Everything you loved about vBulletin — threads, usergroups, infractions, reputation, private messages — on a modern Next.js + Node + PostgreSQL stack. And everything they charge extra for? Included.
Legacy forum vendors run on PHP, charge for the basics, and shut down their mod sites. We took the opposite bet on every one of those choices.
Next.js frontend, Node.js API, PostgreSQL 16. Fast pages, sane queries, trigger-driven counters that never drift.
Import users, forums, threads, posts and PMs from vBulletin 3/4/5, phpBB, MyBB, SMF and XenForo — passwords keep working and upgrade themselves to bcrypt on first login.
Reactions, credits economy, XP levels, solved answers, mod macros, signup shield and more — install, configure and uninstall from the ACP. Scaffold your own with one command.
12 shipped themes — Anime Sakura Burst, Modern Aurora, MMO Legendary Raid, Boardroom and more. Clone any theme, edit the CSS with live preview, and it's instantly in every member's picker.
CSRF everywhere, login-strike lockouts, registration captcha, honeypot signup shield, Akismet + built-in anti-spam, IP & email-domain bans, full moderation queue.
Branding removal, unlimited database size, every update, every theme, every plugin — in the base price. The add-on price list is gone.
One toggle in the ACP removes our footer attribution. Elsewhere that exact checkbox costs $289.
No SFTP, no “professional installation” invoice. Paste your license key, enter database credentials, click install.
Reactions feed credits, credits buy avatar frames, sparkle name styles and fancy titles. Your community keeps showing up.
Their own price list, next to ours. Same capability, one bill.
| What you're buying | vBulletin 6* | vB·Next |
|---|---|---|
| Forum license | $179 one-time | $12/mo or $99/yr — all-inclusive |
| Updates / maintenance | $79 / year — and you go looking for them | Included — we publish, a one-click update notification appears in your ACP with release notes and a guided updater |
| Phone & ticket support | $49/mo · $169/6mo · $329/yr | Email + community included · priority on Yearly |
| Remove vendor branding | $289 | Included — one ACP toggle |
| Professional install / upgrade | $149 – $549 (priced by DB size!) | $0 — 5-minute web installer, any DB size |
| LDAP / single sign-on | $199 | On the roadmap — free for every license when it ships |
| Plugin ecosystem | vBulletin.org closed in 2024 | Built-in Plugin Store — 30 first-party plugins, one click to enable + scaffolder + hook API |
| Theme engine | Template edits | Theme Store: 24 themes with live visual previews, Light / Dark / System (auto) member modes, clone & ship your own |
| Migration from your old forum | — | Included importer: vB 3/4/5, phpBB, MyBB, SMF, XenForo |
| Stack | PHP + MySQL | Next.js + Node + PostgreSQL 16 |
| Realistic year one license + branding-free + install (3 GB) |
$617+ then $408+/yr with support | $99 everything, every year |
* vBulletin 6 pricing as listed on vbulletin.com (June 2026): license $179, Maintenance $79/yr, support $49/mo–$329/yr, Branding-Free $289, LDAP $199, Professional Install $149–$549 by database size, vB Cloud from $18.74/mo. Verify current pricing on their site.
A fine product — with a license fee, paid yearly renewals for updates, paid branding removal, and the big add-ons (credits, security suites) sold separately by third parties. Ours ship in the box.
Great if you want managed hosting at managed-hosting prices. Self-hosting it means wrangling a heavy Ruby/Docker stack. vB·Next self-hosts happily on a $6 VPS — and keeps the classic forum layout your members already know.
Subreddits, Facebook Groups and Discord servers are free because you're the product. vB·Next is your domain, your database, your rules. No ads, no algorithm, no rug-pulls.
Both plans include every feature, theme, plugin and update. One production domain per license — localhost, .local and .test never count.
Cancel anytime. Your board keeps its data forever.
Bring a domain you own — we build and run the rest, live in minutes.
Agencies, multi-site networks, white-label and managed installs.
A real managed-plan board running the current build — the same thing every customer gets. Click around as a guest or register a test account.
Hosting it yourself? One command spins up the exact same seeded demo:
Secure Stripe checkout. Your license key appears on the confirmation page and in your email.
Grab vb-next-latest.zip with your key, drop it on any Node 18 + PostgreSQL host.
Paste the key, enter database credentials, create your admin — posting in 5 minutes.
On the Managed plan we do steps 2–3 for you — you only point your domain.
The license stops being valid and the board disables itself shortly after — licenses re-validate against our servers continuously, so a cancelled forum does not keep running. Your data is never touched: the database stays on your server (Managed customers get an export), and re-subscribing brings the board straight back.
We run your board on our infrastructure — servers, database, TLS, updates and backups. You point a subdomain you own (like forum.your-site.com) at the address we give you during setup; that's the whole job. Cancel any time and we'll hand you a database export so you can move to self-hosting.
Yes. Buy one at any registrar — Cloudflare, Namecheap or Porkbun (usually $10–15/year) — point it at your server or your Managed board, and your license binds to it automatically.
One key per production domain, validated at install with an Ed25519-signed verdict — no secrets ship in the product, and dev domains (localhost, *.local, *.test) are always free and unlimited.
Yes — upload a SQL dump in the ACP Import wizard. It detects vBulletin 3/4/5, phpBB, MyBB, SMF or XenForo, maps users/forums/threads/posts/PMs, and members keep their old passwords (transparently upgraded to bcrypt on first login).
No ads, no tracking, no revenue share, ever. You pay the license; that's the entire business model.
Email and community-forum support on every plan; Yearly licenses get priority queue. No $329/year phone-support upsell — if something's broken we just fix it.
14 days, no questions — email support@bulletinnext.com. If vB·Next isn't for you, you keep your data and we part friends.