Freedom251 › Discussion Forum Software
vBulletin
What vBulletin is
vBulletin is forum and community publishing software available as a hosted web service or self-hosted installation. Its Site Builder uses drag-and-drop tools for custom pages and includes a style generator; administrators can also edit templates through the Style Manager. Community channels include forums, blogs, social groups, private messages, visitor messages and user albums. Inline moderation lets administrators and moderators manage posts and threads from forum pages, while the manual describes a search architecture intended to make all content searchable. A vBulletin 6 announcement identifies Shopify integration as a feature. The vBulletin Cloud plan includes hosting and maintenance, while the vBulletin 6 license is for self-hosting and includes one year of updates and one month of ticket support. For self-hosting, the manual recommends PHP 7.3 or greater and MySQL 8 or greater. Pricing is paid: vBulletin Cloud is $14.99 a month, and the vBulletin 6 license is $179, paid once. There is no free plan.
Who it suits
It suits people building a forum or online community who need publishing, member communication and moderation tools. Buyers can choose hosted service or a self-hosted installation.
What it does well
- Includes forums, blogs and social groups.
- Inline moderation manages threads and posts.
- Site Builder includes drag-and-drop page tools.
- Cloud plan includes hosting and maintenance.
What to know first
- There is no free plan.
- Cloud costs $14.99 a month.
- Self-hosted license costs $179, paid once.
- Self-hosting recommends PHP 7.3 and MySQL 8 or greater.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| vBulletin Cloud | Starts at $14.99/month · Hosted service with hosting and maintenance | $14.99 a month |
| vBulletin 6 license | Includes one year of updates and one month of ticket support · Self-hosted installation | $179, paid once |
As vbulletin.com lists them, read 9 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
vBulletin offers community channels, moderation and page customization in hosted and self-hosted forms. Choose between the recurring Cloud plan and the one-time self-hosted license based on deployment needs.
Facts from vBulletin's own pages
- Community tools
- The manual describes forums, blogs, social groups, private messages, visitor messages, and user albums as channels. · dev.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Customization
- Administrators can change styles through the Style Generator and edit templates through the Style Manager. · docs.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Hosting requirements
- For self-hosting, the manual recommends PHP 7.3 or greater and MySQL 8 or greater. · dev.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Integration
- The vBulletin 6 announcement identifies Shopify integration as a new feature. · prnewswire.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Moderation
- Inline moderation lets administrators and moderators manage threads and posts from forum pages. · dev.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Operating systems
- The manual says the software runs on any operating system using a modern web server. · dev.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Product
- vBulletin is forum and community publishing software. · prnewswire.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Search
- The manual describes a search architecture designed to make all content searchable. · dev.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Security
- The manual says post requests are restricted to the site's domain unless other referrers are added to a whitelist. · ww.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Site building
- Site Builder uses drag-and-drop tools to create custom pages and includes a style generator. · dev.vbulletin.com, 9 Oct 2026
- Support
- The vBulletin 6 license announcement includes one month of ticket support and says the average ticket is answered within 24 hours. · prnewswire.com, 9 Oct 2026
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