CitySoft Frequently Asked Questions

Is Community Enterprise a subscription "ASP" or software that you can buy?

CE is both. You can either 1) rent CE (with our monthly Subscription License) or 2) buy CE (with our Purchase License). When you buy the monthly subscription, the software is fully hosted and supported for you by CitySoft. When you buy the Purchase License, you can host the software anywhere you like as well as customize it exactly the way you want it.

How do you support CE?

CitySoft supports CE clients through:

  • Free email support (for Subscription License clients and Purchase License clients with a Maintenance agreement)
  • Free automatic upgrades and bug fixes (for Subscription License clients and Purchase License clients with a Maintenance agreement)
  • Free documentation, video, and online forum support
  • Infrastructure technical support (e.g. hosting up time, monitoring, backup, disaster recovery, etc.)
  • Professional services / training support

Regarding software support, CitySoft is constantly improving our Community Enterprise software and we offer software upgrades and patches regularly to our clients. For professional services support, most CE clients work with CitySoft or with one of our professional services partners. That means that you can actually choose from a wide range of affordable and high quality vendors for a variety of professional services like support, training, consulting, maintenance, design, customization and more.

How much does CE cost?

CitySoft's Subscription License is $250/mth for organizations with yearly budgets of $1 million or less and $500/mth for larger organizations. There are no long-term contracts, no sneaky transaction fees, and no per record fees. And, you can apply your monthly payments towards the Purchase License if you eventually want to own the software outright.

CitySoft's Purchase License is $20,000 (one time) to buy the software outright.  This also includes a $5,000 optional software update license.

And, if you are a small non-profit organization, the software is free through CitySoft's donation program on the TechSoup portal.

What kinds of organizations use Community Enterprise?

All kinds of organizations use Community Enterprise. Small nonprofits with a $50,000 budget, regional trade associations and schools, and large multinational organizations have all implemented our software. In general, we find that the Subscription License is best suited for organizations with a small or nonexistent IT staff. Larger organizations may find value in the Purchase License because it is open source allows them to customize as necessary and host wherever they like.

Is CE really "open source"?

Yes. With the Purchase License, we deliver a full copy of the CE system source code to you. The source is 100% open for your review, modification and improvement.  And, in addition to providing full source code access, CE also includes many features and support that most open source applications don’t provide.  For example, CE provides a wider range of modules, a reliable upgrade path, and flexible design integration. Don't hesitate to ask us more about our open source approach.

How can CE be "open source" if you use technology from Adobe and Microsoft instead of "LAMP" technologies like PHP and MYSQL?

This common question is a misperception about the meaning and value of open source. The value of open source to most organizations lies in having access to the source code of the application (like CE) rather than in the licensing nuances of the underlying programming languages such as java, php, .net, ColdFusion, and so forth.  The cost differences in hosting on these different technologies are negligible while the value of having access to the application source code is tremendous for some organizations.  Whether a software application uses LAMP technologies does not determine whether the application is open source.  In fact, many of the most proprietary software applications use LAMP technologies.

Is Community Enterprise Linux compatible?

Yes.  Community Enterprise can run on both Linux and Windows operating systems.  The majority of CE deployments have run on Windows but our goal is to implement more Linux deployments in the future.

Is Community Enterprise a CMS (Content Management System)?

Yes.  CE has extensive CMS capabilities and features that allow you to not only manage your web site easily but also allow non-technical users to easily integrate a wide variety of dynamic and interactive features right into the web site.

Is Community Enterprise a CRM (Constituent Relationship Management) system?

Yes.  CE has outstanding CRM capabilities and features from managing contact related information to a wide variety of interactive communications with constituents like email newsletters, online communities, registrations, event management, and more.

Is Community Enterprise an AMS (Association Management System)?

Yes.  CE has numerous AMS features such as member management, accounting features, member-only areas, member reporting, label printing, and much more.

Why is Community Enterprise so inexpensive?

We think that the real question is why are other systems so expensive.  The answer is that many software providers have enormously inflated prices that pay for bloated salaries, high investor returns, large consulting staffs, and other costs that do not benefit their clients.  But, a new breed of technology companies have shown that you can provide fantastic products at affordable prices.  CitySoft is part of this new breed.  By focusing on our core competency - creating and hosting great software - and working with professional services providers to provide a wide range of services to clients, we are able to keep our costs and prices low.

Is Community Enterprise Mac-friendly?

Yes.