Do any forum software compare to Xenforo?

[Bawse]

What software if any do you think competes with Xenforo? I think all forums if money isn't a issue should start with Xenforo.

 

[AWS]

Why? That's a valid question. While xenforo is good there are better options.Some are even free like Discourse.

Development time and communication is sorely lacking. If you like to wait years for new releases, not point releases that are bug fixes, then yes xenforo is a good choice. If you like it that the devs only post to defend the software and never give any real info then again yes it's good.

The same used to said about vBulletin. Look at it now. Pay close attention to the xenforo customer forums. Notice that that staff is only interested in post off topic stuff like the drama thread? It's to divert people away from the lack of development or from having to give out any real information.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I think it really depends on what YOU (the admin) find to be the best.

Personally, I lean toward XenForo more than any of them, but that's mainly because I'm used to it. I think the other paid options, like Invision and maybe even vb6, can compete, but it depends on what the end-user is looking for in a platform.

As @AWS mentioned, free platforms might even be able to compete. I know plenty of people who swear by phpBB or SMF and would never go with XenForo.

That might sound strange to you and me, but we're used to XF, and they're used to the platform they use.

To me, this is like the "iPhone vs. Android" argument.

In all honesty, you can make free software do everything a paid software can do probably by spending the amount of a paid software cost of premium add-ons. Just some food for thought, haha!

 

[Cpvr]

I think Discourse and Nodebb along with Invision Community compare to Xenforo.

I like the things that they’ve all been doing lately. I’m a fan of Xenforo, but I also keep tabs on other forum software as well.

 

[Tracy]

I think the main issue is, what do you want to offer your users?
If it is just posting content in a forum format, then Xenforo is one of the better paid options (notice I said paid) in the bang for the buck field.
But i you want to do stuff like federation using ActivityPub (which is apparently becoming the "in thing"), then you really need to look elsewhere.
NodeBB, which is free for self hosting is a very decent offering. Yes, it's different from other scripts, and users who are used to Xenforo may not like it (I've already had that feedback on my sites - #1 (yes, it is also a jab in the eye at Xenforo), #2 and #3). I personally have grown to like NodeBB, and really appreciate the drive to offer a more modern feeling script than what many are used to. It doesn't hurt that they'v recently enabled federation using ActivityPub, which means it can communicate with various other sites that use that protocol.

 

[Ticaga]

I moved from Xenforo to Invision Powerboard (Community) and they are really good, keeping the forum updates coming, something XF has failed recently. They're still on version 2.0 after having it released in 2018.

 

[Tracy]

I moved from Xenforo to Invision Powerboard (Community) and they are really good, keeping the forum updates coming, something XF has failed recently. They're still on version 2.0 after having it released in 2018.

My biggest issue with Xenforo is their glacially slow pace of end user feature updates.
But a lot of that is their core dependence on outside developers to extend the bare-bones features they typically do offer. This habit of offering a basic implementation of something instead of taking the little extra time of rounding it out has been commented on by others.
As a forum, it is a solid script, but as a more inclusive offering for a website it is lacks the chops. There are some free scripts that are starting to surpass what Xenforo offers as a forum only offering. NodeBB is a good example.
I linked to 3 of my NodeBB sites above. There is not feature parity between them, but NodeBB has moved from 3.0.3 since I started using it a few months ago and is already on 4.0.4 4.0.5 and now has federation via ActivityPub protocol.

 

[frm]

They're still on version 2.0 after having it released in 2018.

They're on version 2.3, which is a significant difference, as second-point releases have added features, while 3rd point (2.0.0 -> 2.0.1) only addresses bug fixes.

Going from 2.4 (the next 2nd point release) to 3.0 will be a 1st point release because it has a significant change that we can expect in the style, with perhaps even more features than 2.4 (or 2.5 as they suggested) too. I hope that the style brings it more up-to-date with social media-like interaction and navigation, but I'm not really holding my breath on that.

Either way, I think XenForo is the best as you can easily add any feature that any other forum software has. It just costs you time to learn or money to outsource it.

Invision is something like $200 every 2 years or your license is suspended? No thanks. I have some licenses still on 2.2 (one on 2.0) that are expired, and 2.0/2.2 works just fine for a starter community. Why pay to upgrade the license and launch on 2.3 when I can do it for "free" on 2.2, then pay the $60+ to upgrade to 2.3/2.4/3.0 after it grows enough? I might be wrong about the license being suspended, @AWS could fill in if I'm wrong here.

