Hi Ruslan. Thanks for taking the time to respond to this thread.
I will share with you my opinion which is also how many other developers may view this situation.
I suspect some people here to disagree because they like disagreeing.
ruslan_zasukhin wrote:
Hi, let me give more details on prices then, because you have compare two prices only.
So lets look on URLs you provide
1)
* CubeSQL -- Up to 3 concurrent connections: FREE <<< DB Server
* Valentina Server -- 5 connections FREE. <<< DB Server + Report Server + Stored Procedures + ...
Where is better, J.Sh3ppard ?
In this example Ruslan you are mentioning very limited connections which are not very useful to developers. I don't think I have ever needed a multiuser database with only 5 connections be it for me or clients. In those cases where only a 3 to 5 concurrent connection would be needed the potential speed benefits of Valentina or CubeSQL if there are any over other free databases that offer unlimited connections are not probably important and maybe nonexistent.
Another reason to avoid these free limited connection databases you've shown is because they do not scale for free. When a developer's or customer's database needs grows both of the above mentioned products cost money to scale to fit the needs. Postgresql, MariaDB, and even MYSQL under certain conditions are all free and scale for free since they are for unlimited connections. This means not only will the current database requirements of a 5 connection be met but also the future database needs of more than 5 connections will be met without having to do any changes or pay money. This is very important to understand.
For those reasons it's smarter to choose an unlimited free database like Postgresql from the beginning which has been proven over time to be fast and reliable and always free rather than use a very limited connetion free database that costs money to scale up.
ruslan_zasukhin wrote:
2) yes, UNLIMITED version of VSERVER cost bigger, but see how much more it provides actually.
Where is better, J.Sh3ppard ?
Let me share with you my opinion of why of your unlimited Valentina pricing of $1,499.00 is very expensive.
When doing jobs for clients or for my own businesses every dollar is account for.
If it's a client job, then extra expenses reduce my profit. That means I'm working for less money and I don't like that. It also means I may be charging my clients more than they should be charged because of the availability of lower cost solutions that meet their needs. I and they don't like that which can also lose me business.
When it's my own business needs the extra expenses reduce my profits and increase my risk; an even more unfavorable situation to me personally.
It sounds like you are mostly basing your $1,499.00 price tag for Valentina from what other more expensive over priced columnar database products cost and also Valentina's claimed speed benefits over the lower cost or free database competition.
I think the mistake you are making is you aren't thinking like a developer or customer searching for a database solution.
This point is a critical. You are not considering that most developers and customers could actually exceed their performance needs for less money and this is how smart developers and customers think. The masses of developers and customers needing database solutions don't care if other competing columnar databases cost many thousands of dollars because they aren't considering purchasing those solutions as they are over priced and not needed. I don't care if a Bugatti Veyron costs over $2,400,000.00 because I'm never going to buy one. That also doesn't mean a $500,000.00 Ferrari is a good deal either

