is vBulletin worth it ?

[coldveins]

Im in the process of developing a website and Id like to have a good Message Board. Im expecting alot of posters so I was wondering if vBulletin is worth the $165 or not.

[Jan]

Just because you expect a lot of posters doesn't mean you will get them :) I would suggest trying one of the free ones and then changing over to vBulletin if you get your expected posters :)

[alley]

Good point Jan. yeah, VB has a database importing tool doesn't it?

[AMC]

Yep called Impex - but it can be a b*tch to work. However, defenitely try a free board first, anything that can save you £90 is a no brainer.

Oh, and for a free board, you might want to try Mybb, its a favroued option by many here ;)

Good luck with your site.

[Yun]

No. I'd stay away from vBulletin at all costs.

I prefer IPB or phpBB (version 2 over version 3 by the way...).

[benzhost]

Use IPB...
i hate phpBB

[AMC]

Yun - you and vB just have your disagreements :p dont knock a great software :P

[JonnyH]

Yun - you and vB just have your disagreements :p dont knock a great software :P
I have to agree with AMC, I currently use IPB and it's a great piece of software. If you compare it to vB, vB has the more features and the speed. In my opinion IPB has a better 'style' to it but IPB has about 100 CSS styles which do the same thing.

[Yun]

Yun - you and vB just have your disagreements :p dont knock a great software :P

Anything that doesn't agree with me is crap :D. I'm still trying to mess around with vBulletin's API...vB and I were never friends and never looked at each other eye to eye :(.

Yes, vBulletin has more features, more features that I don't want - who on Earth wants podcasting on their forums!? They'd be better off making it an addon. And I must say, that templating system is a bugger, but well, I have to live with it.

[alley]

I've never had a VB forum before, but from working with it here on FWS I can say that is really nice. I really like all of the features.

I would love to buy one sone day .. but I need to save my pennies.

[Dan]

vBulletin is the best forum software at the moment. For the price of it, you would hope it is.

Next best thing to vBulletin is MyBB. It's free and is very similar to vBulletin in many ways.
I agree that you should give a free one a spin before spending money that may go down the drain if you do not get the posters you expect.

There were projects I had before where I "Expected" many members and posters. I still have one of those and basically there are only 3 or 4 that post there.

[TommyGermany]

vBulletin is the best forum software at the moment.....

Thats true. If i had the cash, i would use vB only for my forums. Super support, a lot of hacks and mods..., and its secure, not so buggy like phpBB or SMF a.s.o.

:-)

[MonkeyMatt]

MyBB 1.4 is set to blow vBulletin away. Of course there will be corporate people who still will want to pay for a software just because it's viewed as proper.

I rate MyBB at the top looking into the future with vBulletin second.

[Dan]

MyBB 1.4 is set to blow vBulletin away. Of course there will be corporate people who still will want to pay for a software just because it's viewed as proper.

I rate MyBB at the top looking into the future with vBulletin second.

Yeah I do see MyBB becoming the most polular. It certainly is at the moment among free forums.
I am looking forward to 1.4 actually.

[raversworld]

just installed mybb and its great easy interface and its FREE!

[suraj4u]

I thing vbulletin is faster than other (I have not tested).
Compare Vbulletin in freewebspace.net and other forum board. Here it is too fast.

So switch to it.U can give a satisfaction to users..Cost can be negotiated

[iBrightDev]

vB is terrible, i would totally never buy it.
NOT, j/k. vB is the best!!!!!
there are plenty of free ones that are ok to use. the only problem is if you use a free one and want to switch to vB in the future, it is a major pain.

[AMC]

its doable :P but hes right - to be avoided. I have to say , I am of the opinion that MyBB will never render vB Redundant, purely becaue vB IS paid, A lot of larger websites will go for the more unique and more extravegant option.

Dont get me wrong, I love both boards though.

[alley]

That is foolish too, but I know what you mean. They think if something is free, or cheaper ..it can't be that good. myBB is a beautiful board!





I have to say , I am of the opinion that MyBB will never render vB Redundant, purely becaue vB IS paid, A lot of larger websites will go for the more unique and more extravegant option.

Dont get me wrong, I love both boards though.

[m1k30rz]

vBulletin is the best software ive ever used but very pricey i use phpbb now

[Explicit]

I suggest starting out with Mybb and later changing over to vbulletin.

[NWH Networks]

I would prefer to use vBulletin as a one time fee (be sure to use the same domain though for it) IPB if u dont mind paying every 6 months

[Darkfusion]

MBB is probably and will be better than Vbulletin but if it does it'll cost ya though.. but I love it and it's pretty close to VB anyways^^

[GlennBeforeTime]

I prefer MyBB over VB.

Never really liked VB.

[iBrightDev]

vB is terrible, i would totally never buy it.
NOT, j/k. vB is the best!!!!!
there are plenty of free ones that are ok to use. the only problem is if you use a free one and want to switch to vB in the future, it is a major pain.

you guys are no fun, i purposely said vB sucks to see if someone would quote me, and then realize i was joking. oh well. :P

[Matt8]

ikonboard all the way.


