAli Congrats on being able to afford more on life…
I’ll just pick a corner to cry

no i’m not
I will do that because you have compared the Great ERPNext with Odoo

$3 ??
Forced update??
more complex??
more difficult platform!!!

3-5 usd??? wtf

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:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:

WTF = Why nOT Free ?

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It seems that your definition of Free is: "not compensating Frappe for their inputs ".

You may approach Frappe and convince them that you have been an active community member that really assisted in the growth of Erpnext. There are may ways to engage without being a coder.
May be Frappe is inclined to reward your efforts with a special deal.

If you just used the product without any contribution from your side, than : download Frappe Books or install ErpNext on your own server or search the internet for the $5/month deal (there are plenty)

I do agree that many micro-business would be glad to have a trimmed down one-user subscription.
At the present pricing structure ErpNext is unattractive to the millions of micro-companies in this world.

I agree with @leonard77, The office 365 basic starts with $5 for so many web based apps including team with 1tb storage on one drive per user. That is sweet spot, in US $50 per user will not work when Zoho and others are giving easier apps for less.

ErpNext will fly off the shelf or cloud if starts at $5 per user.

@iAli how are you running two sites for $10 per month? How many users do you have using the system?

i use frappecloud.com
1 site ( develop branch )
the other one for my business
and not per user
it’s based on your usage

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But again… does ERPNext really fit to the needs of micro business?
It’s getting more and more complex.

@rahy Yup it is getting more and more complex, way more complex than what is required for micro business, and I would think of mine as a nano or even pico business, I generate invoice probably only 10 times a year. As mentioned I went down ERPNext route 4-5 years back because it was easy and simple compared to Odoo. Was using Odoo for a bit before that and since I dont need most of the function, I think ERPNext is a better fit for me. Was reading a discussion in The business of ERP and Pricing it right - #19 by FinForce and found out that ERPNext is going after the bigger company and sure enough you can’t sell $5 product to big MNC. You will need to price it at the comparatively similar product, otherwise decision maker will think that your product is crap. I share the same sentiment with some of the user in that discussion though, if you are going after big company you cant change the product/force update it and change the way it behaves or change the output of any old function. You can introduce new feature, but it should not change how old feature behave. I am a one man show and it has caught me by surprise when the output of invoice or quotation suddenly include extra line, or when the desktop changed, imagine having to retrain 50 sales personnel 2 or 3 times a year, plus all the new guy joining… I haven’t use the leave/HRM module, but if those are deployed and 500 users are using it actively to submit leaves or clock overtime, imagine it suddenly require 1 extra input to complete, the whole company will grind to a halt no matter how simple and logical that extra input is.

Some people feels I’m being cheap for asking a $3-5 subscription. Not my intention. I have been using it for free for the past few years, and I would like to contribute some. I look around at how much a VPS in the cloud cost, and that is the pricing (unfair tho… as probably I’m looking at some of the cheapest) I’m at best a lousy coder and I don’t have lots of cash either. I would probably crash the whole repository if I were to contribute any code, hence $3-5 dollar is what I wanted to choose. And In the spirit of open source community, please let anyone contribute as much or as little as they can afford, be it time, money, beer…

Thanks, my comment does not apply to frappecloud. The pricing looks fair for frappecloud. I was more talking about per user/ per month price of $50 in USA. Which looks unreasonable and reason why most of the implementations are going self hosted way.

I will try frappe cloud for pay it forward, it is good way to contribute back to Frappe for the wonderful work they are doing.