Favourite forum software?

[Tornado]

What's your favourite forum software? For free mine would be MyBB and phpBB, paid would be (by far) xenForo. They have the most features and I generally just like the structure.

 

[xXInfectedXx]

I have been using phpBB for my forum and it has been great! I cannot fault it. You can navigate yourself around the ACP without any hassle. I like the general look of the forum software too. I also love the fact that the software is a free software compared some other's board software's that are paid! Overall, I think phpBB is the way to go when you own a forum!

 

[Mushmellow]

Phpbb free forum software and Burning Board paid software. Burning Boards is very neat and fancy.

 

[Golddisk]

I like MyBB. It is nice free and is definitely the best of the free software's. Phpbb is alright, too, but MyBB seems more intuitive overall. I haven't used Zenforo for my own forums, but I am on a lot of forums that do use it and have heard lots of positive things about it.

 

[Florin Hangu]

I have tried many forums board. I would say, as paied forums software, greatest are IPB and Burning Board.

And as free ones, try Flarum(ssh access only), myBB or even FluxBB, they are really cool.

There are many in there, such as ElkArte, or FlaskBB...

 

[Na11]

Proboards and MyBB.

 

[Keranov]

There are basically tons of forum software out there - phpBB, MyBB, XenForo, IPB, vBulletin and much more. Which one is your favourite? Do you have any particular reasons?

Personally, I like the XenForo forum software. I think it's features are worth the price tag it has. There are a lot of plugins and themes available for it. But if I have to go with a free software I would choose MyBB.

 

[jyy]

I'm not really sure if any forum software is "bad". I mean, I gravitate toward XenForo and MyBB (2nd choice) because I'm used to it.

Anyhow there was an issue with vBulletin being terrible with spam and graphics, but that might just have been the owner's fault.

 

[Alex]

I agree with Jason, no forum software is bad, it's all down to personal preference and choice. My preferred software is phpBB,. I've used phpBB since I was 14 years old when I created my ever community. The ACP is was really easy to navigate and use, along with the basic software layout being very appealing to the eye.

 

[Ash]

It has to be MyBB and XenForo for me. Which one I choose will always be down to what budget I have. If I have the funds to spend on software, I would love to go for XenForo but the majority of the time, I will choose MyBB due to it being free and having a great collection of plugins and themes available.

 

[Nerdface]

vBulletin 2.x and 3.x were awesome, but are now quite outdated and probably somewhat insecure.. I wouldn't even consider vBulletin 4.x or 5.x though from things that I've heard.

XenForo is definitely my software of choice right now. The look, feel, and flexibility is quite incredible..

 

[Ash]

vBulletin used to be so popular and it's a shame that they aren't as popular as they used to be. I used to be an admin on a vBulletin forum and it was actually really good. ACP was good, features were decent but I guess it just couldn't compete with Invision and XenForo. They had some beautiful themes back then as well

 

[jyy]

vBulletin used to be so popular and it's a shame that they aren't as popular as they used to be. I used to be an admin on a vBulletin forum and it was actually really good. ACP was good, features were decent but I guess it just couldn't compete with Invision and XenForo. They had some beautiful themes back then as well

Did VB - even have a competitor back then (2000s)?

 

[weboogle]

XF because its popular and has tons of addons.

 

[Ash]

Did VB - even have a competitor back then (2000s)?

Not sure really. I think Simple Machine Forums might have had a similar release date to when vBulletin came out so that might have been a competitor. Although when you compare both software right now, I'm not too sure that SMF comes even close to vBulletin at all. Something called Web Wiz also was around back then as well although this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

 

[jyy]

Not sure really. I think Simple Machine Forums might have had a similar release date to when vBulletin came out so that might have been a competitor. Although when you compare both software right now, I'm not too sure that SMF comes even close to vBulletin at all. Something called Web Wiz also was around back then as well although this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

I'm thinking SMF is terrible, mobile-wise, so I wouldn't want to mess with it - but you can buy premium themes (which are mobile-ready, of course).

