Do any forum software compare to Xenforo?

[Tracy]

This one alone pretty much nullifies your argument.

Really? Remind us.. when was IGNBoards started?
Pretty sure it was around 1996... when is the EXACT period that I commented about when forums were easy to start. Once you have traction, maintaining it is fairly easy. Care to give us a few examples from 2022, 2023 or 2024 that compare. I seriously doubt you can.
So, it nullifies exactly nothing, but simple re-enforces my statement than in the current environment, a simplistic forum format will struggle in major ways. It is simply something that those stuck in the past cannot process to move into the here/now and the future. As hard as they wish, a simple forum cannot compete in todays society of internet needs/wants.
Just go look any any of the admin sites (or even software support sites) that offer listings for the script users. And then come back and tell us how many of them are around 2 years later. Hell, even TAZ removed their directory listing. Wonder what influenced that?

Since I'm not really that involved with Invision (and really could care less if they melted down tomorrow at this time) I am not going to invest the time to negate a comment that you made that has no current validity since we are talking about starting a site in 2025 and not 1996.

 

[frm]

Pretty sure it was around 1996... when is the EXACT period that I commented about when forums were easy to start. Once you have traction, maintaining it is fairly easy. Care to give us a few examples from 2022, 203 or 2024 that compare. I seriously doubt you can.

Now, you're just making the point that content is king.

A board starting in 2022, 2023, or 2024 wouldn't get enough users to generate that type of content to catch up unless they had a huge marketing budget or acquired forums in a niche and merged. That said, it can still be done, if someone is seriously passionate about taking their forum to the next level. There are small business loans (SBA) that can be granted up to $5,000,000. If someone invested $5m into a forum, and a forum alone, it surely would make leaps and bounds, if the right person was heading it up.

But, IGN is solely a forum. There are no bells and whistles or upgrades that everyone wants, because it doesn't need it, since it built a foundation around communication, as forums are.

Also, IGN has estimated revenue of $100,000 per day, which probably trumps those stats you were referring to earlier, making up for it all.

This is also like arguing WordPress isn't great. It's not. It's cluttered. It looks good out of the box, and works, but you still need styles and a lot of paid add ons (which don't expire like Invision). If you're running a huge blog, it's best to run it on WP Cloud or WPEngine, or hire a tech team to extract the bloat and make it perform better.

 

[Tracy]

Now, you're just making the point that content is king.

No, you have to draw the traffic in before the content becomes king. If you don't give the users what they want, they aren't going to participate. You can't hold a gun to their head and force them to as much as you might wish you could.
Hell, my Astro site gets a LOT of traffic to it. Mainly for the resources and the articles/reviews. And even quite a few of those users join. But they don't participate. I think in the last week I've had 10-12 new users join the site, with zero posts. But they did hit the content hard. But they generated NO content.

A board starting in 2022, 2023, or 2024 wouldn't get enough users to generate that type of content to catch up unless they had a huge marketing budget or acquired forums in a niche and merged. That said, it can still be done, if someone is seriously passionate about taking their forum to the next level.

Dream on. I hate to burst your bubble, but simple forum type interaction isn't going to cut it. And THAT is the issue that many old-heads in this field are having issues with wrapping their mind around (including some developers, specifically calling out the XF ones). They think "because it was" equates "to it still is". Hello... reality is shouting at you but you are ignoring it. And you do so at your own peril.

If someone invested $5m into a forum, and a forum alone, it surely would make leaps and bounds, if the right person was heading it up.

If someone is going to invest $5,000,000 dollars into a forum and expect a return.. they need to get better financial advisers because there are many more profitable offerings out there. Trump and his mighty "Truth Social" that is currently bleeding profits is simply one example.

Also, IGN has estimated revenue of $100,000 per day, which probably trumps those stats you were referring to earlier, making up for it all.

And how much of that $100K is from their website. Most likely a dribble. Try to argue all you want... forums are NOT where the internet currently is at. If you want to believe it is, you will remain in the fantasy of those that think the BBS is still "hot". The real world has moved onward and forum softwares overall are still struggling to catch up because their developers and in some cases their license holders are still living (and keeping the scripts) in the past.

This is also like arguing WordPress isn't great.

Not really... It's more like trying to argue that BBS's are still the "in thing". And as much as you may hate to hear it... a forum only site is the BBS of today.
I don't "push" my site anywhere... but I'm up to around 55K visits a day with most of them to the articles, resources and reviews.

 

[AWS]

You know what's interesting with the pie chart? Discourse, an infant compared to the rest, holds a bigger market share than xenforo and ipb combined. I would say that while Invision does innovate and while xenforo rests on the forum only laurels startups can eat away at their client base.

