{"id":5351,"date":"2018-10-13T10:55:07","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T17:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=5351"},"modified":"2025-11-24T11:32:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T19:32:47","slug":"free-alternatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/alwaysup\/free-alternatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Why should I Pay for AlwaysUp when Free Alternatives are Available?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every now and then, someone reviewing our <a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/\">AlwaysUp software<\/a> declares it &#8220;too expensive&#8221;. They ask: &#8220;Since I can find free tools (like <a href=\"\/WindowsServices\/FAQ.html#WhatIsSrvany\">Microsoft&#8217;s Srvany<\/a>) to run my application as a Windows Service, why in the world would I spend $50 on your software?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sure, not everyone looking to run a program as a service needs AlwaysUp. A free tool can be a fine choice, especially for hobbyists and home users.<\/p>\n<p>But if you are a <b>professional working in a commercial environment<\/b>, please be sure to answer these five questions before making a commitment:<\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;\">1. Where will you go for help if you have questions (or things go wrong)?<\/h2>\n<p>The wonderful world of Windows Services can be tricky to navigate. Technical obstacles (like <a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/AlwaysUp_FAQ.html#WhatIsSession0Isolation\">Session 0 Isolation<\/a>) abound.<\/p>\n<p>As a professional, you owe it to your business to plan for all eventualities.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/tech-support.png\" title=\"Tech Support when you need it\" alt=\"Tech Support when you need it\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Is there a <b><a href=\"\/support\/\">phone number<\/a><\/b> to call when you or your team needs urgent help?<\/li>\n<li>How about a <b>support email<\/b> with a 24-48 hour response time?<\/li>\n<li>Can you easily find <a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/AlwaysUp_FAQ.html\">online FAQ&#8217;s<\/a> and other <b>helpful resources<\/b>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At minimum, please make sure you have a contact!<\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;\">2. How much of your own time will you have to spend on the &#8220;free&#8221; solution?<\/h2>\n<p>The cost of an item is usually more than its initial, sticker price. We often <b>underestimate true, long-term cost<\/b> because we forget to add <b>our time<\/b> to the equation.<\/p>\n<p>For example, say you want to buy a new computer desk. Which is cheaper?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>A ready-to-go desk for $199<\/li>\n<li>The same desk from Ikea for $149<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It&#8217;s a no-brainer, right? #2 is the way to go.<\/p>\n<p>But what if it&#8217;s going to take you a couple of hours to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ikea.com\/us\/en\/assembly_instructions\/micke-corner-workstation__AA-1893346-2_pub.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unbox and assemble<\/a> the Ikea furniture? Does option #1 (which avoids that extra labor) seem the more cost effective choice now?<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/spend-money-to-save-time.png\" title=\"Spend money to save time\" alt=\"Spend money to save time\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Similarly, a free alternative to AlwaysUp definitely saves a few bucks at first.<\/p>\n<p>But once you have the free software, how much of <b>your valuable time<\/b> must you devote to installation, troubleshooting and support? Might those ongoing costs dominate the equation?<\/p>\n<p>We realize that your time is important. And we designed AlwaysUp to save you time &mdash; initially and over the many <b>months and years<\/b> you will use the product.<\/p>\n<p>For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>We&#8217;ve authored <a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/Apps\/\">over 110 step-by-step tutorials<\/a>, to get you <b>up and running in minutes<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>We created the AlwaysUp <a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/Troubleshooter\/\">online troubleshooter<\/a>, to help you <b>quickly and efficiently<\/b> diagnose and cure common problems.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>How much is your time worth?<\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;\">3. Are you willing to take on the additional risk?<\/h2>\n<p>When you use unsupported software in your business, you become responsible for it when it fails. The buck stops with you.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/caution-watch-step.png\" title=\"At your own risk\" alt=\"At your own risk\" border=\"0\" ><\/div>\n<p>Are you willing to assume that risk? To accept blame from your boss\/team if the software misbehaves or becomes unusable after a Windows update?<\/p>\n<p>Realize that <b>your reputation<\/b> (and perhaps your job) may be at stake, especially if you are operating a mission-critical system!<\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;\">4. Are you sure you won&#8217;t need AlwaysUp&#8217;s extra features?<\/h2>\n<p>With over a decade of real-world use, AlwaysUp has evolved to include a ton of features &mdash; many of which are not found in free alternatives.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/swiss-army-knife.png\" title=\"AlwaysUp is feature-rich\" alt=\"AlwaysUp is feature-rich\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>For example, AlwaysUp can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Automatically restart<\/b> your application if it crashes, hangs, or uses too much CPU<\/li>\n<li>Send you an <b>email<\/b> when your application stops;<\/li>\n<li>Boost your application&#8217;s priority, to make it <b>run faster<\/b>;<\/li>\n<li>Capture your application&#8217;s output to a text file;<\/li>\n<li>Send you a <b>weekly report<\/b> showing how your application is performing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Check out this <a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/ComparingAlwaysUpAndSrvany.