Online Version Of CCIDB

As you may know by now, there are 2 versions of CCIDB, one offline (this GitHub repo) and one online. Why is that, and why does the online version cost money?

To answer the question of "why", we need to go back to when I was thinking about releasing CCIDB to the general public. The simplest answer is that I want anyone, no matter how technically skilled, to be able to use CCIDB. This includes anyone and everyone with access to a basic computer and some free time. Want to learn something new and keep your install of CCIDB all to yourself? That's great! You can spend as much time as you need setting up the offline version of CCIDB. Would you rather trust me with your data and support development of CCIDB at the same time? Also a great choice! Then all you need to do is get a cloud license and you're off!

Now comes the hard topic of, why charge money for the online version? Once again, simplest answer is that it costs money to host an online version, and I need a way to keep it online for the forseeable future. All of the money used to pay for copies of CCIDB immediately goes back into supporting development and hosting costs for the online CCIDB. However, I promise this in writing in this very document, there will NEVER be a paywall for a given feature or update. This means that the online and offline versions, paid and free, will remain the same feature-wise no matter what, for life.

I hope this answers many of the questions on why the online version costs money. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me using any of the methods in the manual and I can discuss it further in depth.