Which is the best forum script ?

[AaronJacobson]

I think, Simple Machines Forum (SMF) – It is famous and free Forum script. SMF awesome component is its coordination with other prevalent script. It is also generally utilised discussion script with heaps of supports and resource.

 

[TCoder]

You can't go wrong with any of the forums mentioned here, I like IPB the best, but I also run SMF and phpBB.

 

[UWH-David]

I'm going to choose a forum script for my site so I don't know which is the most popular forum script at the moment. I prefer free but paying if need be. Any suggestions are appreciated !

This thread is obviously pretty old now but of huge benefit to many. I am with Hawker on many of his points. Having used so many forum scripts over the past 18 years, starting with silly .cgi ones, I am going to have to go currently for Xenforo for its scalability and community suport. We have many sites in our network using myBB and vBulletin with no problems at all which our users love to use.

IMHO if you are starting out, I recommend going the free route first with myBB or phpBB (due to community support) as most forums don't make it very far and you can always import into something more robust like vBulletin or Xenforo down the line. Most scripts have an import/export function so do your research first before diving in. This will save you a LOT of headaches in the long run if the success of your forum does better than expected.

 

[Gh0st4unt3r]

many years ago i would say vbulletin but i found that its not updated as often these days, please quote me if im wrong, Xenforo i have not really used as an admin but have been on many communities that run it and they have it running like a dream, i used to favour vbulletin since the early VBulletin 2 days, Though i Currently use Invision Power Suite ( IPB / IPS ) its simple and easy to use.

If i was to go free then would be a choice between MyBB and PHPBB as both communities have fantastic support.

I would always go free untill you are in need of paid features and functions.

 

[Empire]

So many around. Till this day there are allot that I haven't heard of

I first started off with SMF (simple forum machine) and what made me to pick that as I was an active member on an website that used it (no longer running) and I thought why not I use SMF as an free version to start off.Six months later I moved away and got into IPS and till this day I'm still with IPS and loving it.

SMF was good but the support was helped my members and there patches never gets released, two years or so apart at one point.

 

[davebusiness86s]

VBulletin is the best according to most people including me, without a doubt.
Among free ones I'd suggest PhpBB

 

[Steve32]

VBulletin is the best according to most people including me, without a doubt.
Among free ones I'd suggest PhpBB

You can need to know about Xenforo, IPB, they are good ones to build your own forum.

There are many comparisons between XenForo and IPB and vBulletin in this thread
https://www.webmastersun.com/threads/9626-XenForo-vs-IPB-vs-vBulletin

many years ago i would say vbulletin but i found that its not updated as often these days, please quote me if im wrong

vBulletin is still update their products but they are focusing on vB 5 version which more people didn't like this version.
Lower versions have less updates or not to be supported any more.

Xenforo i have not really used as an admin but have been on many communities that run it and they have it running like a dream, i used to favour vbulletin since the early VBulletin 2 days, Though i Currently use Invision Power Suite ( IPB / IPS ) its simple and easy to use.

I used IPB and I found that vB is easier to use.

If i was to go free then would be a choice between MyBB and PHPBB as both communities have fantastic support.

I would always go free untill you are in need of paid features and functions.

I used PHPBB but not MyBB, but I would recommend using a paid forum cms which will not make you headache with problems or get more support for your forum.

 

[Soulwatcher]

I think MyBB is the best free forum script and Xenforo is the best paid forum script. And to be honest I have seen some pretty slick MyBB websites and I have seen some slick Xenforo websites. It all depends on how much money you are going to throw at either script. Because at some point you're going to have to put money into MyBB and at the very least a forum skin.