Free trials.  Both Xtuple and OpenBravo are open source software, and allow free downloads for Windows computers to evaluate the software.  Consultants with Linux and Sql knowledge can even implement multi-user solutions in the free and open source format.  Licensing for commercial use should be considered to help defray development costs for the publishers.

Seats vs Users; Most software for networks should be controlled by user, i.e. my use of the software allows me to do anything, including adding and deleting other users.  The new person answering the phones and entering vendor invoices, already coded and approved with g/l distribution, does not have permission to add more users, or cut checks.

With QuickBooks when you have three users, you have three seats.  You are not to install their software on twenty different computers but use only three at once as that is a violation of their licensing terms.

With the packages we review, you may have these twenty different computers with the software installed all linked to the database server.  But only the allowed and licensed number of users may run concurrently, i.e. be logged in and entering data or inquiring, at precisely the same time.

Compared to QuickBooks, OpenBravo is quite expensive.  Quickbooks, for three seats, costs around $ 687 per year and includes 60 days of support during each annual upgrade. With discounts it can be even less.  Support can be purchased separately. However for five concurrent users they jump to $ 2,000 according to their web-site, and I have found their technical people reluctant to tout this configuration.  They also offer an Enterprise version which costs around one and a half times more, but offers a more robust and SQL styled database engine and supports much higher numbers of seats.

Five Seats – Good for Eight to 12 Users

	OpenBravo	Xtuple
Year One	$ 5,000	$ 4,500
Per Year	$ 5,000	$ 1,850
Add Seats Annual	$ 1000	$ 162

Key Software Features

	OpenBravo	Xtuple
Servers	None, Windows, Linux	None, Windows, Linux
Database	SqlServer, MySql	PostgresSql
Concurrency	Unlimited Users	Unlimited Users
Full Demo	Free, Single Seat	Free, Single Seat
Clients	Windows, Linux	Windows, Mac

From Xtuple; Software maintenance – access to all upgrades, major and minor – is included in the annual license, as is direct helpdesk support from xTuple if you have 15 or more licensed users.  The annual license is like a subscription.  You are licensed to use the software as long as you are current on your payments (either annual or monthly).  If you’re more than 30 days late, you could be in default of your license and support agreements. The perpetual license is a one-time purchase of the then-current version of the software.  Software maintenance is priced separately – currently at 18% of the current per-user license cost, and required for at least the first year.  Direct support from xTuple is another 7% on top of the maintenance (which is a prerequisite for support).