I'm a modo user since last year (modo 301). Before that I used Carrara. Guess what, my shortlist was Cinema 4d and modo :-)

Max and Maya and XSI were never in running as the price was just way out of my reach.

I went with modo for the following reasons:

I like it - using modo is a joy (like MoI) - even if it crashes. I just like working in it. C4D was okay but that was all it was.
Price - To get the base app and all the plugins I wanted C4d was twice the price. As a hobby user still learning I couldn't see myself being able to afford to keep C4D up to date.
Renders - I liked the render quality.
All in one app - when you've bought it you've got it all. No plugin required just to get the best render, or hair/fur, etc.
Download - C4d wasn't download and needed a dongle
Licensing - modo is licensed to me and not my PC.
UV tools - were easy to use


One other point, modo doesn't have character animation (yet) so this is possibly why C4D seems more popular. I only do still images so I'm not bothered about that.


I really like modo. It has it's faults just like any app but it does what I need and 401 added a bunch of cool stuff that has moved it on a lot.