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF flyer comparing AlwaysUp and Srvany<\/a> for more:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/ComparingAlwaysUpAndSrvany.pdf\" title=\"AlwaysUp vs. Srvany (PDF)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/alwaysup-vs-srvany.png\" title=\"AlwaysUp vs. Srvany (PDF)\" alt=\"AlwaysUp vs. Srvany (PDF)\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As many customers have discovered, these extra features can come in very handy down the road!<\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;\">5. How important is security?<\/h2>\n<p>Needless to say, you should be very careful when introducing new software into your secure environment.<\/p>\n<p>AlwaysUp is <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Code_signing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">digitally signed<\/a>, so you can be positive that it is from our reputable company:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/alwaysup-digitally-signed.png\" title=\"AlwaysUp is Digitally Signed\" alt=\"AlwaysUp is Digitally Signed\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>In addition, AlwaysUp has been evaluated by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bis.doc.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">US Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security<\/a> and has earned an export classification of EAR99:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/products\/AlwaysUp\/Core-Technologies-Consulting-AlwaysUp-ECCN.pdf\" title=\"AlwaysUp ECCN (PDF)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" style=\"border:1px solid black\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/images\/alwaysup-eccn-front-page.png\" title=\"AlwaysUp ECCN (PDF)\" alt=\"AlwaysUp ECCN (PDF)\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\nThe bottom line is that <a href=\"\/blog\/alwaysup\/is-alwaysup-safe\/\">AlwaysUp is safe<\/a> &mdash; and our team is constantly working to keep it secure. Can you say the same for the free software?\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top:30px\" align=\"center\">\n<div class=\"cta-button-1\">\n<table role=\"presentation\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/alwaysup-tag\/\" title=\"Click to read more articles about AlwaysUp\"><span><nobr>More articles about AlwaysUp&#8230;<\/nobr><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- relpost-thumb-wrapper --><div class=\"relpost-thumb-wrapper\"><!-- filter-class --><div class=\"relpost-thumb-container\"><style>.relpost-block-single-image, .relpost-post-image { margin-bottom: 10px; }<\/style><h3>You may also like...<\/h3><div style=\"clear: both\"><\/div><div style=\"clear: both\"><\/div><!-- relpost-block-container --><div class=\"relpost-block-container relpost-block-column-layout\" style=\"--relposth-columns: 3;--relposth-columns_t: 2; --relposth-columns_m: 2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/alwaysup\/google-drive-for-desktop-not-working\/\"class=\"relpost-block-single\" ><div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"relpost-block-single-image\" alt=\"Q&amp;A: Why isn&#039;t Google Drive For Desktop Working with AlwaysUp?\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-drive-not-working-as-service-150x150-1.webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\"><\/img><div class=\"relpost-block-single-text\"  style=\"height: 75px;font-family: Arial;  font-size: 12px;  color: #333333;\"><h2 class=\"relpost_card_title\">Q&amp;A: Why isn&#039;t Google Drive For Desktop Working with AlwaysUp?<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/miscellaneous\/alwaysup-service-protector-activebooks-in-the-windows-store\/\"class=\"relpost-block-single\" ><div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"relpost-block-single-image\" alt=\"AlwaysUp, Service Protector, ActiveBooks Listed in the Windows Store\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/windows-store-150x150.png\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\"><\/img><div class=\"relpost-block-single-text\"  style=\"height: 75px;font-family: Arial;  font-size: 12px;  color: #333333;\"><h2 class=\"relpost_card_title\">AlwaysUp, Service Protector, ActiveBooks Listed in the Windows Store<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/alwaysup\/import-windows-service-applications\/\"class=\"relpost-block-single\" ><div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"relpost-block-single-image\" alt=\"Moving your AlwaysUp Applications\/Services? Easily Import Them All at Once\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/alwaysup-bulk-import-logo-150x150-1.png\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\"><\/img><div class=\"relpost-block-single-text\"  style=\"height: 75px;font-family: Arial;  font-size: 12px;  color: #333333;\"><h2 class=\"relpost_card_title\">Moving your AlwaysUp Applications\/Services? Easily Import Them All at Once<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><!-- close relpost-block-container --><div style=\"clear: both\"><\/div><\/div><!-- close filter class --><\/div><!-- close relpost-thumb-wrapper -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every now and then, someone reviewing our AlwaysUp software declares it &#8220;too expensive&#8221;. They ask: &#8220;Since I can find free tools (like Microsoft&#8217;s Srvany) to run my application as a Windows Service, why in the world would I spend $50 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/alwaysup\/free-alternatives\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26,27,84,143],"class_list":["post-5351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alwaysup","tag-alwaysup-tag","tag-alwaysup-alternatives","tag-free-utilities","tag-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5351"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13225,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5351\/revisions\/13225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}