Invision Community ClassicReviews of invisioncommunity.com

Version 5 update Handled terribly, no input from users, removed beloved functions for double the price. Will not renew license.

Invision Community 5 has been a massive improvement, I wish however, as a self hoster I could be able to get access or purchase the live features etc.

The software is riddled with bugs. Technologically backward, modern features are implemented years(!) after they are already available in other software. Feedback from paying users is largely ignored, and price hikes are relentless. And to make matters worse, they're trying to force self-hosted clients onto their even pricier cloud service. If they're so intent on becoming a cloud-only company, they should consider open-sourcing their code for those who need a self-hosted option, as many reputable cloud SaaS companies do. Instead, Invision Power Services is damaging its reputation and complicating the use of its software by limiting the functionality of the self-hosted package and unjustifiably raising its price. Save yourself the headache and the money – consider open-source alternatives. They fancy themselves as the Apple of forum software, but unfortunately, they only embody the worst aspects of that comparison. Their closed-off nature, disdain for users, and constant reduction of features are huge obstacles to the sustainable growth of the community.

If your platform rely on great and diverse support from 3rd party developers and moders for making Skins, Hacks and such.. it is sad to say that Invision is not have a future. up until last year, they had great support from 3rd party developers and you could find really eye-catching skins and plugins in a dedicated marketplace. since decided their 3rd party marketplace discontinue, most of 3rd party developers support are gone. So vanilla design and features for future and Invision 5 version is all you are going to get really. very few designers left to support this platform. almost all third party developers who used to be dedicated for this platform stop supporting it now. When I reached out to some developers to ask if they re-create those skins and plugins they developed for version 4 into version 5, very few of them were positive and already moved on. for me specially skins and themes, since my forum is highly depended on a custom built skin and since it is not going to be available on version 5, I'm highly considering to move on to other platforms lately. I'm with this platform since 2012 to this day and purchased and renewed a few skin for years (version 3xx and version 4xx). one skin was the main reason to actually come to this platform and choose Invision in the first place. One of the first things admins are searching when want to choose a platform, is really browsing it's third party offering and marketplace. every community have that and decision to stop their marketplace was short-sightd. now they say it was not selling all that much but speaking to third party developers, none complain about their sell was down. more than one even said Invision stole their ideas and works from them for their benefits... they didn't even let marketplace continue function for duration of version 4 until the end. very suddenly and out of the thin air they can remove a mega feature like this, mid-way through a product, so it was alarming and stuff like this can happen again for version 5.

One of the best options for modern online communities. I use it for more than 10 years and eventually even built my business around it with currently 7 websites/licenses. All competitors or free alternatives have at least one of these two problems: they are too limited (e.g. forums only) so you can’t run a modern, flexible and monetised community with just one piece of software; or their design and usability is outdated and feels like online communities 20 years ago. Invision Community masters both of these aspects and that’s why it stands out in a positive way. The downside is the shift to cloud offers which comes with a huge price increase. A comparable cloud offer takes a self-hosted license from $16,58 a month (199/12) to at least $169 a month; ten times as much! Many communities (including most of my own) will not be able to compensate for such a huge price increase. So while I am happy with the product for now, I am very uncertain about the future.

I have been using Invision Community's software for over 20 years now, and I am extremely happy with the quality of the product and the high level of customer service from the company. While there are a number of alternatives out there in the space (and I have considered all of them), Invision has a finessed forum/community product that is simply unmatched by the competition. There are a range of cloud-based pricing options, but for someone like me with a small community I have found their self-hosted solution ($200/y) to be excellent value for money considering that you unlock an entire suite of UGC and community solutions (including blog, gallery, commerce) that you can customise to your heart's content. Best of all, despite the fact that Invision Community clearly has a number of high-profile clients, their management and customer service team are always available on their official forums to discuss technical issues, improvements to the software and more. I have even had a number of my own feature suggestions heard by the top-level management team and implemented in various updates, so they don't just pay attention to just the biggest-paying customers. And they always take the time to offer considered responses to complaints and questions about their software offering. In fact, I've never seen a company be so openly transparent and communicative with its customer base. You might find that Invision Community doesn't quite offer the community experience features that you need, but you can be sure that the quality of the software they offer is incredible and the support/company feedback excellent. I highly recommend trying their suite with a free trial to see if their platform offers what you need, but if quality and customer service matters to you I would say that Invision Community deserves your custom.

I've been using Invision Community for both of my communities the last few years, and it's been nothing but a stellar experience. Support has been responsive and quick to help through their forums, while regularly releasing software updates and new features.

Invision Community is a powerful and versatile platform for building and managing online communities. Its extensive features, customization options, and focus on user engagement make it an attractive option for a wide range of users and organizations. However, it’s important to consider the pricing structure and potential complexities before making a decision.