# vBulletin

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/vbulletin/

6 people recommended vBulletin in Hacker News comments, 4 had mixed feelings and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 5 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend vBulletin for its themes, hooks, bitmask permissions and classic forum look that beat UBB. Some critics note its spread through widely pirated nulled copies.

Summary written by Claude from 13 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 12 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Nostalgia for classic vBulletin forums (2 comments in the sample): "good old vBulletin-like forums are peak internet discussions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46772574)) "I never thought I’d miss vBulletin so much." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47610736))

## Other forum software people recommend

- [Discourse](https://hackerapproved.com/p/discourse/): 26 recommend, 7 mixed, 29 criticize
- [phpBB](https://hackerapproved.com/p/phpbb/): 18 recommend, 1 mixed, 15 criticize
- [PieFed](https://hackerapproved.com/p/piefed/): 8 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize
- [XenForo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xenforo/): 6 recommend, 1 mixed, 3 criticize

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.vbulletin.com/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "vBulletin", https://hackerapproved.com/p/vbulletin/ (6 recommend, 4 mixed, 3 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.