Forums For Your Website

I wanted to add a forum to this site so I decided to browse what was available and suitable for my needs. First I’m looking for something that’s free. Second it has to have longevity, to many free forums stop developing and the project dies. (Working extremely long hours to have others download your forum then swamp you with questions is draining)Third it has to be feature rich and have extensive repository of plugins or add-ons. Fourth it has to have support and support and more support. I love a community full of developers, followers, fans, etc…

Below is what I found to be the most widely used (FREE) forum’s on the internet.

Name: Vanilla – Website
WordPress Integration: Yes | Documentation
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: bbPress – Website
WordPress Integration: Yes | WP plugin | More
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: phpBB – Website
WordPress Integration: Yes | WP2BB
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: Simple Machines – Website
WordPress Integration: Yes | WP Post to SMF | WP Bridge
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: punbb – Website
WordPress Integration: N/A
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: MyBB – Website
WordPress Integration: N/A
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: YaBB – Website
WordPress Integration: N/A
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: Yet Another Forum – Website
WordPress Integration: N/A
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: Simple Press – Website
WordPress Integration: Yes
Themes and Styles: Yes
Plugins and Add-ons: Yes
Language Packs: Yes
Active Community: Yes
Support: Yes

Name: ImperialBB – Website
WordPress Integration: No
Themes and Styles: Limited
Plugins and Add-ons: Limited
Language Packs: No
Active Community: Yes
Support: Limited