Free or Paid?

[Naiwen]

I'll always prefer free like proboards, PhPBB, MyBB and etc as my forum software because I can't afford the paid ones.

 

[Cory]

Since I only use forums as a hobby, I prefer free forum software.

 

[Ronald]

Since I only use forums as a hobby, I prefer free forum software.

I have also used free forum software all this while, but I am inclined to believe that the paid forum software offer more and much better features which can probably be customized.

 

[Cory]

I have also used free forum software all this while, but I am inclined to believe that the paid forum software offer more and much better features which can probably be customized.

Yeah, that's the bad thing about free software, unfortunately. The developers don't put as much work into the software or they don't have enough help to do so. Take both, ZetaBoards and Jcink for instance, Brandon didn't want any help and wanted to remain the primary developer of the software. I'm not sure what John thinks, but he too is basically a one-man workforce.

 

[Ronald]

Yeah, that's the bad thing about free software, unfortunately. The developers don't put as much work into the software or they don't have enough help to do so. Take both, ZetaBoards and Jcink for instance, Brandon didn't want any help and wanted to remain the primary developer of the software. I'm not sure what John thinks, but he too is basically a one-man workforce.

It is quite regrettable to say the least. Paid software are better in both the number and quality of features, so I would gravitate towards using those ones with my budget as a guide

 

[Cory]

It is quite regrettable to say the least. Paid software are better in both the number and quality of features, so I would gravitate towards using those ones with my budget as a guide

Indeed, if I wasn't worried about money, I'd probably be using paid software instead of a free one. I'm guessing they attract more visitors in general too since the types of features and options available are almost limitless.

 

[Ronald]

Indeed, if I wasn't worried about money, I'd probably be using paid software instead of a free one. I'm guessing they attract more visitors in general too since the types of features and options available are almost limitless.

You raise a salient point. I think money, or an insufficiency of it, is what prevents us from accessing the paid options for most software and websites in general. The monetary aspect is the sacrifice that comes with designing your forum the best way you can

 

[Georgeadawara]

I have seen allot of forums who's software seems to be paid, and what annoys me more about it is that, they tends to require allot of money.

 

[Shortie]

When I was running my general chat forum, because it was going so well and we had a great amount of activity I decided to use Xenforo, a paid forum software so that I had options of mods to use that would make the forum a little more interactive. Unfortunately, due to hosting prices going up to where I couldn't afford it, I had to close the forum and let my license expire. I feel if I was to run another general chat forum it would be through free software to start and then maybe if I felt I needed to upgrade to paid at a later date if I felt it was worth it. The forum I co-own now though, we do run Xenforo on it and that is because it has a lot of addons that we use that are great for what our forum is about, and we wouldn't be able to do half as much as we do without Xenforo.