Pros and Cons of FREE Software and Sites

I've already posted a link from another blog in regard to this but I'm going to recycle the information for my competency task. Here is the link to the original post: Pros and Cons of Free Software and Sites from Margie's blog.

Pros and Cons of FREE Software and Sites

In regard to website development and maintenace.

Pros:

• It's FREE!!!!!!!
• It's simple
• It's user friendly
• It's well known
• Gives you a good platform to share your message - creates a ready made community
• I don't have to worry about the technical stuff
• I trust the security is good

Cons:

• You can get hacked if it's not a reputable supplier
• You have to follow their rules
• It's not always clear about what they do with your information
• It's not always clear what they do with your images etc
• I have to look at advertising
• The software is often limited and I have to pay more to get the good stuff
• I'm often constrained by what I can change in the software
• Less choices about what I can do
• Poor customer service
• They could close down at any time
• It could go out of fashion and not be updated
• It's often hard to get your information and content off the sites to transfer them somewhere else