Rosalind - 3:49 pm on Jan 15, 2008 (gmt 0)

I think it's a matter of demand. Free is always popular, as is open source, but there aren't nearly as many people interested in running a directory as there are into blogging. And with good reason.

So if you want a really high quality directory script, with lots of features, you have to pay the price because there aren't enough people out there who are willing to contribute code for no pay. If there were a few million people working on developing directories for themselves and others then it might be a different story.