Message boards

Message boards are forum and community platforms where members post threads and replies. The category includes long-established forum software such as phpBB, vBulletin, MyBB, XenForo and Invision Power Board, newer platforms such as Discourse and Flarum, hosted community products such as Circle, and federated social software such as Mastodon. The owners are hobby and support communities, gaming and fan sites, companies running customer forums, and creators building paid communities. For lead generation an active forum signals an engaged audience and ongoing moderation work: a market for hosting and performance services, spam and moderation tools, advertising networks, membership and payment integrations, and migration offers from vendors of newer community platforms.