Do You Really Need a Premium Forum Script?

[Nomad]

I am running 4 forums and all of these forums are built on open source forum scripts like phpBB, SMF, and MyBB. I am even using WordPress Forum PLugin for one of my forums. The primary reason for using these scripts is I do not have to spend money to run my forums. I already had a domain and hosting, so my forum cost me zero dollars. One of my forums makes some money, which I can use for content building and marketing. If I had used a premium forum script, I would have ended up spending a lot of money just on the forum scripts.

 

[Cory]

It all depends on your needs I suppose. If you want features you can't find on free software that you can find on paid software, then it very well may be in your best interest to pay for software. I too don't have much use in paying for forum software since it's just something to do during my free time as a hobby. I might not have all the nifty features paid software has to offer, but I have a stable community that consistently grows and helps those in need. If you have the extra money, that's all the power to you to pay for something that either is a hobby of yours or you gain revenue from.

 

[Arantor]

I think it's complicated. Do you *need* a premium script? Unlikely; there are few features even in the premium scripts that can't be replicated to some degree in the free end of the world. (Some of the hosted IPS stuff notwithstanding.)

But there is a noticeable difference in success between paid and free users; paid users inevitably spend more time on their site trying to make them a success because of applied sunk cost thinking.

I will say that the user experience in general of the premium platforms is better on the whole than the free platforms, and depending on your niche that can make a difference. I will also say that certain niches respond better to certain platforms; a forum about money and investment is... less likely to take a free platform seriously, though I have seen it done (just because there is a valid argument about keeping your costs low, but there is also value in the speculate-to-accumulate argument)

 

[Kale]

No, not really. I have used every free forum script before too. I prefer XF most of the time but will join forums using others. Unlikely you NEED one. I just think the paid forum software are just as good if not somewhat better than the free ones. I never have had contact with XF support or free forum script support, so cannot speak on that.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I don't think you necessarily need a paid forum script to have a successful forum. For example, the Lost Media Wiki uses Proboards for their forum needs and their community is large. Another example is when Atrium was online, @Reverie was using Zetaboards to host her community and it was a large community too. If you put effort into your community and give it the time it needs, and if the free software has all the things you feel that your community needs in order to be successful then you don't really need a paid forum script.

 

[Tracy]

You don't "need" a paid script.. but what you DO need to know is what you want/need to offer your users. For many of those "free" scripts, you are limited on features/functions you can offer compared to what the paid ones do.
For my niche... most of these are considered a "vital" point.... the big issue is they are very siloed off from each other (something almost every script suffers from in some aspect).

As much as some love to "praise" the free scripts (and I'm playing with SMF on one of my domains but wavering between XF or back to IPS for it).. I've yet to find one that offers anything (even via 3rd party add-ons) that compete with most of the paid scripts.

 

[Jason]

I was tempted to use MyBB because it has reactions and pretty much all I need. However, I have about 6 spare XenForo licenses. Anyway, I was playing around with phpBB on all my stuff, but I decided to go with XenForo for one because I needed reaction mods and the last one for phpBB was made for an earlier version.