Or course there is no right answer to this question, it depends on the creators needs and preferences mainly as to which software is chosen, and costs of course 
some packages can cost an arm and a leg literally 
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This got me thinking, I’m running NodeBB just like this platform, but if you had unlimited money to throw at a project, would you still chose what you run now?
@jac great question. I don’t think there is in fact any right or wrong answer for this, and as you’ve indicated, much of the decision would be based on individual requirements.
That said, I have started writing a comparison / review of NodeBB and Flarum - as you know, I’ve used both access I always promised I’d provide a fair review of both products side by side.
Then of course, there’s the usual suspects such as
To name but a few - and yes, I’ve used them all - with varying degrees of success.
I’m going to invite @katos to this discussion…
@phenomlab said in Best forum software?:
MyBB
PhpBB
MyBB and PhpBB are two I have used years ago, probably because they were the easiest to install 
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WBB Worltlab Susite https://www.woltlab.com/
@riekmedia I think my real issue with Woltlab is the cost
@phenomlab said in Best forum software?:
@riekmedia I think my real issue with Woltlab is the cost
I’d agree, that would unfortunately put me off. If we had unlimited money to throw at a project then maybe this would be suitable 
You can also host it yourself, in which case you pay a one-time fee for the license with a one-year update.
But I also find it too expensive in the long run, especially when you start a project where no turnover is generated itself.
But it’s a nice forum software. I have 2 licenses
@riekmedia that’s interesting. I didn’t realise you could self host. However, looking at the available plugins, they seem very expensive.
@phenomlab there are plenty of plugins for WBB. Free sovie paid and also massive designs
@riekmedia Yes, but the ones that add any useful functionality aren’t free.
@phenomlab some don’t, but I switched to Nodebb and wanted to stick with it.
@riekmedia Same here 
This is very interesting.
I’ll hold off my comments for now but I’ll be sure to post here soon 
@katos still interested in your views ref this topic
Never chose flarum!
@Hari ouch ! Where did that come from ?
@phenomlab for now this is worrying me https://discuss.flarum.org/d/30402-why-flarum-search-is-bad-and-how-to-improve-with-a-new-extension/9
@Hari hmm. Yes, that’s been an issue for years. The real problem with Flarum is that despite what they’ll tell you, the calls to the database are what slows it down, and the more extensions you have, the worse this gets. Any search facility should be core - it shouldn’t have to be added as a plugin or extension, and the fact that it’s taken Flarum so long to address what I’d consider a show stopper (a bit like their lack of interest around the GDPR subject) in my view.
mongoDB is so much faster as it’s not tied into SQL and is based on collections of data. And who uses MyISAM in mySQL these days ? InnoDB is indeed much faster, but it cannot compete with the speed of mongoDB.
Finally, another huge drawback is Flarum’s usage of PHP. This is notoriously slow in some cases, and when aligned with NodeJS, there is no contest in terms of speed. Search something in this forum and watch how quickly it returns data.
@phenomlab in terms of free forum software NodeBB is the best I’ve tried but I’ve always liked the idea of trying VBulletin and the likes, but they’ve always been way overpriced and quite frankly I bet they are heavy on resources.
@JAC said in Best forum software?:
NodeBB
the only big disadvantage of nodeBB is Themes, i do not see any good themes.
i feel it is more like bbPress backed by nodeBB 
