Best paid forum software?

[Alex]

What’s the best paid forum software? Bizdustry used XenForo. I’d say the most best forum script in my opinion would be XenForo. Despite it being one of the most expensive ones, the customer service is excellent and XenForo gives a really modern user interface feel. Only thing is the Add Ons are really costly, but each one does enhance your community in their own way.

What do you think is the best paid forum software to use?

 

[Cory]

Based on the ones I've visited, I too would say XenForo. Lots of neat features and a clean, crisp layout.

 

[Heatman]

Even though XenForo is quite expensive but it's always good to be my favourite paid forum software. The rest I've used are not anything compared to how good, neat and supported XenForo is.

 

[Old Nick]

Let’s wait @Tracy about XF ! 😂

 

[Tracy]

Let’s wait @Tracy about XF ! 😂

The best one is the one that fits what you need and at the price you can afford to pay.
There is no right answer out of the box. But some (📣) would try to make you believe that there is.
How about sitting down and doing a feature set comparison to see which offers more features. But that does not equate to necessarily to one being better.

If you only need a simple forum, then XF or Woltlab should be looked at closely due to the cost difference between them and IPS. Woltlab (based upon features offered in base script) offers a CMS type system in the Forum core that puts XenForo's sad attempt at articles to shame, so if a CMS is of interest, Woltalb may be a better choice if on a limited budget.
Another option (free for self-hosted but you can get a paid subscription of SaaS) is Vanilla.
If you start needing more of the add-ons like a resource manager, gallery, groups, reviews, directory listings and similar then IPS starts to edge out Xenforo quickly and is pushing Woltlab also. Vanilla doesn't have a lot of extensions that are available for XF/WoltLab/IPS.
When expanding to more than a simple forum, you have to look at the cost difference of getting them all on a somewhat level playing field. If you have very little coding ability, then Pages won't as big of a financial benefit as you will probably have to hire an outside developer, but for those that can do some basic coding, you can create your own add-ons that can compete with the 3rd party ones you have to buy separately (which increases that scripts overall cost) from 3rd party developers. So if you are unable (or choose not) to code, then the IPS cost would increase due to the need to engage outside developers.

As for which is "better" for use. That will vary for each user/owner. You adapt to all of them, but the users are what are more important. Look for what other larger, more popular sites use in your niche. Those users are going to be comfortable with the way those scripts work. Using a different script may turn off some users as they are "set in their ways" and not want to learn a new process, so this could have a bearing on what the "best" script is for your site.

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I'm a huge IPS fan. But if I were to switch ecosystems, I would probably look into Woltlabs. They are the only other developer that active and doing something with their product, imo.

Outside of that, I would probably ditch forums altogether and move to Mighty Networks.

 

[Bilita]

Woltlabs

I was once a member of a WBB forum for artwork (they used to be called Wotllab Burning Board right?) and the forum was solid, I enjoyed posting and they had many different apps like blogs and gallery like IPB

I do love Xenforo though, and I'm excited to see what 2.3 and 3.0 will bring!

 

[Ja sa bong]

I'm a huge IPS fan. But if I were to switch ecosystems, I would probably look into Woltlabs. They are the only other developer that active and doing something with their product, imo.

Outside of that, I would probably ditch forums altogether and move to Mighty Networks.

Which one is Mighty Networks?

 

[Tracy]

Which one is Mighty Networks?

A rather expensive (compared to self hosting) SaaS style solution.
https://www.mightynetworks.com/features

 

[Smokey]

Out of all of them, I like Xenforo the most.

 

[Ravenfreak]

Woltlab Suite is my favorite paid software. Not only is a bit cheaper than Xenforo, it comes with a CMS with the forum software for free which is great for those who need a CMS along with their community.

 

[Tracy]

Woltlab Suite is my favorite paid software. Not only is a bit cheaper than Xenforo, it comes with a CMS with the forum software for free which is great for those who need a CMS along with their community.

I liked Woltlab when I used it a few years ago. It was very comparable to Xenforo, and in some ways exceeded it as a basic forum. I haven't checked out the newer versions as I found the support was, other than from the developers, harder as an English speaker to obtain. The German speaking support was a lot more active.
Now that XF has raised their prices, it is a much more economical choice than XF is, especially when you consider the CMS that it comes with.