Rob Sanchez on EE Add-ons

I wasn’t going to link to this write-up about EE add-ons because it’s a well-worn path we’ve all been down several times. I do, however, want to highlight a comment by Rob Sanchez on the value of add-ons and the work involved.

The other day, I was thinking about when I first started using EE, B.M. (before Matrix). I was young and idealistic. I remember feeling astonished at the power and flexibility of EE. If you were clever enough, EE would reward you with the capability to build anything you dreamed of. No, we didn’t have Matrix and Playa and Structure and Low Variables, but somehow, we managed. We built awesome sites and web apps and became evangelists for the platform.

Fast forward to today. Now we have the very same system, which is even more extensible and powerful than when we first started. And…for much of what we need, someone has ALREADY DONE THE WORK, for pennies on the dollar! We have forgotten where we came from.

When I hear someone say, “Why do I have to pay extra for X feature?!?!”, I pause, cringe, then think to myself: YOU DON’T HAVE TO. Pretend it’s 2008, or that you are Boyink, and build it yourself. You may learn something. You may become a better developer. You may learn that actually, the addon was worth the price.

I agree with you, the the market has enabled some shady nickel-and-dimers to set up shop. But I can almost guarantee you, no one outside of Brandon Kelly is getting rich from selling addons. It can take dozens of months or even years to recoup the cost of the hundreds of hours spent developing an addon. And if you are someone who chooses to provide hours and hours of excellent support, it makes it even harder to break even.

I think you hit the nail on the head in #10. We, the EE community, are in control of this market. We can exert this control with our buying decisions and our recommendations to our clients and industry colleagues. We should continue to prop up the greatest addons and their developers and not be afraid to call out the lowest denominators.