PHPBB vs Vbulletin

I am wondering which script is better vbulletin or phpbb for creating a forum.

Please share pros and cons of both.

Which one has more flexibility?

Can you convert from one to the other?

Thanks for your help in advance

 

vBulletin by far. phpBB is no comparison to vBulletin. vBulletin costs money while phpBB is free, but it's by far a lot better and there are a lot more mods for it (and a better community: vbulletin.org)

 

It's pretty undisputed that vB is a better piece of software, but it might not be the best for your needs. It's a tad expensive for new start ups while phpBB is free and still does the job.

It can be converted down the line using the vB tool called Impex

 

Thank you both for your input. You guys are great!

 

fsmedia and ForumPosts are right on.

vB is the clear winner here, but it comes with a price tag - phpBB does not. If cost is a concern for you, a highly recommend looking at MyBB or SMF instead of phpBB...they are both far superior than phpBB, in my opinion

 

My personal recommendation from experience: start with phpBB, and if you're site is successful, upgrade to vBulletin. It sucks to waste a lot of money on a site that might not work out--so I prefer to start cheaply and work my way up as the site grows. You can import old posts, etc., into vBulletin

 

If you can't afford to lose $85.00, don't bother starting a forum. There is way more value in starting, and chance of succeeding, with vB then PHPBB. In the end, the extra effort to startup then convert phpbb to vB, if you succeed, would have wasted more then $85.00. :/

 

I disagree completely.

I throw a phpBB up on almost every site I start. You never know when people are going to start using a forum.

I'm not talking about FORUM sites in general, I'm talking about creating a site (e.g. on golfing) and then just putting a link to a phpBB section that took you 10 minutes to set up. No cost, no risk, no nothing. If people start using it and it gets popular, upgrade to vBulletin. You can do this on all your sites without paying 85 * 50 sites (or however many you have).

Just because you can "afford to lose $85.00" doesn't mean you have to.

 

Then it's just a matter of what you want your forums to be. If you are not very serious about your forums, then you're obviously not going to invest much in them. If you are very serious about you forums on the other hand and have a good business plan written out, then vB is a very good initial investment.

 

It depends how much startup capital you have. The $85 price tag may well be better spent on forms of advertising rather than a piece of software which can be moved to when there is need for it.

 

I've tinkered with phpBB...not very SEO friendly. On the other hand, CommunityServer is a free alternative, especially if you aren't relying heavily on the forums as a big part of your sites.

 

phpBB is pretty much the worst out of the box as far as functionality and seo goes.. but the list of modifications, templates, and the support forum far exceed that of vBulletin (contrary to what a previous poster mentioned).

On top of that, with modifications phpBB can be an seo friendly full featured bulletin board system. For example this forum is extremely seo friendy, as functional as a vBulletin forum, and pretty darn good looking if I do say so myself.

Bottom line, don't count phpBB out. Sure it has it's disadvantages, but it has it's advantages as well. I've used both VB and phpBB so I'm not biased. Both serve their purpose. By the way, if you don't want to do or have the ability to do modifications to phpBB then stick with SMF or one of the other free bulletin board systems.

 

Although I disagree with some of your post (specifically, I don't care how much you mod up phpBB, imo it won't be as good as vBulletin), your forum looks really good. Great work

 

Thanks all. I had not heard of CommunityServer I like vbulletin but I don't really know enough to do all the mods needed so I think I will just stick with it and find someone to do the tough customiztion for me. I had thought their may be other forum software easier than vbulletin to use but it sounds like they all have their drawbacks.

Thanks again Any suggestion for the best place to find forum help?

 

CommunityServer is a paid software and it's ASP...yuck.

Try mybboard.org. Free and the closest you can get to VB.

 

If you're using vBulletin, their boards are probably your best shot at getting good tech support. There's always people online, and they do know tons about the software!