A few months back, after ning changed to 3.0, I decided to perm. move off ning because i didn't like the idea at all, actually I left around the time glam social bought ning.

However, I just recently found wall.fm which is a way better and cool ning alternative, and for starter packages its only 19.90 USD, and is based on oxwall.org open source software, which is free with no license.

There is also a free invite code plan with no chat option. I have invite codes to give to those on ning who would like to move and you can link your domain almost instantly if you have already bought it.

The only cons are unlike oxwall you can not upload your own themes or plugins, but you can tweak with the CSS codes, I have a support support site at http://creatorshub.wall.fm if you are interested, not trying to spam, but just want to let NC's here know there is an alternative.