I love free and I’m sure you do too. We all love free things.

Sadly though, free (or even “cheap”) is often given too much importance when looking for a solution. In the end, paid solutions are sometimes “cheaper”.

Here are a few examples/considerations:

• How much is “support when you need it” worth to you?
• How much is the extra two weeks you or your team will need to customize the free solution worth?
• How long will it take for you to do it Vs a paid expert?
• How much is not being able to customize the solution exactly the way you want worth to you?
• What’s the price of a single paid solution with all the tools you need Vs 50 different free solutions? Does it matter?
• How much is “not having to worry about it” worth to you?
• How much is reliability worth to you?

You get the idea. Free has a price and it often is your time and/or the limitations you are willing to accept.