You might be thinking to yourself “But doesn’t open source mean free?” Yes, it generally means free.1  The idea of open source can leave people with the impression that it won’t cost much, if anything, to use Drupal. That is not the case.

For example, there are some content management system communities that allow you to build add-ons or modules and charge for the download of your module. For the most part, Drupal modules are free.  You might run across someone trying to sell a module but that module won't be on the Drupal.org site. There are also times when module developers and maintainers post the option to donate to keep the module going. You can see this on Drupal.org.

Cost Categories

In the open source arena the old saying "You get what you pay for" takes on a new meaning. You pay nothing but you get an incredible application that allows you to create a dynamic and exciting site. But, you get what the community gives/donates. You don't necessarily get everything you need. The budget items listed below are costs you need to plan for when building and maintaining your own Drupal site.

Software: Applications that help you create web friendly content that will be placed in your CMS (images, video, HTML layouts, etc.).

Hardware: Computers and servers used to access and host your site. You can buy and maintain your own or you can use a hosting service. Note, not all hosting plans will support a Drupal site that needs maximum PHP memory allocations. We talk more about this in chapter 6, Support Development.

Labor: Services performed by people other than yourself. You might want someone to help you plan and build your site. You might need to pay for content authors and editors. You might need coders to create custom modules and themes. You might need someone to monitor community interactions. The type of labor will depend on the type of site you are building.

Materials: Content and/or media purchased from others that you need for your site.

Support: Services required in the event of an issue or maintenance task, for example, when it is time to update My SQL or PHP on the server.

Training: Services that train you on how to sustain your site as well as your users.

Marketing: If you want your site to get visitors, you might need to invest in marketing strategies that aren't free. You might find that print materials are needed for conferences or you might need to pay for online Ads.

Conclusion

You might have grand ideas for your site but have limited funds. Knowing that these costs exist up front will help you design a solution that fits your budget but also allows for future growth as funds become available.

1. 1. Note: Not all licensing is created the same so be sure to look at which license (http://creativecommons.org/) is in use.