Forum software free V Paid

[toomyg]

I always wondered what was REALLY better as far as PHP forums gos! pay for one or download a free one

My site uses SMF for my forum it runs good has basically the same kind of features as this one has and has very good support adding mods is easy so I'm just wondering why pay when you can get a free one ?

[MrDravenX]

Paid is so much better than free crap. You want something decent than you pay for it. If you want some cheap imitation than it's free.

Take this site, vbulletin. I will always use vbulletin. It's more expensive but it's totally worth it. PHPbb had was just one big security risk. vBulletin comes out with newer versions and security updates to help protect against hackers.

In my mind it's very clear.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by MrDravenX Paid is so much better than free crap. You want something decent than you pay for it. If you want some cheap imitation than it's free.

This is not always the case. I've seen plenty of free software that is much better thain paid counterparts.


What it comes down to is what will fill your need. If SMF/phpBB/etc. fills your need, great. Nothing wrong with it. If vBulletin does it for you, great, nothing wrong with that either.

The main benifits to paid software is guaranteed support (rather than volunteer support where you *might* not get an answer) and non-beta software (for the most part).

Most of the forum software (both paid and free) keep up with security updates. The problem is that most web admins who have them installed don't actually bother to install them until way after they come out (if at all).

[toomyg]

I have messed around with afew but found phpbb hard to work with and easy for spamers but settled with Simple Machines Forum (SMF) easy to work with mods are a breeze and can have everything this one has as far as I can tell and I would have to admit vBulletin does seem good .

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by seodeveloping Vbulletin is by far the best forum software out there. Great support, great product.

It doesn't come cheap, though...

Most of the larger free boards have pretty good support forums.

[Valdeam]

vbulletin sure isnt cheap...but it is fairly easy to customize to your own liking and run.
I've integrated it into some Joomla sites.

[Areyout]

PHPBB3 is the best free forum script you will get

vBulletin is abviously excellent but pricey

MyBB and SMF are also good but arent much customizable and lack some essential features
Demo : forum hosting

[toomyg]

Originally Posted by Areyout PHPBB3 is the best free forum script you will get vBulletin is abviously excellent but pricey MyBB and SMF are also good but arent much customizable and lack some essential features Demo : forum hosting

I'm not even going to bother with this anymore because Time warner now wants to add bandwidth usage to there bill thats going up every other month so running a home server well......Forgot it and having one hosted I don't even want to bother with it anymore. But thanks for the input I used phpbb2 and didnt like it but I see from the link there alot better now.


Thanks again!

[glc]

Hosting is the only reasonable way to do it if you are on a residential ISP plan. The ISP's really don't want customers running servers.

[toomyg]

Originally Posted by glc Hosting is the only reasonable way to do it if you are on a residential ISP plan. The ISP's really don't want customers running servers.

I know glc it was a goal of mine to learn php,sql,HTML and all the other great stuff that goes along with running a web server and being able todo it my self and did, Now I can say "Been there done that" and I still have the server not running but every time I look at it I can say I made that, I know it sounds corny but oh well...


Thanks glc

Tom

[Sarhan]

I am coming to the conlcusion that vB is the better choice, if any could anybody confirm this or tell me I am making a big mistake, I would be very greatful.

[glc]

There is nothing wrong with vB - as long as you don't mind paying the price. It is one of the most popular packages - as you can see, that's what we use.

[Force Flow]

vB is probably one of the most actively developed and widely used forum packages...but like it's been said already, it isn't cheap.

For smaller scale forums, you can easily get away with phpBB, SMF, or another common forum package.