Hello,
I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with the large number of forum software platforms in existence and which one to choose.
Is there a similar alternative to Invision but not as expensive? I'm hoping that someone can please help me make an informed decision based on my requirements below.
OBJECTIVE:
I want a forum where my customers are able to register an account which enables them access to a secured forum; where I can post topics/documents/, they can ask questions, and connect with other customers on similar product and application related topics.
MINIMUM REQUIRED FEATURES:
Customers to Register an account themselves - customers to sign up their own unique login/account, which I can approve or deny
New Member Approval / Deny - I need to be able to have full control over ppl joining up, with a one-click approval system, and be able to deny non customers from accessing the forum.
Moderator - I need to be able to moderate comments, and get email alerts for new comments posted
Customers to interact - have a question and answer forum format, be able to Share/upload files (documents, photos, videos and files)
Notifications - Users to be able to opt in to email notifications, should they want to receive them
Customise Forum Look - Change colours, upload logos etc
Security - ideally I don't want to have to download any forum software to my PC. Also the free software seems too good to be true
Cost - a lot of the platforms have very expensive monthly plans, which I cant justify for my small community of customers
CONCERNS
Security - The free forums seem too good to be true, I dont want to download software to my PC.
Cost - Ideally, I would like to use invisioncommunity.com as the functionality is perfect (obviously this Squarespace forum is using Invision), so far a great experience. However it is a little costly for my small community of customers (approx. 20). I also saw on another thread in the Squarespace forum that someone was receiving a lot of SPAM?
These are the platforms I have seen consistently recommended in blog posts (I'm sure there are many more):
Codoforum
Discourse
Drupal
Flarum
FluxBB
HubSpot
inSided
Invision Community
MyBB
Muut
phpBB
Simple Machines Forum
Tal.ki
Website Toolbox
Vanilla Forums
VBulletin
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-forum-software https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/best-forum-software
