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9 Best Forum Software for Creating Online Community in 2024

Here’s the list of best forum software for you.

But first, hear this:

Best Forum software allows you to make a community platform where you can share opinions in the form of posts and messages.

Forums allow you to discuss the problems that you face in something you are working on and see what people think about it. “Discuss – Try – Resolve” your errors and also “Participate – Offer Solutions – Get Appreciated” by helping others to find a solution.

Forum is all about this. We have enlisted a few of the best forum software that allows you to create an online community. Take a look…

hostingpill9 Best Forum Software
  1. Site123
  2. ProBoards
  3. Disciple
  4. Flarum
  5. NodeBB
  6. vBulletin
  7. Mighty Networks
  8. Ning
  9. MyBB

1. SITE123

Forum Software for creating Online Community

SITE123 helps you build websites, blogs as well as forums to create a community online. You just have to select the layout of the forum, set up categories and topics and then publish it online. It doesn’t require any coding knowledge to set up a community via SITE123.

Features:

  • Create Discussion Boards
  • Set Forum Admins
  • Track discussions via email
  • Recommend discussions to visitors
  • Advance Forum search

Cost:

Free plan available. The paid plan starts from $5.80/Month.

Pros:

Easy to use and set up.

Cons:

It doesn’t allow you to modify themes after the website is set up.

2. ProBoards

Forum Software for creating Online Community

ProBoards offer a platform to create online forums that helps you create an online community of people with the same interest. Whether you are interested in arts, botany, gardening, music, software, etc., create a community and find people just like you on your side.

Features:

  • Built-in Analytics
  • Search Engine optimized
  • Social Media integration
  • Customizable
  • Allows to Upload files

Cost:

Totally Free

Pros:

It is reliable, has simple admin tools, has a lot of plugins and provides 24 x 7 customer support.

Cons:

Claiming to be free software but still charges $14/Year for a custom domain, it doesn’t allow to pay via PayPal and it may delete forum without giving a reason.

3. Disciple

Forum Software for creating Online Community

Disciple offers a mobile-first forum software that allows you to create an online forum that can be operated on your smartphones both on iOS and Android. Discuss, interact and grow your Forum with this software within your hands.

Features:

  • Both for Android and iOS
  • Scheduled posts
  • Moderation tools
  • Publishing tools
  • Live Streaming

Cost:

Need to Contact for Quote

Pros:

It allows you to generate revenues through web payments and lets you connect to your Shopify store.

Cons:

No information on pricing, you need to wait for their members to contact you.

4. Flarum

Forum Software for creating Online Community

It is an open-source community software that runs on both computer and mobile. The UI is simple and allows you to change your settings in just one place. You can control your Forum fully with permission settings.

Features:

  • Two Pane interface
  • Touch-optimized
  • Customized Themes
  • Intuitive tagging
  • Infinite scrolling

Cost:

Free Download (It accepts donation)

Pros:

Easy installation and loads faster. It has comprehensive APIs that allow you to develop new functionality.

Cons:

It is still in the Beta version and thus it has some bugs and incomplete features. It also has a few installation requirements which you need before setting up Flarum.

5. NodeBB

Forum Software for creating Online Community

It is a Forum software that is for an established business that wants to create and engage customers in discussions. It can work best for animation studios, education providers, companies, etc.

Features:

  • Mobile responsive
  • Social integrations
  • Search Engine Optimized
  • Real-Time streaming
  • Daily Backup

Cost:

Free Trial available. Paid Plans start from $250/Month

Pros:

It supports over 50 languages and also offers email and community forum support.

Cons:

After the free trial, the customer needs to pay a higher amount for the plan to continue.

6. vBulletin

Forum Software for creating Online Community

It is a forum and an online community software and the headquarter is located in Southern California. It currently serves over 40,000 online communities.

Features:

  • WYSIWYG and standard editors for posts and messages
  • Task scheduler
  • Control Panel and Moderator
  • Supports B codes in posts
  • Unlimited Hierarchy Forums

Cost:

vBulletin Cloud plan starts from $19.95/Month and vBulletin 5 Connect is a one-time payment of $249.

Pros:

The site setup is customizable and it is equipped with tools for content discovery.

Cons:

You can’t import posts, threads and members into vBulletin 5 from other forum software.

7. Best Forum Software: Mighty Networks

Forum Software for creating Online Community

Mighty Networks allow you to add unlimited members to your community. It is an alternative to the Facebook group that allows you to create communities and groups, create online courses, create events, post content and manage emails and websites.

Features:

  • Content and Activity feed
  • Share to other networks
  • Unlimited members
  • Members direct messaging
  • Organize topics

Cost:

A free option is available. There are two paid plans (with a 14-day free trial) – Mighty Brand for $12/Month and Mighty Business for $47/Month.

Pros:

The free plan also offers a 5% membership fee to admin per member subscription plus it allows you to create a platform for online courses.

Cons:

It requires a lot of time to engage people in your community.

8. Best Forum Software: Ning

Ning

Ning is a platform that allows you to create a forum website for building up an online community. You can initiate polls, create events, share audios, photos and videos. Also, you can monetize your website with Ning E-commerce.

Features:

  • Broadcast Messaging
  • Social Networks integration
  • Custom Domain mapping
  • Custom HTML design
  • Drag and Drop builder

Cost:

A 14-Day free trial is available. Plans start from $25/Month

Pros:

It provides storage up to 10 GB and also offers a referral program.

Cons:

No 24 x 7 support for users with the basic plan. A limited number of members can be added.

9. Best Forum Software: MyBB

MyBB

MyBB is an open-source community builder that allows you to create forums. It includes the characteristics that a forum software needs to have in order to create a community. It is multilingual, i.e. translations for more than 30 languages are available which are maintained by the communities.

Features:

  • Delayed Moderation
  • Mass Email
  • Plugins
  • Built-in themes
  • Task Log

Cost:

Totally Free

Pros:

It supports multiple database servers and is completely free to use.

Cons:

The database connection issue arises after installation.

Conclusion

There are so many advantages to having an online community. Businesses consider Forum as a marketing tool to promote their products and services.

So these are a few of the popular online forums that offer community platforms to bring people together and resolve problems. Which forum software would you choose to create your own community? Let us know in the comments section below.