Best forum software in 2026: free and paid
The best forum software in 2026 is CommentCamp for free forum-style spaces on your own site ($0 for site owners, no ads, WordPress plugin or embed), Discourse or Flarum for a free, open-source forum, and XenForo ($195 one-time license) for a paid one. 7 of the 11 options compared here are free and open source.
- CommentCamp
- $0 for site owners
- Options compared
- 11
- Free and open source
- 7 of 11
- XenForo license
- $195 one-time
Quick picks
- Best for your own site: CommentCamp, free forum-style community spaces with threads plus optional accepted answers and member levels, $0 for site owners.
- Best overall: Discourse, an open-source forum with built-in chat and a free hosted plan.
- Best free and simple: Flarum, an MIT-licensed PHP forum that reached version 2.0 in October 2026.
- Best for WordPress: bbPress or wpForo, free plugins that add a forum to your existing site.
- Best paid: XenForo, with a $195 self-hosted license or Cloud plans from $60/month.
- Best for large teams: Invision Community, with unlimited admins, moderators, members and posts on its cloud plans.
The 11 best forum software options
Prices below are as of October 2026.
CommentCamp
CommentCamp adds forum-style community spaces to your own website through an official WordPress plugin or a universal embed script. Threads and article comments share replies, profiles and notifications, with optional accepted answers (Q&A), reactions and member levels, plus built-in spam filtering and a moderation queue.
- License and price: free, $0 for site owners forever, no ads
- Hosting: Hosted for you; private early access, onboarding the first cohorts of sites (join the waitlist)
- Best for: New discussion next to your content; its import roadmap covers WordPress comments, not forum databases
Disclosure: CommentCamp is our product.
Discourse
Discourse is open source and built on Ruby on Rails, Ember.js, PostgreSQL and Redis; the latest release is 2026.10.0 (Oct 27, 2026). It includes built-in chat and a bundled Live plugin for voice and video rooms, announced in September 2026. Every hosted plan includes unlimited members.
- License and price: GPL v2, free to self-host; hosted Free plan (2 staff seats), Pro $100/month, Business $500/month
- Hosting: Docker server (1 GB RAM minimum, 2 GB+ recommended) or official hosting
- Best for: Threads, chat and voice rooms in one place
Flarum
Flarum released its stable 2.0 version on Oct 9, 2026, followed by 2.0.2 on Oct 18. It needs PHP 8.3+, Apache or Nginx, Composer and MySQL 5.7+, MariaDB 10.3+, SQLite 3.35+ or PostgreSQL 10+.
- License and price: MIT, free
- Hosting: Self-hosted on PHP
- Best for: A clean, modern forum you host yourself
NodeBB
NodeBB runs on Node.js with MongoDB, Redis or PostgreSQL; the latest release is 4.16.5 (Oct 28, 2026). You can run it on your own server or pay for official hosting priced by pageviews.
- License and price: GPL-3.0, free to self-host; hosting from $20/month (50,000 pageviews, 5 GB) to $750/month (10,000,000 pageviews)
- Hosting: Self-hosted or official cloud
- Best for: Teams already running Node.js
phpBB
phpBB is the classic open-source PHP forum, running on PHP 7.2+ with MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite and other databases. The current version is 3.3.19 (Sep 24, 2026), and phpBB 4.0 is still in alpha (4.0.0-a2, Apr 27, 2026).
- License and price: GPL v2, free
- Hosting: Self-hosted on almost any PHP host
- Best for: Traditional category-and-board forums
XenForo
XenForo is commercial PHP forum software that runs on PHP 7.2+ (8.3 recommended) and MySQL 5.7+; the latest version is 2.3.13. Its official importers cover phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, SMF, IPS and Discourse.
- License and price: $195 one-time, including 12 months of updates and support, then $60 per 12-month extension; Cloud from $60/month (400K page views, 50 GB) to $250/month (4M page views)
- Hosting: Self-hosted or XenForo Cloud
- Best for: Established forums that want a supported commercial product
Invision Community
Invision Community is a commercial platform with cloud plans and a self-hosted version called Invision Community Classic. Cloud plans include unlimited admins, moderators, members and posts, with a 30-day free trial.
- License and price: Cloud from $89/month billed annually ($99 month to month) up to $549/month; Classic $499 one-time, then $199/year for updates
- Hosting: Official cloud or self-hosted
- Best for: Teams that want no caps on staff seats
MyBB
MyBB is a free PHP forum; version 1.8.41 came out on Sep 16, 2026. Its Merge System imports existing forums from phpBB 3, SMF, vBulletin, XenForo, Vanilla, bbPress and others.
- License and price: LGPL-3.0, free
- Hosting: Self-hosted on PHP
- Best for: Moving an older forum onto a free codebase
Higher Logic Vanilla
Higher Logic has owned Vanilla since 2021 and now sells it as a hosted community platform. Pricing is by quote only, and the old open-source Vanilla repository on GitHub is no longer available.
- License and price: Commercial, by quote
- Hosting: Managed cloud
- Best for: Companies that want a vendor-run community
bbPress
bbPress is a free WordPress forum plugin with 100,000+ active installs. The current version is 2.6.21, last updated Oct 27, 2026, and it requires WordPress 6.0+ and PHP 7.2+.
