Best Free Forum Software?

[dezinerite]

I hear MyBB comes out a lot like VB, and they even have a VB theme. There are lots of mods for MyBB as well so I'm thinking of using that one. But SMF is pretty cool too but I don't know if they have as many cool mods.

Anyone's currently using a free forum software which you find pretty cool? What's the best free forum software available? I've tried PhpBB and I didn't like it much. :td:

 

[InFloW]

Well if I was to go with free I'd probably say phpbb3 or mybb. But I prefer to just pay the fee and use vbulletin since it looks a lot more professional then the free ones.

 

[webd]

If you can afford it, go with vBulletin.

Look at the URLs on some of those boards. If you see PHP session IDs in the URLs there is something wrong. (Not good for SEO.)

 

[snike]

i like mybb.

mybb is good because:

easy to use
good support
easy to find mods
they listen to what the users want
very customizable.
advanced yet basic enough for anyone

 

[Miyavi]

I recommend MyBB. You can see a couple of examples in my sig.

 

[animeorb]

Vanilla seems very good, it is very different from most other forum scripts though.

 

[Hafsoh]

I will recommend SMF it is mobile friendly

I also go for SMF

 

[avi2l]

Has anyone tried Fireboard for Joomla? And if someone can give me some insight on what type of hosting would be needed for a forum. I've read that if you use a shared hosting and you have more than 5 users on the forum at the time, then your CPU usage may get your hosting company to kick you off.

I think I will have about 20 users for the first several months, but you never know how fast or if it will grow.

 

[Turco]

IMHO, phpbb is best, but as many people uses it, people say that there are many hack methods and bugs in phpbb forums.

My favorite is still vBulletin, but it is not free. My free favorite is phpBB3

 

[Captain Tycoon]

#1 PhpBB
Best in everything other than User Profile Control.

#2 MyBB
Best in everything other than modifications and skins.

#3 SMF
Best in everything other than mods, skins, profile and navigation.