 

[Ash]

Oh, yeah, SMF is terrible. It was probably not a bad choice back then but right now, it is seriously lacking and behind a lot of the current forum software available right now. To be fair, it was probably a terrible software back then as well which probably helped vBulletin quite a bit.

 

[jyy]

MyBB is good - but the free phpBB themes don't have login error problems.

 

[Xyphien]

Xenforo hands down. I've been a XF fan since I was able to afford it. From my first purchase I've racked up over 5 licenses thus far.

 

[bharath]

Xenforo is good for me and the free one as MYBB since they update every time even they won't get money. I am still with Xenforo because it is light weight and easy to handle large forums.

 

[Shawn]

XenForo gets my vote.
I’ve used it all-vB, IPB, WBB etc.

I’ve used all the free ones too. Started out on proboards and then phpbb.

xF has proven to be the most affordable and it improves whereas VB changes hands and quality starts to dwindle. VB used to be awesome until they went to IB. I’m one of them that they lost to XF.

 

[jyy]

VB used to be awesome until they went to IB.

What is IB?

 

[bharath]

What is IB?

IB is Invision Power board some may call it as IB because they don't know short form. Xenforo is the best one at the moment and next IPB as per the uses of software world wide.
I am using currently My BB because it is free with most plugins and themes are too free.

 

[Alan]

I remember back in the day when IP.Board (IPB) when it was version 1.2/1.3 which i used many of times back in time then went to Vbulletin which i know the dev team has now created Xenforo which i have not yet had chance to use backend wise so for me if it is a free forum i would use MyBB or PHPBB, if paid i would choose IPS (Invision Power Suite now its called).

It all depends on the project and what is needed depends on what i choose, you never know my next project could be using Xenforo.

@bharath the abbrv just a little correction nothing major as it was internet brands that took over vbulletin

IB - Internet Brands (internetbrands.com)
IPB - Invision Power Board
IPS - Invision Power Suite

 

[bharath]

@Alan Thanks for correcting it, so Invision had different software?
I see here they had bad review Stay away from Invision Power Services and their products – it's a shady and greedy company

 

[Alan]

Their rates have dropped since that post for my licenses i only pay 105 USD per 6 months after the initial software cost, the initial cost is expensive but to keep it upto date is not to bad, Their support is ok, since the bad rep they was given it has improved over the last several years but i think it has taken their community to point out the issues and they have since aimed to solve them.

IP.Board (IPB) was around until version 4 because of the amount of feature they wanted to put in the software they wanted to make it an ecommerce / community suite of applications so since version 4 it became IPS (Invision Power Suite) also known as Invision Community Suite but the official is known as invision power suite

Kier Darby and Mike Sullivan the devs on vbulletin created xenforo and they have done a fantastic job since the downfall once IB took over vbulletin. i have not had the oppotunity to test xenforo backend yet but i was once a vbulletin license holder until IB took over.

 

[mastersly]

What is your favourite forum software?


I really like IPB because there are many features and some pretty nice themes but I use Mybb because its open-source and easy to costumize it.

 

[ARx1821]

I like XenForo, it covers pretty much everything and looks the best too, but sadly I cannot afford to pay $160 for a forum software.

MyBB is the best free forum software, and the one I stick with. Like @"mastersly" has already mentioned, it's easy to customise and overall easy to use.

 

[Ash]

In terms of free software, it has to be MyBB. It's a great piece of software, has some great themes and plugins and is extremely cheap to setup and manage. Paid software wise, it has to be XenForo. Although it can be very expensive to setup, it is such a good software and has some great benefits that come right out of the box.

 

[ARx1821]

In terms of free software, it has to be MyBB. It's a great piece of software, has some great themes and plugins and is extremely cheap to setup and manage. Paid software wise, it has to be XenForo. Although it can be very expensive to setup, it is such a good software and has some great benefits that come right out of the box.

Spot on. XenForo is about as good as they come but it is very costly for a forum software, in my opinion.

