vBulletin vs XenForo

vBulletin vs XenForo

An Up and Comer and a Veteran in the vBulletin vs XenForo Battle

VBulletin is the veteran of the two involved in the vBulletin vs. XenForo battle and hasn’t just settled a huge lawsuit. The lawsuit was between vBulletin and XenForo and the settlement was confidential. However, the good news about it ending in early 2013, XenForo can finally move forward.

One of the biggest drawbacks to using XenForo was the lack of updates. These resulted from the lawsuit, which caused the team at XenForo to halt all updates until it was finished. The settlement allows the team to move forward and we can, finally, give XenForo a fair shake in the battle between, vBulletin vs. XenForo.

What Does vBulletin Offer You?

With the newest version of vBulletin, which is vBulletin 5 Connect, you get many new features allowing you to engage with your members socially. The social functions have improved form vBulletin 4.2, along with many other features. VBulletin has long been known as the largest and the best in the arena for paid forum scripts, and it still holds that reputation.

Many users find it a bit difficult, at first, but once they get used to the administration area, they find it to be one of the best systems on the market. With new features including a new site builder, new search structure, more content features, a responsive design, expanded API and an MVC architecture, this new system is far better than the previous version.

The modern design of vBulletin 5 Connect gives you the ability to drag and drop for easy editing. You can also use the Style Generator to create new custom styles and color combinations quickly. Adding this in with the reconfiguration of the search engine architecture, makes the newest version of vBulletin hard to beat.

What do you get with XenForo?

Designed by two ex-vBulletin developers, Mike Sullivan and Kier Darby, this paid forum script certainly gives vBulletin a run for their money. It is built on the Zend Framework, which used to just have a promising future, but with the lawsuit ending, it’s taken the industry by storm. Although, the newest XenForo release, 1.2.1, still has some bugs to be worked out, it’s quite powerful.

XenForo will allow for easy social engagement, provides excellent customization tools and gives developers the option to edit the HTML and CSS without any code changes necessary. This makes it a very powerful system and the add-ons available make it customizable for nearly any forum project.

More updates have been promised for XenForo and it’s no longer lurking in the shadows waiting for the opportunity to move forward. Many believe vBulletin was trying to run the company out of money with the lawsuit, but that hasn’t worked. XenForo has a bright future and can certainly compete with vBulletin now.

vBulletin vs XenForo

Which is the Best Choice Between vBulletin vs. XenForo?

The overall winner of this battle is still vBulletin, but XenForo is coming on fast. Some will prefer the performance of XenForo and many have commented on how much better the script performs compared to IPB. However, switching from vBulletin to XenForo is difficult, so comments about the difference in performance were not found.

Some users believe vBulletin 5 Connect was a poor attempt at copying what XenForo did. However, both systems are good choices. VBulletin still has a larger community and the lawsuit didn’t help the XenForo community at all. They took a hit, which they are recovering from, but they are not back completely yet.
vBulletin vs XenForo Search Trends

Hosting vBulletin or XenForo

After choosing between vBulletin and XenForo, you need the right hosting. Without a solid hosting foundation, it won’t matter which one of these paid forum scripts you choose.

Shared web hosting isn’t heavy enough to fully support these two scripts as your forum grows. It may work perfect for the first few months, as you build, customize and launch your forum. However, as your members become more active, you will need better hosting.

ITX Design provides hosting packages for both vBulletin and XenForo. You can choose from shared, VPS and dedicated hosting options, making upgrading quick and easy. If you’re ready to choose between vBulletin vs. XenForo and move forward with your project, contact our support team for a hosting package recommendation today.

ITX Design is a Web Hosting and Domain Registration provider. We provide dedicated servers, shared web hosting, and domain registration for small businesses including Reseller Hosting, FFmpeg Hosting and Christian Web Hosting.
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