Are you going for free or paid? Also, it depends on your needs, like what features you like about it. Personally I like vBulletin for the Modification & Themes Database and support. However, for a free forum script, I like SMF. It is very reliable. - JTD
vBulletin still dominates all other forum scripts. I tried SMF (and others), and they're fine for free, but VB is in a league of its own.
I have to disagree i would say Free: AEF www.anelectron.com AEF is just like VB and IPB its not that old. Paid: Vbulletin
I have never heard of AEF. I would say vBulletin is the best paid, and SMF is the best free software.
Like i said its not that old , but it is like VB and IBP , it will over take SMF for FREE forum software but it will take time. Like every new based software , it wont go that far inless there is a nice group of codders wishing to make mods , themes ect for it.
with all the coders out there and mod themes there alot of good software for vbullitien well worth the money
Do you get much spam with SMF or Vbulletin? I had a forum a while back and spent every day deleting 25 spam messages.
Nope. My site gets 12,000 unique visits a month and ive almost never had spam. I even opened registration to instant(no email activation required).
I recently tried BBPress (from the makers of Wordpress) and vBulletin. I could not believe how great vBulletin was. BBPress is simple and light, which is great for bloggers who want a little forum option. However, vBulletin is a full scale forum, which is perfect for site wanting to build a sense of community.
Mybb is the best free forum in opinion. Vanilla forum is useful in some web enviroments. NOTHING compares to Vbulletin
mybb is nice in that it looks like vbulletin. What important major features does it not have that vbulletin does?