Choosing a WordPress forum plugin

Pick a forum plugin that still works at scale

Six questions to ask any forum plugin, how Jetonomy, bbPress, wpForo and Asgaros compare, and a free plugin you can test today.

Wbcom rated 4.8/5 from 93 Trustpilot reviews

A Jetonomy forum with spaces for support, ideas and discussion, plus trending topics and top members

Before you install anything

Six questions to ask any forum plugin

A forum with fifty posts and one with fifty thousand face different problems. Put these to every plugin on your list, including this one.

  1. Stay fast at 100,000 posts

    How Jetonomy answers

    Forums slow down when every list counts rows on page load. Jetonomy uses indexed tables and stored counters.

    Built for 100,000+ posts
  2. Keep spam out without a full-time moderator

    How Jetonomy answers

    Akismet checks posts and replies from members. New accounts start at trust level 0 with rate limits. Flags land in one queue.

    Akismet + trust levels
  3. Help people find the answer

    How Jetonomy answers

    Search-as-you-type full-text search and tag pages. Q&A spaces mark the accepted answer, so the next visitor sees it first.

    FULLTEXT search + tags
  4. Belong to your site, not bolt onto it

    How Jetonomy answers

    The frontend runs on the WordPress Interactivity API and picks up your theme. Override any template from your theme.

    Template overrides + RTL
  5. Decide who can read and post

    How Jetonomy answers

    Each space is open, request-to-join or invite-only. Gate spaces by MemberPress or Paid Memberships Pro level in the free plugin.

    3 join policies
  6. Bring members back

    How Jetonomy answers

    An in-app bell with unread count, immediate email notifications and per-user preferences. Members hear about replies without checking in.

    Bell + email

Jetonomy, bbPress, wpForo and Asgaros side by side

Competitor figures come from each plugin's wordpress.org listing and documentation, checked on September 17, 2026.

Jetonomy Free bbPress Free wpForo Free + add-ons Asgaros Forum Free
Latest release 1.9.72.6.17 (Sep 16, 2026)3.1.5 (Aug 16, 2026)3.4.0 (Mar 21, 2026)
Active installs on wordpress.org Download from Wbcom100,000+20,000+10,000+
Where posts are stored 22 dedicated tablesWordPress post typesIts own tablesIts own tables
Spam defences Akismet, trust levels, flag queueAkismetAntispam, Akismet, reCAPTCHAApproval, banning, reporting
Member standing Reputation + trust levels 0 to 5Roles from Keymaster to BlockedReputation and badgesModerators and usergroups
Fitting your theme Template overrides in your themeTheme compatibility API5 layouts, color settingsCustomizable responsive theme

All four are maintained and free to start. Pick Jetonomy when you expect heavy growth, want trust-level moderation, or need Q&A and Ideas beside the forum. Its importer brings bbPress, wpForo and Asgaros content across.

Which option fits your situation

  • A small forum inside a WordPress sitebbPress is actively maintained (2.6.17, September 2026) and stays close to core. Jetonomy imports it if you outgrow it.
  • A forum that wants ready-made layoutswpForo ships five layouts, including Q&A, plus reputation and badges. Jetonomy imports wpForo when you want trust levels and Ideas spaces.
  • Polls and reactions without payingAsgaros Forum includes polls, reactions and usergroups in its free plugin. In Jetonomy, polls and reactions are part of Pro.
  • A community headed for six-figure post countsJetonomy keeps posts in 22 dedicated tables with indexes and stored counters, built for 100,000+ posts.
  • A support site or course communityQ&A spaces with accepted answers and Ideas boards with a status column sit next to your forums in one plugin.
  • An app, headless frontend or AI agentJetonomy exposes 86 REST routes, 19 WordPress Abilities, 225 hooks and WP-CLI. Pro extensions add routes of their own.

Already picked one? Jetonomy can import it

The importers ship with the free plugin and run in batches with a progress bar. If the tab closes, the import resumes from the last finished batch. Old forum URLs are not redirected, so plan redirects for pages that rank.

  • bbPress Published forums, topics and replies. Dry run from WP-CLI. How the bbPress move works
  • wpForo Boards and forums map to categories and spaces.
  • Asgaros Forum Categories, forums, topics, replies and uploaded files.

The forum is free. Pro is optional.

Pay once and own it forever, or pick the annual plan. All features included in every plan, no hidden add-ons.

Jetonomy Free
Unlimited sites
Free
  • Unlimited sites, no licence key
  • Forum, Q&A, Ideas and Feed spaces
  • Six trust levels and a moderation queue
  • Voting, reputation and a leaderboard
  • Search across posts, spaces and tags
  • REST API, WP-CLI, 8 blocks and 8 shortcodes
  • bbPress, wpForo and Asgaros importers
  • MemberPress and Paid Memberships Pro gating
Get Jetonomy Free
Most popular
Pro Personal
1 site
$199 one-time
or $69/year
  • Everything in Free, plus all 17 Pro extensions
  • 1 site
  • Private messaging, 1:1 and group
  • Emoji reactions and polls
  • Community analytics
  • Email digest, web push and reply by email
  • AI spam detection and advanced moderation
  • Webhooks for Slack, Zapier or a CRM
  • Updates and support, annual or lifetime
Get Pro Personal
Pro Developer
5 sites
$299 one-time
or $99/year
  • Everything in Pro Personal
  • 5 sites
  • Priority support
  • Updates and priority support, annual or lifetime
Get Pro Developer
Pro Agency
Unlimited sites
$499 one-time
or $199/year
  • Everything in Pro Developer
  • Unlimited sites
  • Priority email support
  • Updates and priority support, annual or lifetime
Get Pro Agency

The plugin keeps working. Updates and support stop until you renew.

Free forever. Annual licenses include a year of updates and support and renew at 30% off. Lifetime licenses are a one-time payment and never expire.

Choosing a forum plugin, answered

Is bbPress still maintained?
Yes. bbPress 2.6.17 was released on September 16, 2026, and wordpress.org lists 100,000+ active installs. It stores forums, topics and replies as WordPress post types.
Why does storage matter for a forum?
Every topic list, count and search hits the database. Jetonomy uses 22 dedicated tables with indexes and stored counters instead of wp_posts. Its readme states it handles 100,000+ posts.
Can I move my bbPress, wpForo or Asgaros forum to Jetonomy?
Yes. Each importer runs in batches with a progress bar and resumes from the last finished batch if interrupted. The forum hierarchy, attachments and media come across. Old forum URLs are not redirected automatically. Only the bbPress importer has a dry run, from WP-CLI: wp jetonomy import bbpress --dry-run.
Is there an importer for other forum software?
No. Jetonomy imports from bbPress, wpForo and Asgaros only. It has no importer for hosted platforms such as Discourse or Circle.
How does Jetonomy keep spam down?
Akismet checks posts and replies from members. New accounts start at trust level 0 with rate limits. Members flag content into a moderator queue, and moderators can ban or silence accounts.
Do members become moderators automatically?
No. Levels 1, 2 and 3 are earned automatically on thresholds you set. Levels 4 (Leader) and 5 (Moderator) are always granted by an admin.
What does the free plugin leave out?
Private messaging, email digests, reply by email, web push, reactions, polls, custom badges, analytics and advanced auto-moderation are in Pro. Jetonomy has no courses, events or checkout of its own.
What do I need to run it?
WordPress 6.7 or newer and PHP 8.1 or newer. Jetonomy detects a Redis or Memcached object cache and uses it when present.

Install the free plugin and import the forum you already have.