Why do some snub free forum software?

[Jason76]

Well, I don't see them snubbing free blog software, because there isn't any, lol. Anyway, in the past, but not so much as now, free forum software seemed to run into problems that were more easily taken care of on the other. Also, mobile friendliness was a given on paid, but you had to get a mobile friendly theme for the free stuff. Anyway, free forum software has never offered one-on-one support, but then again, give me a break, why should they?

O.K., anyway, the support offered on free forum software seems good enough, maybe at times excellent. Well, what exactly do you see wrong with free forum software as of 2022?

 

[WebKitty]

Nothing really makes a difference. Free is just as good as paid at this point. It all comes down to what you want, what you want access to, and what company you want to support. There is nothing wrong with going free at all. I have done both and prefer software that happens to be paid.

 

[Jason76]

Paid might seem to be more a liability these days as owners might not be able to afford the fees. Why pay fees when top-of-the-line software like phpBB is already mobile ready? Also, a lot of developers are simply knowledgeable enough to not need help beyond free support forums.

 

[Shole2]

Paid used to be worth it, now it seems like nothing is worth it anymore, but then again you can't deny that vbulletine and xenforo look 10x better than the rest of the free forums. Although I love SMF it's just not the same good looking theme like with XenForo.

 

[Nomad]

Paid might seem to be more a liability these days as owners might not be able to afford the fees. Why pay fees when top-of-the-line software like phpBB is already mobile ready? Also, a lot of developers are simply knowledgeable enough to not need help beyond free support forums.

Yeah, that's me. I don't use paid software because I don';t want to end up shutting down my forum because I couldn't continue paying for subscriptions.
While mobile readiness is important, you also need to see how traffic is coming to your site. If you do not have anyone visiting through mobile devices, you shouldn't be too much worried.

 

[Jason76]

Yeah, that's me. I don't use paid software because I don';t want to end up shutting down my forum because I couldn't continue paying for subscriptions.
While mobile readiness is important, you also need to see how traffic is coming to your site. If you do not have anyone visiting through mobile devices, you shouldn't be too much worried.

Actually, you can go along time without renewing a XF license. I'm not sure about other paid software. Anyway, it's always better to renew XF, but as long as your php etc. setup is fine, you can work with any version..