- License and price: GPLv2+, free
- Hosting: Inside your WordPress site
- Best for: A simple forum on an existing WordPress site
wpForo
wpForo is a free WordPress forum plugin with paid add-ons and 20,000+ active installs. The current version is 3.2.2, last updated Sep 28, 2026, and it requires WordPress 5.2+ and PHP 7.1+.
- License and price: GPLv2+, free core with paid add-ons
- Hosting: Inside your WordPress site
- Best for: WordPress sites that may want add-ons later
Forum software compared
| Software | License and price | Hosting | Stack | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CommentCamp | Free; $0 for site owners | Hosted for you | WordPress plugin or embed | Community on your own site |
| Discourse | GPL v2; free, or hosted $0 to $500/mo | Docker or cloud | Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL | Threads, chat and voice |
| Flarum | MIT; free | Self-hosted | PHP 8.3+ | Modern PHP forums |
| NodeBB | GPL-3.0; free, or hosted from $20/mo | Self-hosted or cloud | Node.js | Node.js teams |
| phpBB | GPL v2; free | Self-hosted | PHP 7.2+ | Classic boards |
| XenForo | $195 license; Cloud from $60/mo | Self-hosted or cloud | PHP, MySQL 5.7+ | Commercial support |
| Invision Community | $499 Classic; cloud from $89/mo | Cloud or self-hosted | PHP | Unlimited staff seats |
| MyBB | LGPL-3.0; free | Self-hosted | PHP | Free migrations |
| Higher Logic Vanilla | Quote | Managed cloud | Hosted | Companies |
| bbPress | GPLv2+; free | WordPress plugin | WordPress 6.0+ | Simple WordPress forums |
| wpForo | GPLv2+; free core | WordPress plugin | WordPress 5.2+ | WordPress plus add-ons |
Free vs paid forum software
Free, open-source forum software still costs money to run. You pay for a server and spend your own time on updates and backups.
Commercial self-hosted software adds a license and a yearly fee for updates: XenForo is $195 upfront and $60 per 12-month extension, and Invision Community Classic is $499 upfront and $199/year. For older boards, see phpBB alternatives; for hosted plans, see Discourse alternatives and pricing.
Hosted or self-hosted?
Self-hosting gives you full control. On DigitalOcean, a 1 GiB droplet costs $6.00/month and meets Discourse's minimum; a 2 GiB droplet, matching the recommended RAM, costs $12.00/month.
PHP forums like phpBB and MyBB run on ordinary PHP hosting, and Flarum also needs Composer. bbPress and wpForo run inside an existing WordPress site; compare more WordPress forum plugins.
Managed hosting costs more, but the vendor handles installs and updates. NodeBB starts at $20/month, XenForo Cloud at $60/month and Invision Community at $89/month billed annually.
Tip: For more no-cost routes, see how to create a free forum.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free forum software?
CommentCamp is the best free pick for forum-style spaces on your own site: $0, hosting included, no ads. For a standalone forum, Discourse and Flarum lead, with NodeBB, phpBB, MyBB, and bbPress or wpForo on WordPress. Those seven are free and open source to self-host, and Discourse also has a free hosted plan with 2 staff seats.
What is the best open source forum software?
CommentCamp hosts community spaces for $0, so there's no server to run. For open-source code you host yourself, Discourse (GPL v2), Flarum (MIT) and NodeBB (GPL-3.0) are the best modern forums. For a traditional PHP board, phpBB (GPL v2) and MyBB (LGPL-3.0) are open source too, and bbPress and wpForo (both GPLv2+) are open-source forum plugins for WordPress.
How much does forum software cost?
CommentCamp is $0 for site owners, hosting included. Open-source forum software is free too, but you pay for hosting, such as a $6/month server. XenForo costs $195 once plus $60 per 12-month extension, and Invision Community Classic costs $499 plus $199/year. Hosted plans range from $20/month on NodeBB to $500/month or more on Discourse Business or Invision Community.
Can I host a forum for free?
Yes. CommentCamp adds free forum-style spaces to your own site with hosting included, and Discourse has a free hosted plan with 2 staff seats and unlimited members. On WordPress, the free bbPress or wpForo plugins add a forum too.
Should I choose Discourse or phpBB?
For discussion on your own website, CommentCamp is the simplest start, with no server to run. Between the two, choose Discourse if you want built-in chat and voice rooms and can run Docker on a server with at least 1 GB of RAM, or use its hosted plans. Choose phpBB for a traditional board on standard PHP 7.2+ hosting with a database like MySQL.
Sources
- discourse.org/pricing
- github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/main/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md
- docs.flarum.org/install
- nodebb.org/pricing
- github.com/phpbb/phpbb/tags
- xenforo.com/purchase
- invisioncommunity.com/buy/pricing
- github.com/mybb/mybb/releases
- higherlogic.com/vanilla
- wordpress.org/plugins/bbpress
- wordpress.org/plugins/wpforo
- digitalocean.com/pricing/droplets
Prices and plan limits checked on October 30, 2026.