How expensive is forum software?
 

Are there any cut-rate forum software that a person could use? I assume vBullitan isn't cheap (or maybe it is).

The reason I'm asking is that a forum I've been going to for Volvo issues, www.brickboard.com (strictly a Volvo forum) could really use a forum system upgrade, in my opinion. But before I recommend an upgrade I want to make sure I'm not asking the guy to commit a lot of money.

You can get vbulletin http://www.vbulletin.com per license at $85/year or but it for $160 plus $30 per year.

IMHO, InvisionBoard is the best and the unsupported version is free :)

http://www.invisionboard.com/

Blake,

What does InvisionBoard have/do better than VB?

I ask b/c I'm really not at all crazy about the new VB layout and graphics

E-Quote!!

Heat, if the forum doesn't need all the super-fancy features that no one uses anyway, phpBB is open-source and free:

www.phpbb.com

I like PHPBB a lot. It is really easy to use and also pretty damn easy to modify. It has a lot of the features that the pay forums have, and what it doesn't have you probably wouldn't want/need anyway.

A lot depends on what the server the site is hosted on allow though. If it supports PHP and mySQL than basically any forum is usable. If not you would have to look into other options. Before I was on a server that I could use PHP on I was using an ASP based forum that used an Access database instead of a SQL one. IIRC I was using Snitz Forum software (also free). It was a bit slow though, so a PHP/SQL based forum is highly recommended.