To me "Xenforo is just a forum" is not how I look at it: It's a complete engine. I could turn off the forum on Forum Directory and have it work solely as a forum directory with listings, etc. with the add on it uses to accomplish that.

To further expand on that, with one example, I also have intentions to build a text-based game on it (possibly, as I'm still investigating other engines and their capabilities with user groups/permissions/etc.), and looking into "Allowed thread types" (Discussions, Polls, Articles, Questions) to expanding that to "MAP" (in a custom add on). This is so that I can build out a grid of 1000x1000 (1,000,000 "threads") with custom fields in the "MAP" to execute different tasks, like finding in-game money, for instance. The forum display wouldn't be how it is as a forum, rather a 1000x1000 "image" (each image like 10px x 10px to make up a full image with 1,000,000 threads) and you can start at position 1,1, but only move into thread 2,1 or 1,2 from there to see what's in that location on the MAP with your Avatar overlayed on the map where you are.

A quick mock-up of thread types being a MAP in the forum view:



I could move to red (2, 1) in thread "2" or green (2, 1) in thread "1001". Each thread would have an event executed, or nothing at all, when visited, and I would limit moves per day.

So much to do outside the box from a traditional forum on XenForo compared to alternatives.

If Invision lets you develop, it could hypothetically do the same, but it wouldn't be cost-effective with the developers I could take on for XF over Invision.

I also plan on a Project Management System with the full 9 yards like Ghant charting, etc., which would have "forums" so different projects could have a discussion area, but it wouldn't be a "just a forum" at that point either.

Granted, if you had to choose, choose what's best for you, as you need to keep an open mind that it will take a lot of time and/or money to get XenForo to where you want it to be, but it could be at Invision's level with the right work behind it (if that's what you were going for), or you could just choose Invision from the beginning.

 

[Tracy]

I might be wrong about the license being suspended, @AWS could fill in if I'm wrong here.

It's not suspended... it's invalidated and you have to buy a new license if you don't renew in 2 years.
Their reasoning behind this from what I understood was allegedly to help pay for the self-hosted option as they had clients that were not renewing regularly and might go 2-3 years before they did and they got "all the new goodies" without having to for it like others did with regular renewals. In reality it was not a semi-guaranteed revenue stream like they get with their SaaS offering so they came up with a way to make it "semi-regular".
Kind of a screwed view in some ways, but we are talking software and vendors/developers make choices that would not work in with other products (like a vehicle as a certain manufacturer found out when they tried to push subscription for certain services like being able to remote start or heated seats).

So much to do outside the box from a traditional forum on XenForo compared to alternatives.

You don't think those other scripts have similar abilities?

Part of the issue is that you DO need add-ons to do some of the stuff that Invision offers in their core software package offering. And you DO have to pay for those add-ons, frequently with it ending up costing you as much if not more than the entire Invision suite package does.

Invision - full package $499/$199 (purchase/renewal)
(for my site as a comparison)
XenForo (1st party add-ons)
Forum $195/$60
XFMG $70/$15
XFRM $70/15
ES $60/$10
3rd party to get similar offerings
AMS $75/$35 or $55/$25 (this can be done in Invision with Pages but not at same level)
Link Directory $75/$4 or $55/$25 (this can be done in Invision with Pages but not at same level)
Classifieds $75/$35 or $55/$25 (this can be done in Invision with Pages but not at same level)
Reviews $75/$35 or $55/$25 (this can be done in Invision with Pages but not at same level)
Social Groups $50/$37
Calendar $60/$30
So, by my math, that's $725 minimal buy-in with a $267 yearly renewal to get into Xenforo to get equivalent to what Invision can offer. Both exceed what Invision costs.
Now, if you don't need/use all those other features it is a different matter but ironically I have found many admins that have "suddenly" found uses for those "I don't need/want them" features in the past.
With Invision it will take some (actually a lot) of extra work to get Pages where I would want it at, but then you would also usually have a bespoke function that may be better tailored to your site. It really depends on your skill level of dealing with the systems invovled.

But when comparing costs, one needs to do an apples to apples comparison and not a pineapple to lime one.
The first step is always first laying out what you want your site to offer then start looking at what comes closest to providing that natively.

 

[AWS]

IT's $195 renewal each year. If you don't renew for 2 years the license lapse and you have to buy new at $495.

 

[Tracy]

IT's $195 renewal each year. If you don't renew for 2 years the license lapse and you have to buy new at $495.

Only if you have multiple licenses apparently, or they forgot to update their website.