Why use hosted software?
The table below looks at the differences between using hosted managed software (Software as a Service or SaaS) such as CannyBill to buying open source solutions which can be hosted on a server of your choice.
You can also read further information by visiting the SaaS 101: The Benefits blog.
| Hosted Software | Hosting Your Own | |
|---|---|---|
| Software Costs | The price of the software is included in the monthly fee. | Typical costs to purchase software would range from £150 to £500+ |
| Setup Costs | Setup is included and automated. | Companies usually charge a setup fee to install the software on your server. |
| Web Hosting | Hosting fees are included in the monthly fee. Please see our Security Safeguards. | Hosting can cost anywhere from £10 to £50 per month all the way up to £2,000+ (if you are looking for the same setup, security, up-time and resilience that we offer). |
| PCI Compliance | PCI compliance affects all merchants. Both our software, servers and infrastructure have been tested for PCI Compliance. | The yearly cost for a level 2, 3 or 4 merchant is around £75, while the yearly cost for a level 1 merchant is more than £15,000. |
| Vulnerability Scans | PCI compliance also requires quarterly scans to be performed. CannyBill has chosen McAfee Secure. This service is included in the monthly fee. | Typical costs range from £700+ per year depending on the scanning provider and also the monthly traffic your site receives. |
| SSL Certificates | A GeoTrust TrueBusinessID SSL which comes with a $10,000 warranty is included with each account. | An SSL would need to be purchased and typical costs range from £50 to £300+ per year. |
| New Releases | New releases are included and automated. | New release e.g. v2, v3 etc usually cost less than a full version and range from £75 to £250+ per year (or whenever a new release is available). |
| Patches | Patches are updated automatically. | Patches or bugs are quite normal with any software solution but these would need to be applied manually. You can expect to have to perform this 5 to 10+ times per year. |
| Customisations | Apart from the entire site design (CSS style sheets), invoices and header/footer for the order forms, no customisations can be made as this would affect all users. | Customisations are possible but then issues could arise when applying any Patch or New Release (see above) and in some cases you would no longer be able to upgrade as your files would then differ from the vendors. |
| Support | Unlimited telephone & email support is included free with each account. | Support is usually charged for separately and can cost many hundreds of pounds depending on the provider. |