Forum software with ability to charge subscriptions.

8 replies
Hello all. I am looking into forum software and have been reading up on hosted and self hosted. I think Id like to go with hosted software so I dont have to worry about the security and other stuff too much. I am very very new to forums but I want something that allows me to charge people to register. Now, I know there are membership software out there even though I have no idea how they work. But the forum Im looking at going with is the paid version of Proboards (Ive just taught myself the basics of their admin panel which I really like). But I don't think I can charge with them.

I need it so my members sign up to the forum through the forum software - if I had to have another registration process for the payments, it would be too much for me I think. But anyway. Does anyone knw owt about Paypal? Is there a way I can stop people signing up to my forum until they have made a Paypal payment? Or some other simple way? Is there hosted forum software out there that already allows for this?

Many thanks.
#ability #charge #forum #software #subscriptions
  • Profile picture of the author tyronne78
    I imagine vbulletin has forum software that will allow you to charge the members of your forum. I would go to their site and talk with one of their support people.

    vBulletin 5 Connect, The World's Leading Community Software
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    • Profile picture of the author nitro37
      I'd like to know myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Krista34
    Thanks Tyrone. Just emailed them. Any other suggestions anyone? I almost went with Website Toolbox as they offer a way to accept Paypal subscriptions, but their features aren't as great. I would have thought this would be quite easy to do and surely must be an important feature for forum software.
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  • Profile picture of the author ptcrefko
    All forum software has subscription base. It's either paid or free.

    For free:
    phpbb
    mybb
    smf
    discourse
    minibb
    vanilla forum
    eblah
    aef
    phorum

    Paid:

    xenforo
    ipb
    vbulletin

    When you are starting I advice you to go for free first thrn migrate your site to paid forum software when gets bigger.

    best of luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author Krista34
      Hello ptcrefko. No, I mean a way for members to pay to be able to join a forum before they post? I want the ability to be able to charge my members to join my forum. Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author ptcrefko
        Originally Posted by Krista34 View Post

        Hello ptcrefko. No, I mean a way for members to pay to be able to join a forum before they post? I want the ability to be able to charge my members to join my forum. Thanks.
        Yes, they have. All of them.

        Some forum software has a built-in payment registration like you want and some has plug-ins.
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  • Profile picture of the author Krista34
    Oh I see. Thanks a lot, thats great.
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  • Profile picture of the author vtotheyouknow
    Hi Krista,

    What you may wish to do is integrate your forum software with a membership plugin.

    That way you'll be able to not only sell forum subscriptions but also upsell to other products.

    Also, if you pick a solid forum software such as Xenforo, and a solid membership script such as DAP, you'll be able to protect and sell access to individual forum categories (as opposed to just the entire forum), among other things.

    If you intend to build a thriving community, which I hope you do, then you'll want this extra bit of control.
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