Free Hosted Forums

[Nomad]

What do you think about free hosted forums? Have you ever tried creating forums on free forum hosting platforms like proboards, jcink, forumotion, etc. Frankly speaking I do not like free hosted forums, They place ads on your site, they do not allow you to movie your forum elsewhere (on other platforms) and you have little control over your forums.

 

[Maria]

I have never been a fan of free hosted websites (blogs as well as forums), I have seen a lot of good forums but sadly they were on free hosted platforms. I hear that it is not possible to move your free forum to other software, is that correct.

 

[Shortie]

I tend to see a lot of free-hosted forums and I notice that a lot of them are used by those who prefer to run forums as a hobby rather than for anything else. Free hosted forums are perfect for a hobby I feel as it means you don't have any fees.

I have looked into free-hosted forums myself as an admin but I have used free-hosted forums more as a member than as an owner.

 

[Cory]

I've always used freely hosted forums as a hobby and nothing more. My current board has 1000+ members and 16000+ posts, so they can be successful. I originally used InvisionFree, then ZetaBoards, and now Jcink. Mostly resource boards for the service itself, but I've tried my hand at a few miscellaneous niches as well. I don't see the point in paying, particularly if you're like me and don't make a lot of money, for forum software you use mostly as a hobby and not necessarily a business.