Vanilla Forums Review

A product by Vanilla

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Overview

Vanilla is an open source and free forum platform if you host it on your own server. They offer a cloud hosting as a paid subscription.

The platform looks modern, but does not have included many common options that other free or paid platforms have.

The have an active add-on marketplace where you can find different plugins to extend the functionality.

Administration Options
8.91/10

The platform offers the essential options to manage the forum.

Compare Administration Options (higher is better choice)

Vanilla Forums

9.91

8.91

8.82

8.09

7.82

Member Options
6/10

Does not include by default private messaging and friend list. many features are available via addons.

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Vanilla Forums

Features
7.17/10

The admin interface looks well organized and with essential features. many addons are available to install from the developer's website.

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Vanilla Forums

9.09

8.89

7.98

7.17

Help & Support
8.66/10

They have an active forum where you can ask questions and receive help.

Compare Help & Support (higher is better choice)

Vanilla Forums

9.67

9.23

9.18

9.07

8.66

Pro

many add-ons available

Cons

many common features not included in the default installation

Conclusion
7.46/10

Vanilla is not so popular as other platforms, but comes with a new look and feel that you could like. You can use it for free and you can subscribe on their cloud plans if you like it.