⚖️ Compare
How Convoro compares
Every forum platform makes trade-offs. Here’s an honest, feature-by-feature look at how Convoro lines up against the software people most often switch from — Flarum, Discourse, XenForo, phpBB and Invision Community.
| Feature | Convoro | Flarum | Discourse | XenForo | phpBB | Invision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member experience | ||||||
| Modern single-page interface | Partial | — | Partial | |||
| True WYSIWYG editor (no Markdown or BBCode) | Partial | Partial | — | |||
| Realtime threads, presence & typing | Partial | — | — | Partial | ||
| Installable mobile app (PWA) + web push | Partial | — | — | Partial | ||
| Private messages & rich profiles | Partial | |||||
| AI-native — built in, not bolted on | ||||||
| Instant answers from your own threads (Ask) | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Semantic search | — | Partial | — | — | — | |
| Per-reader post auto-translation | — | — | — | — | — | |
| AI writing & moderation assistant | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Machine-readable build spec for AI assistants | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Customize & extend | ||||||
| Live theme editor — no code | — | Partial | Partial | — | Partial | |
| Built-in marketplace | — | — | Partial | Partial | ||
| Install add-ons without a terminal | — | — | ||||
| Multi-language UI (45+) with AI translation | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | |
| Platform & hosting | ||||||
| Runs on cheap shared hosting | — | |||||
| Guided in-browser installer | Partial | — | ||||
| Import from other forum software | Partial | Partial | Partial | |||
| Self-host & own your data | ||||||
| Open source | — | — | ||||
| Cost | ||||||
| License | Free | Free | Free / paid hosting | Paid | Free | Paid |
Built inPartial Limited, or via a paid/third-party add-on— Not available
Comparison reflects typical out-of-the-box capabilities of each platform’s current release as of June 2026. Competitors are excellent products, and several offer some of these features through paid or community add-ons. Convoro can import from Flarum, XenForo, phpBB, Discourse and vBulletin. Spotted something out of date? Let us know on the community.
Ready to make the switch?
Convoro is free and open source, and the Import wizard brings your members, categories and topics across in one pass.