vBulletin AlternativesForum Software and other similar apps like vBulletin

vBulletin is described as '(abbreviated as vB) is a commercial Internet forum software written in PHP using a MySQL database server' and is a Forum Software in the social & communications category. There are more than 25 alternatives to vBulletin for a variety of platforms, including Self-Hosted, Web-based, Linux, Windows and Mac apps. The best vBulletin alternative is Discourse. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Discourse or phpBB. Other great apps like vBulletin are Simple Machines Forum, XenForo, MyBB and Vanilla Forum.

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Alternatives list

  1. Discourse icon

    Discourse

     156 likes
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    Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. A modern forum, everything's been redesigned to be easy.

    69 Discourse alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Ruby
    • JavaScript
    • Cloudron
    • Docker
    Discourse screenshot 1
     
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    • Some users think Discourse is a great vBulletin alternative, some don't.

    • Discourse is the most popular Web-based & Self-Hosted alternative to vBulletin.

    • Discourse is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to vBulletin.

    • Discourse is Free Personal and Open SourcevBulletin is Paid and Proprietary
  2. phpBB icon

    phpBB

     90 likes
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    Since its creation in 2000, phpBB™ has become the most widely used Open Source forum solution. Like its predecessors, phpBB™ 3.2 “Rhea” has an easy to use administration panel and a user friendly installation process, which allows you to have a forum set up in minutes.

    53 phpBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    37 languages
     
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    9

    • Almost everyone thinks phpBB is a great vBulletin alternative.

    • phpBB is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to vBulletin.

    • phpBB is Free and Open SourcevBulletin is Paid and Proprietary
  4. Flarum icon

    Flarum

     82 likes
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    Flarum is free, open-source forum software with a focus on simplicity. You can use Flarum to easily set up a discussion forum for your website. Flarum is developed openly on GitHub.

    53 Flarum alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Apache HTTP Server
    • PHP
    Flarum screenshot 1
     
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  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    PlushForums icon
    PlushForums

    Plush is the most polished, user-friendly forum experience ever, featuring real-time discussions, beautiful design, an integrated blog, member directory, private messaging, paid subscriptions and a world-class mobi...

    https://plushforums.com
    Learn More
  6. Simple Machines Forum icon

    Simple Machines Forum

     36 likes
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    Simple Machines Forum — SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Simple Machines Forum screenshot 1
     
  7. XenForo icon

    XenForo

     21 likes
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    A compelling community experience. Intuitive. Social. Engaging. Fast. XenForo brings a fresh outlook to forum software.

    44 XenForo alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • MySQL Community Edition
    • Self-Hosted
    • MariaDB
    • PHP
    Overview
     

    • XenForo is the most popular commercial alternative to vBulletin.

    • XenForo is Paid and ProprietaryvBulletin is also Paid and Proprietary
  8. MyBB icon

    MyBB

     35 likes
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    MyBB is the free and open source, intuitive, extensible, and incredibly powerful forum software you've been looking for.

    47 MyBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    MyBB screenshot 1
     
  10. Vanilla Forum icon

    Vanilla Forum

     22 likes
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    Vanilla provides a standards-compliant, multi-lingual, theme-able and pluggablecommunity forum software that powers discussion forums on 800,000 sites.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Vanilla Forum screenshot 1
    Vanilla Forum screenshot 2
     
  11. bbPress icon

    bbPress

     21 likes
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    bbPress is forum software with a twist from the creators of WordPress. Its focused on web standards, ease of use, ease of integration, and speed. bbPress will try to keep things as small and light as possible while still allowing great add-on feature possibilities.

    45 bbPress alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    bbPress screenshot 1
     
  12. ElkArte icon

    ElkArte

     2 likes
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    ElkArte is a modern, powerful community building forum software. It is completely free to use and is licensed with an open source BSD-3 clause license.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    ElkArte screenshot 1
     
  13. NodeBB icon

    NodeBB

     19 likes
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    A community forum allows you to engage and retain customers, keeping them interested and up-to-date with your latest product or service.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Subscription)
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Sandstorm
    • MongoDB
    • Redis
    • Cloudron
    • Node.JS
    NodeBB screenshot 1
     
  14. FluxBB icon

    FluxBB

     24 likes
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    FluxBB is a fast, light, user-friendly forum application for your website. FluxBB was designed as a lighter, faster alternative to some of the traditional feature heavy forum applications. It is easy to use and has a proven track record of stability and security making it an...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
     
  15. WoltLab Suite icon

    WoltLab Suite

     9 likes
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    WoltLab Suite (formerly Burning Board) is an enterprise grade CMS built for communities and forums.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • MySQL Community Edition
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    WoltLab Suite screenshot 1
     
12 of 44 vBulletin alternatives