May be stupid but I was thinking that "Is VBulletin free like PHPBB??? I mean that is there any need to purchase it or it is free like PHPBB?
No it is not free but there is a software called "MyBB" and it is just a rip off of the vB 2 code it is almost exact so you could use that but it has less modifications.
i saw on one webmaster site somewhere (sorry i cant remember where ) that some guy is willing to buy the vbulletin license in exchange for a perpetual link. this is a nice linking strategy. anyone want to sponsor my vbulletin community? hehe
phpBB is open source, so any bugs that get found can be fixed by anyone.. Ive seen the coding for vbulletin and I dont like it :-/
Let's face it though, the reason vbulletin is expensive, is it's the best. having worked with all the mentioned scipts, i have to say, it's worth it...
There is a leased lisence and an owned lisence, I once bought a leased lisence, and ended up buying an owned one, when I could have saved myself a few quid and bought an owned one in the first place. I think it's only $30 a year for updates on an owned lisence... check out vbulletin.com for more info mate...
vBulletin is worth every penny! Do a business plan and if you can't justify the $160 then ask yourself if you can justify the time implementing, moderating and promoting the forum. I help moderate a phpBB forum and it's a pain. I don't like using it, I don't like moderating it. There are other good forums but vB is my #1 choice.
If you wanted vBulletin without paying you should google it, but if they find out you would get in trouble.