[in all seriousness though, mybb then vb.]

[themoose]

vB's the best paid board, if you can afford it.

Otherwise MyBB's definitely the way to go.

[Kwek]

If you can afford it, go for vBulletin. If you decide to save your money, get MyBB.

[Jackel.ca]

Id much prefer IPB over vBulletin. But I can't knock it, it's an excellent software, but then again, so is IPB ;)

[kjavia795]

definately mybb over vbull, everyone i know says that vbull is "cooler" and that i should switch to it. but when i ask em, they can NEVER come up with 1 feature that vbull has and MYBB hasnt... those that r important anyway.

definately not worth paying for vbull... and what surprises me is that the free forums (myb and phpbb) r making more progress faster than IPB and vbull, even though they r the free ones. maybe if vbull actually used its money to make its forum better, it may come out to be the best... but they have failed to do so so far.. go with MYBB or phpbb3 when the final is out. you will also find a better community with the free ones

[Sain Cai]

I use phpbb, mainly for the ease of altering a template (the .tpl files use html)

How do you edit a template for Vbb or MyBB?

P.S. My Dbacks are beating the Cubbies 2-0 top 1st :D

[PH-Kev]

Actually in the process of switching from vbulletin to mybb.

Even though its supposed to be community software... Vbulletin's "community" especially support is poor.

As soon as i started looking at mybb, i had a read at the website, asked a few questions on the forum about converting, got great, helpful responses and a link to where i should go, all for the cost of nothing.

No harassing me about my license code, if i paid to have the branding removed, "look it up noob" or general nastiness... with a pricetag.

It may be elegant to have a paid solution but i'd rather innovation, speed and community support any day.

Best of luck with what you choose, because months down the line its a pain to change lol, you cantgo wrong with any of the earlier suggestions though.

[lewisthemusician]

can i just point out that people only use vbulliten because it's secure but looks at it, it's ugly like hell, IPB is sexy :P
It's also more secure with it's new version.

[amitnyamtabad]

I will always prefer IPB over VB as it is more faster & is much better than VB in many ways & integrations.

[~Alvin~]

Im in the process of developing a website and Id like to have a good Message Board. Im expecting alot of posters so I was wondering if vBulletin is worth the $165 or not.

Its worth every penny. Infact if you are serious about your form go for VBulletin

[PH-Kev]

I'd like to know how you explain why its worth every penny compared to free?



See, i changed FROM vbulletin to a free forum because... well.. for what vbulletin is worth, many free forums can do the same or pretty much more than vbulletin can.

Yes they provide support with their product, but thats the only difference. Save yourself the pricetag if your quite good with forums and find one thats free... Forum boards should never have been commercialised!

[Keagle]

By the way - you realise it's your own opinion that counts. You get fanboys from both ends :)

[iBrightDev]

i like myBB, IPB, and vB. IMO vB is the best, and it is my preference, but, there are plenty other decent ones.

[MonkeyMatt]

MyBB can do everything vB can. I prefer it because it's not loaded with some stuff I consider useless too. Like the paypal donations stuff (modules).

[iBrightDev]

there is a difference between doing everything that another forum can do, and being more secure. vB is know to have less security issues, well, at least they did before, not sure about now, but, i am sure that they are even better now. for free software, MyBB is the way to go, but, i still prefer vB

[mark36ph]

if you want a nice simple board with very few fetures, try out PunBB
its a nice fast board with just the basic features, No Pm or Poll or anything, just the nice plain simple board, but if you want to add feautres to it, thats simple aswell as its all open source and you can go to PunRes for your modifications / Styles :)

[Clayton]

vB isn't worth it, unless you already have the license. I wouldn't go out and purchase a license for the sole purpose of running a free hosting company, it would just be a waste of money.

[kjavia795]

MyBB can do everything vB can. I prefer it because it's not loaded with some stuff I consider useless too. Like the paypal donations stuff (modules).


I TOTALLY AGREE!! I hate it when noobs ask me to change from MYBB to vbull..... vbull has nothing that mybb has..... plus mybb has better support.... i can get ANY answer on the forums within an hour.... REALLY HELPFUL

i wud never pay for a software when i can get it for free.... for example: OPENOFFICE VS MS WORD :)

[Skylar]

I have had vBulletin since it came out and honestly I believe it is worth every penny.

People say IPB and MyBB are better, when in actuality making edits and using/installing mods on IPB and MyBB are usually more painfull.
IPB has good aspects, but I never liked it.
MyBB is just that. its FREE so it isn't going to be as good.

As for support, I have never had any issues with getting support, and editing templates for vBulletin is rather easy via AdminCP as it is just basic html/xml coding knowledge.

If you are going to do a free host, why bother to purchase vBulletin? You are spending a lot of money just in the free host. If you are trying to make a real website/host then vBulletin is worth it, but not for free hosting, its just pointless to spend more money.

[Darknight]

Has the OP decided if its worth it or not yet? This thread seems to be getting very repeative..

[selmore]

If I wasn't so cheap (lol), I'd buy vB.

But I guess it's your choice.