NodeBB vs ProBoards
NodeBB
nodebb.orgProBoards
proboards.orgSide by side
| Figure | NodeBB | ProBoards |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $20/mo | $1.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 6 | 5 |
| Spec score · Forum Software | 8.8 (#3) | 7.9 (#8) |
| Audience | NodeBB describes forums as useful for brand communities and product support boards. | ProBoards describes its forums as suitable for interest-based communities, business owners, and people seeking a hosted forum without managing software or servers. |
| Founded | 2014 | 2000 |
| Support | Paid hosting plans list priority support, and NodeBB also points users to its community support forum. | ProBoards advertises 24/7 support through its member support forum and help guide. |
Plans
NodeBB
- Starter$20 a month
- Hamlet$100 a month
- Village$250 a month
- City$750 a month
- Self-hostedFree
- Enterprise SolutionsPriced on request
ProBoards
- ProBoards free forum hostingFree
- Ad-Free (recurring subscription)$6 a month
- Ad-Free (month-to-month)$8 a month
- Change Forum URL$9.99, paid once
- Custom Domain Name$19.99 a year
In their own words
NodeBB
NodeBB is a community discussion platform for forums and online communities, including brand communities and product support boards. Members can write topics and replies using a visual editor or Markdown, chat in real time, and receive notifications for follows, likes and topic subscriptions. They can form groups with activity feeds, tag topics and follow tags for updates. Administrators can create unlimited moderator and administrator accounts and set their permissions. More than 500 plugins and themes can be installed through the control panel, and public Read and RESTful Write APIs support integrations. Spam-prevention integrations include Akismet, StopForumSpam and Project Honeypot. Self-hosted NodeBB is free to download and install under GPLv3; hosted plans start at $20 a month and include priority support. Basic full-text search uses the bundled database engine; Solr and Elasticsearch search require third-party plugins. Installation guides cover Linux, macOS, Windows and cloud deployment options including Docker.