Also look at vbulletin. It wasn't long ago the zealots said it was dead and would be gone soon. While they dipped for a period of time it seems they made a nice comeback. Last I checked the market share was less than 20%.

In any case all of this means nothing. Who cares what software ranks better than the other. Use what works. If what works for you is different than what works for me so be it.

 

[Tracy]

In any case all of this means nothing. Who cares what software ranks better than the other. Use what works. If what works for you is different than what works for me so be it.

And that is the point. What works for one might not work for another. The admin needs to look at the overall requirements of the site, then look at what softare (and/or add-ons) meets those needs.
Way to often we have cult members of every script stripe touting theirs is the best, but when confronted with reality they start trying diversions. There is NO one perfect script.
Xenforo is a decent forum only script with barely adequate resource and media add-ons.
Invision offers what many consider a more fully functional suite for a more encompassing end user experience.
To get Xenforo to where Invision is, it requires a substantially higher initial purchase price.
All of these factors are what need to be considered by the admin that is thinking of running a site.
Far to regularly they buy into the "old school" thought of "a forum is enough". And ultimately they are so out of touch with todays internet user wants/needs that it is laughable.
As for Woltlab... can't speak to it as I haven't used it in years, and when I did it was not substantially better (in price or performance) than XF or Invision. vVulletin? Has hell froze over yet... as that will be the only time I will honestly probably be willing to look at them after looking back at their behavior.
Currently, for a forum only script, I am finding that NodeBB in many ways surpasses Xenforo. Yes, it is missing a few features, but with the regular updates and the add-ons being created, it is getting there. So if you have to use add-ons/plug-ins or XF don't (as an admin) try to negate having to use them with NodeBB.

 

[frm]

In any case all of this means nothing. Who cares what software ranks better than the other. Use what works. If what works for you is different than what works for me so be it.

And that is the point. What works for one might not work for another. The admin needs to look at the overall requirements of the site, then look at what softare (and/or add-ons) meets those needs.

I've made the same point that @AWS made (several times), but you still carry on the debate that one is better than the other.

The software that works for you is best. If you can get more users on Invision, go for it. In my opinion, it's still going to be just as hard as getting users on XenForo, or Discourse, or MyBB at that, because there are corporations that forums are up against.

 

[Tracy]

but you still carry on the debate that one is better than the other.

No, you ASS-UME that I made that point. I simply pointed out the fallacy that a script that offers little to what is needed in todays environment of users does not equate to what it costs to make the two on equal footing. You make an assumption that I claim one is better than the other. I simply stated that if you want a forum basic site that is probably going to fail, go with the default Xenforo offering. If you want a more encompassing website that has native ability, go with Invision. If you are stuck on XenForo for whatever reason, realize you are going to pay more to get equal ability.
You pre-suppose to try to make it so. One is a script with marginal ability 1st party add-ons that is heavily dependent upon third party add-ons to make it a fully robust web site experience compared to another script that offers it natively. And that marginal ability script ultimately costs the end user more to get it into similar offerings.
If you need a simple forum only offering, then yes, Xenforo is better/cheaper. But there are also free scripts out there that offer similar (or more) for no cost.
If you need a more encompassing website experience for your users, then Xenforo will cost more for you as an admin.

Again, I guess I need to emphasize, since some may be having a hard time understanding, I am FAR from an Invision fan.
I have ALWAYS said that you have to look at what your site needs. But please, don't try to blow smoke up our ass that a forum only offering is going to be successful in todays internet wants. A few out of a million might be. It's not 1995.

 

[frm]

No, you ASS-UME that I made that point.

I simply stated that if you want a forum basic site that is probably going to fail, go with the default Xenforo offering. If you want a more encompassing website that has native ability, go with Invision.

Didn't you just make that point again while saying that you never did? You're essentially saying you will fail on XF and succeed on Invision, essentially arguing that one is better than the other, right?

 

[Tracy]

You're essentially saying you will fail on XF and succeed on Invision

Again, you are reading into it what you want to see. What I am saying is that a FORUM ONLY site will usually not succeed with todays internet user. I don't care if it's Xenforo, Invision, Woltlab, NodeBB, SMF, myBB, phpBB or whatever. The users are looking now for a different experience and a forum only offering cannot succeed in that format generally.
It just so happens that Invision offers a suite of products that are more apt to help provide what can help to draw in users, whereas Xenforo does not without spending extra money. I really don't know how to make it any plainer than that.
Where Invision is "better" is that it offers a well rounded suite of products that allows you to extend your site well beyond a forum offering that is so-touted as what Xenforo is. Where it is also "better" is there are regular attempts at moving their script forward for QOL improvements for the end users and not staying stuck in a 2000's design format.