NodeBB

What do you like best?

NodeBB is modern forum software written in Node.js with MongoDB and Redis. It has a modern look and built on a modern platform. The plugin system works great and it's very simple to add an remove plugins. Your options for customization range from CSS overrides to a completely custom look and feel. The instructions for setup and even scaling are quite straightforward as long as you have a little Linux or devops experience.

The team has a philosophy of not pushing back on requests and complaints and they actually work with you to find the best solution to almost any issue. Many times it's just a quick bug fix (and the team is super fast at bug fixes).

What do you dislike?

Some of the UI isn't as clean as the competition but it's always getting better. The standard upgrade process requires downtime but this is typical for most forum platforms, including the competition.

Recommendations to others considering the product:

If you're deciding between NodeBB and Discourse, I would recommend NodeBB because of it's flexibility, community support, and official support. If you're familiar with Node.js, JavaScript, and MongoDB, then there is no question that you should choose NodeBB.

If you're migrating from another forum, it is possible but you might need to do some research and manual work. I failed at an import into Discourse and succeeded with NodeBB.

What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?

We run a community of board game enthusiasts. We moved from an old PHP platform that had infrequent updates and was difficult to customize and administer. We replaced it with NodeBB and could be more happy. It is different so some long time users had a learning curve but overall engagement is up and we're getting new users in the community at a better rate than previously.