Online Community Software and Platforms

vBulletin

Star Rating

vBulletin is a traditional proprietary forum software package which has been around since 2000.

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Overview

vBulletin
vBulletin is a traditional proprietary forum software package which has been around since 2000.
2000
  • Traditional, familiar looking forum software
  • Strong moderation support
  • Technical support on forums for life of software
  • Paid subscriptions
  • “Visible Source”/Unencrypted files
  • Upgrading will result in the loss of customisation
  • Limited reporting
  • Buggy software
  • Easy to spam
vBulletin

Pricing

239.40
  • Self-hosted lifetime license $249
  • SaaS 25gb $14.99/mo billed annually or $19.95/mo billed monthly
  • SaaS 75gb $29.99/mo billed annually or $39.95/mo billed monthly
  • SaaS 200gb $59.99/mo billed annually or $74.95/mo billed monthly
Other
No
Yes, get a free trial
Bulk discounts for self-hosting licenses
  • Branding removal: $169
  • Installation support: $149
  • Mobile app: $199
None
  • Annual support for self-hosted: $199
  • Monthly support for self-hosted: $49
None

Details

Enterprise
None
Support package
SAAS or On-premise
  • Canned Reports
  • Supports Google Analytics
  • API for integration/selective exports
Medium
API’s available
  • 3rd party add ons available
  • Social sign-up (Facebook)

Notable Clients

Features

Analytics / Reporting toolsAutomated community tour for newcomersAutomation rulesBloggingCase ManagementDirectoriesDiscussions / Activity FeedDocument CollaborationDocument PreviewsDocument SharingDocument UploadsEvents Calendar with RegistrationGroups (Public, Private, Secret)Knowledge BaseMention by @name
Mentor / volunteer matchingMicrositesMobile AppModeration toolsPermissions configurable by rolePersonalizationPollsPrivate Messaging / NotificationsQuestions (with ability to mark questions correct)Ratings and reviewsResponsive designSEO friendly linksSpam control toolsTask Management

Customer Reviews of vBulletin

Reviews Summary

Star Rating
1.3 out of 5
  • Highly customisable
  • Detailed user group customisation
  • Self-hosted version
  • Simple
  • Cheap
  • Many features simply don't work
  • Extremely buggy
  • Poor mobile optimisation
  • Very limited analytics
  • Out of date
* Taken from our most recent reviews

Latest Reviews

Person

Star Rating Top of the line 10 years ago

I've been managing a vBulletin-based community for a while now. Back in the day, this was first rate software, offering incredible customisation options and a whole swathe of useful features.
<... Read Full Review

March 16, 2017 | James Pickstone

Person

Star Rating Outdated but does the basics

Whilst vBulletin is reasonably priced, it's generally outdated with threaded conversations and an old school traditional forum kind of look. I ran a 15k member community on it and whilst we were able ... Read Full Review

March 15, 2017 | Liz Crampton

Person

Star Rating Traditional forum – cumbersome and heavy on technical debt

vBulletin is an old school forum, which can be cumbersome and hard to manage. I have used both the self-hosted and cloud-hosted options and found both sorely lacking in today's climate of modern tech.... Read Full Review

March 1, 2017 | Sarah Hawk

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All Customer Reviews

Person

Star Rating Top of the line 10 years ago

March 16, 2017 | James Pickstone

I've been managing a vBulletin-based community for a while now. Back in the day, this was first rate software, offering incredible customisation options and a whole swathe of useful features.

Unfortunately, it seems like it simply hasn't kept pace with other solutions on the market while the support dwindled. The last update to vBulletin 5 caused more issues than it fixed, and we've been left with half-functioning software that feels like it's falling apart.

  • Highly customisable
  • Detailed user group customisation
  • Self-hosted version
  • Many features simply don't work
  • Extremely buggy
  • Poor mobile optimisation
  • Very limited analytics
Person

Star Rating Outdated but does the basics

March 15, 2017 | Liz Crampton

Whilst vBulletin is reasonably priced, it's generally outdated with threaded conversations and an old school traditional forum kind of look. I ran a 15k member community on it and whilst we were able to hack some customisations, it was generally not flexible but certainly did the basics. Support wasn't great but there's a developer forum which could be helpful.

  • Simple
  • Cheap
  • Out of date
  • Not flexible
Person

Star Rating Traditional forum – cumbersome and heavy on technical debt

March 1, 2017 | Sarah Hawk

vBulletin is an old school forum, which can be cumbersome and hard to manage. I have used both the self-hosted and cloud-hosted options and found both sorely lacking in today's climate of modern tech.

I wouldn't recommend.

  • Some people prefer the traditional forum look and feel
  • Good moderation functionality
  • Plenty of plugins available to extend
  • Support is slow at times, non-existent at others
  • Over time, the architecture of hacks and plugins makes upgrading next to impossible
  • Analytics and reporting are very poor
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