 

[Smokey]

Depends for me.....

Paid - Xenforo
Free /open source - phpBB or MyBB
Free (remotely hosted) - Jcink/IFB 1.3.1

 

[Jason]

In terms of free i will go with ElkArte and MyBB. And for paid i will go with WoltLab, as i am using it in my forum i starting to love it.

 

[Demon_skeith]

I used to love IPB, but they went to junk, so I'm very happy with xenforo for now. Otherwise I would recommend for free hosting Jcink, though its all on thier own service.

 

[ARx1821]

I like XenForo, it covers pretty much everything and looks the best too, but sadly I cannot afford to pay $160 for a forum software.

MyBB is the best free forum software, and the one I stick with. Like @"mastersly" has already mentioned, it's easy to customise and overall easy to use.

 

[Lord Saru]

I think I have ready made answer for this question.

When it comes to free software, I prefer to use phpBB (Well, even otherwise, I think this is my undisputed favourite) and if I have to choose from the paid ones available in the market, the only answer would be XenForo.

Back when I was into making forums as a hobby, phpBB was very popular and they had all sorts of good support staff, peripheral support websites, modules and themes. I miss those good old days.

 

[overcast]

I think Vanilla forum software is lot better forum software. Compared to mybb and SMF forum software, you would find it pretty clean software and also you have to think less about customization with it. But if you want to go through paid route then I guess you should consider making use of the IPB and the Xenforo forum software.

 

[Claraviolet]

My favorite forum software is MyBB. It's a good forum software and not to mention that it's got many plugins to extend the functionality.

Moreover, it is free unless you count the expenses of a premium theme or a plugin. I have been using this forum software for close to 6 years now and it works great. There are a few issues over the years, but the MyBB staff are friendly and they can give you solution based on the issue priority and impact.

 

[jyy]

Certainly it would be XenForo is you didn't want to do "do-it-yourself" work on improving things. Nonetheless, that can be fun! Anyway, though, with XenForo is always the fact you have to pay - but, of course, nothing that easy will be free.

My favorite forum software is MyBB. It's a good forum software and not to mention that it's got many plugins to extend the functionality.

Yeah, that's my favorite to fool around with lately.

 

[WhiteHouse]

In the event that your objective is lessening client support reaction time or getting item criticism, go with something like Zendesk. It has a network segment, however is HIGHLY intended for client support/making an information base.

 

[Lyrrex]

vBulletin 2.x and 3.x were awesome, but are now quite outdated and probably somewhat insecure.. I wouldn't even consider vBulletin 4.x or 5.x though from things that I've heard.

XenForo is definitely my software of choice right now. The look, feel, and flexibility is quite incredible..

I will definitely opt in for xenforo because of its addons and popularity. Its pretty much easy to customize.

 

[Ojonuyo]

Thanks so much for sharing this valuable information. When I saw the topic, types of software for forum, I was so curious to learn more about it because I am new to the online world and transaction. And honestly speaking from reading your explanation and the contribution of others, I think I know the right software to choose.

 

[Nomad]

I have experimented with smf, XenForo, mybb, even agros forum plugin on wordpress. However, i don't have any favourite forum software as I have never run a forum for too long. I am more of a blogger.

 

[Ralphjoe]

Well I don't have a forum of my own but of all the forums that I have used or worked on before, xenforo seems to be the best and the most popular of them all. Bizdustry is a very good example of a good forum that is based on xenforo forum software.

 

[greenie]

What's your favourite forum software? For free mine would be MyBB and phpBB, paid would be (by far) xenForo. They have the most features and I generally just like the structure.

I had vBulletin in the past, after I changed on IPB, but XenForo still seems the best and most beautiful I don't like phpBB anymore. remains a classic and veteran forum software in this field, but it is far behind ..

 

[Nomad]

a lot of things have changed sinc e I comment last. Today, I own 3 forums and I run them on smf, phpbb and mybb. Based on my experience, I will say smf is the best forum software