Forums Similar To Xenforo?

Joe711

New member
I really like xenforo but it's really expensive for me to pay for it...

Can anyone suggest any Forum Making Sites similar to Xenforo???
 
The better free forum softwares are MyBB and phpBB. In terms of paid solutions, XF is pretty cheap. If you're only just starting out your website then a lot of people here suggest going with a free alternative and then converting to XF when the site grows or you get some more money in your pocket (or both).
 
Buy XF, it will save you money in the end. All the pain of spam and hackers that come with the others will make XF worth it.
Absolutely. We migrated from VB to XF also and we've greatly reduced the amount of time fighting spam and phony registrations.
 
Well atleast they should make a paid and a free version like all the other forums...


The free version can't have a domain and has to be like (forum name.xenforo.com)

It can't have all the features that the "paid" version has...

Developers can you consider this please for the Great minded people that have amazing ideas to show the world but can't pay a lot of money.

@Kier @Mike @Jake Bunce @Ashley
 
Last edited:
Well atleast they should make a paid and a free version like all the other forums...
Like..? No commercial forum software offers a free version as far as I'm aware.

vB and IPB used to but that was long ago.

The free version can't have a domain and has to be like (forum name.xenforo.com)

It can't have all the features that the "paid" version has...

Developers can you consider this please for the Great minded people that have amazing ideas to show the world but can't pay a lot of money.
You want them to put their paying customers on hold to create something that will not earn them anything? When there are already free forum softwares that'd likely have a better feature-set than this "limited" version you're suggesting? I wouldn't hold your breath.
 
Well atleast they should make a paid and a free version like all the other forums...
The free version can't have a domain and has to be like (forum name.xenforo.com)
It can't have all the features that the "paid" version has...
Developers can you consider this please for the Great minded people that have amazing ideas to show the world but can't pay a lot of money.
Really? Can you point me in the direction of the free versions of IPB and VB please? I'd like to experiment with them.

So you expect them to do a fork of the code, spend extra time on it for free so that folks that can't afford the full meal deal can have the benefits of XenForo? I really don't see it happening.

I have 4 other forums that I run... but they are all on myBB currently because that's what their activity currently supports. Would I like to have XenForo on them? Yes, but I can't justify the cost (even though at the number I would then own it would be less than the $140 for one copy cost) due to the limited activity on them.
The feature set of myBB is way above what you would get on a limited (try-me) version of XenForo.
 
Really? Can you point me in the direction of the free versions of IPB and VB please? I'd like to experiment with them.

So you expect them to do a fork of the code, spend extra time on it for free so that folks that can't afford the full meal deal can have the benefits of XenForo? I really don't see it happening.

I have 4 other forums that I run... but they are all on myBB currently because that's what their activity currently supports. Would I like to have XenForo on them? Yes, but I can't justify the cost (even though at the number I would then own it would be less than the $140 for one copy cost) due to the limited activity on them.
The feature set of myBB is way above what you would get on a limited (try-me) version of XenForo.

vBulletin Lite and anything before IPB 2 ;).
 
It sounds like you're thinking of some of the websites that offer you a limited but free forum. This is done a lot with phpbb because it's free, but many of them are built on proprietary forum software (like Zetaboards). The one exception would be the old versions of IPB (I think it was IPB 2 that Invision Free offered). That just depends on the company's decisions and directions. Many businesses I imagine go that direction because they can then make money off ads displayed on these free forums or what have you. I'm not sure why IPB did it but part of it may have been to attract people to the full IPB you had to pay for. XF does offer a demo board so you can get a feel for the software before purchasing it but a lot of XenForo's strength lies in the developer community, and you can rarely install add-ons on these free solutions. And, as others say, creating a system like this requires time, development, and support that would be better directed towards paying customers. I simply don't see it happening.
 
It sounds like you're thinking of some of the websites that offer you a limited but free forum. This is done a lot with phpbb because it's free, but many of them are built on proprietary forum software (like Zetaboards). The one exception would be the old versions of IPB (I think it was IPB 2 that Invision Free offered). That just depends on the company's decisions and directions. Many businesses I imagine go that direction because they can then make money off ads displayed on these free forums or what have you. I'm not sure why IPB did it but part of it may have been to attract people to the full IPB you had to pay for. XF does offer a demo board so you can get a feel for the software before purchasing it but a lot of XenForo's strength lies in the developer community, and you can rarely install add-ons on these free solutions. And, as others say, creating a system like this requires time, development, and support that would be better directed towards paying customers. I simply don't see it happening.
XF's demo board helped me to see what 'inside' the forum operation and was very helpful to me.
But you are dead on the mark, that the user community is one of the parts of XF! (y)
 
well do you know any Forum Softwares For Free unlimited use......like for example...proboards or forum motion... etc...
Not one of them is using XenForo.
They are using some free software such as phpBB, an early version of IPB, SMS,etc.
 
Top Bottom