It's really not. They are over priced luxury toys.
Some people do purchase overpriced items and they may feel those are great prices for the performance but the truth is there are much lower cost ways to get the same or better performance than overpaying for such vehicles.
For a lot less money I and other experienced developers can probably get the same or better performance with consumer grade hardware using Postgresql. Certainly we can obtain good enough performance to meet most if not all of our databasing needs.
Below I list different options which should yield very good database performance for the same cost as Valentina (Option 1) and a lower cost than Valentina (Option 2).
The below options I've listed are my first thoughts. I have not spent a lot of time researching the listed solutions because I haven't needed anything beyond Postgresql or MYSQL on standard systems. In the future I may and I might try my suggestions below. If I took time to do more research I could probably find lower prices while still maintining excellent performance.
Depending on budget :
Option 1:
My first choice would be to purchase a new
Mac mini OS X server 2.3Ghz Intel Core i7
16 gigs ram
256 SSD samsung pro 840 hard drive (incredibly fast and reliable)
Postgresql unlimited database (Free)
------------
$1,499 from Apple.
So here for the same price as your Valentina database software only I can purchase a complete server with SSD drive, 16 gigs of ram and use a professional free database (Postgresql) and have amazing performance. Keep in mind the server can also do more than your database software alone so it's value is more than a mere database. For example, it can be used to host multiple online businesses putting every dollar of it's cost to work increasing the chances of making money and having successful businesses.
You can probably save a couple hundred dollars from this price if you purchase and upgrade the ram and SSD separately. I'm not sure if Apple ships with the samsung 840, if not I would purchase it seperately and add it on.
On a smaller budget, my second choice would probably be :
Mac mini desktop client OS - not server edition.
4 gigs ram
128 gig SSD samsung pro 840 hard drive (incredibly fast and reliable) <=$139.99
Unbuntu linux server (free)
Postgresql database (free)
---------------------
Total cost : $739.00.
In this lower cost micro budget Mac mini setup performance would be very good and the savings from not purchasing your Valentina unlimited db would be about +$700.00. and the customer or developer would still end up with their own server which is far more capable than a database.
Additional benefits of having the SSD drive or SSD drives on the server would benefit the entire online business, not only databasing.
To use Valentina unlimited well you will need a lot of ram and CPU which greatly increases your hosting costs when using a VPS or rented dedicated server.
That is why purchasing your own Mac mini is the best choice. If you don't need much ram or CPU then you also don't need and cannot take advantage of Valentina's speed benefits over other row based databases.
Even smaller budgets could purchase used Mac minis or other lower cost non Mac hardware saving more money if they don't buy the Valentina database.
Your unlimited Valentina database is extremely expensive for what it is and I just showed you how I can probably rival it's performance for less money and end up with more important business tools.
The estimated Valentina price of $1,499.00 does not include the needed hardware to appropriately run the unlimited Valentina database server which could be a minimum of $739.00 on top of the $1,499.00 Valentina db cost if Macs are used.
That brings the total Valentina server cost to $2,238.00 vs.
the Mac mini Linux Postgresql cost of $739.00 or the more expensive option of $1,499.00.
Other additional Valentina expenses that are not occuring with Postgresql, MYSQL or probably MariaDB :
If the developer or customer needs to update their Valentina server to a newer version that renewal price is $899.00!
Your Valentina renewal price is more than the option 2 new Mac mini server setup I've listed!
Postgresql upgrade is free.
For the price of one unlimited connections Valentina license we can buy two Mac mini linux servers using SSD drives and still pay the same or less depending on setup (ram, SSD size).
Two new Mac mini Linux SSD Postgresql systems = $739.00 x 2 = $1478.00.
One Valentina database software with unlimited license and no hardware to run it = $1,499.00
I doubt Valentina on normal hard drives is significantly faster than dual Mac mini's running 2 Postgresql databases on SSD or ram drives but please test it and let us know.
The above additional cost also doesn't include your $50 per incident Valentina support as listed on your website.
Postgresql has a lot of great free support because of it's large userbase and if customers want to they can pay to get professional support.
Valentina may be an incredible database with fantastic performance but the cost of Valentina doesn't make sense to me

Ruslan I am not a database professional as you are so please correct me here if I am wrong :
Some may be thinking what about running Valentina on an SSD drive to further increase performance?
That is a possible option but most of the time it's probably not needed because Postgresql on SSD will handle most needs. Even without SSD Postgresql is said to handle thousands of concurrent connections.
I am also not sure the gains for Valentina on an SSD would be as significant when compared to the gains of a row based database (Postgresql) because of Valentina's columnar design.
It is my understanding that the main or one of the main slow downs in a row based databases is the hard drive seek time. This is why when SSD's or a ram database is used it greatly increases row based database performance. This means those purchases (ssd or extra ram) are worthwhile on these systems. From my understanding this is not true with columnar databases. There still maybe speed gains but they are not as drastic.
Ruslan please let me know if that is true or not?
It would be a good idea for you to provide speed tests instead of saying some customer said this or that. Preferably speed tests which potential customers can download and try on our own machines

You also failed to mention CubeSQL right now is only $99.00 for the unlimited connections version.