And SPAM, 100% free! Sorry, but if you bought vBulletin and you know php and you STILL couldn't set it up then the problem likely isn't the software. I ran phpbb on a very large forum for five years, upgrading every 90 days, fighting spam constantly to the tune of more than 100 bogus signups a day and I just got sick of it. Finally, I upgraded to vBulletin which took all of 40 minutes, templated it myself and haven't had a lick of spam -- NOT ONE -- since. My forums run faster than ever, my users rave about it, and I won't be looking back at open source ever again. It just exposes you too much. I can't speak to vBulletin's support because I've never had to call them. It's just too easy to find what you want on their boards or to just figure it out yourself.
My vb board gets hit with spam all the time. Just the same as when I upgraded it from phpBB 2. However, my phpBB 3 board doesn't get any spam. phpBB 3 is the first of the new generation of forum software. Nothing on the market, both free and paid compares to it at this point. Give it a year, and if vb, IPB, and others haven't released a new major upgrade, more and more people will be swearing by phpBB 3. phpBB 3 is like the Wii, while vB is the PS2.
I use phpbb and have had no problems with spam and fake signups. I have a anti-spam system in my php using simple things as catchpa (forget how to spell it) as well as just simple thing in registering where you have to type in the word human and click a box. It is very easy to combat just have to put a few things in to stop them that only took maybe 30 minutes but saved me a few hours of sorts through posts and deleting.
PHPBB3 doesn't get spam.. Period. VB is a spam magnet. You can't tell me the #1 forum in the biz isn't the #1 targeted forum.