# bbPress review (2026): is it any good? > Free, open-source forum plugin for WordPress Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. bbPress is forum software built by contributors to WordPress and installed as a WordPress plugin. It adds forums, topics, replies, user profiles and subscriptions to an existing WordPress site and shares its user accounts and admin area. It is GPL-licensed and free, and extra features come from WordPress plugins. - **Category:** Courses & Communities - **Made by:** bbPress project (WordPress community) - **Website:** https://bbpress.org - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you don't run WordPress, as it works nowhere else. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, bbPress is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** The whole plugin is free under the GPL; you pay only for your own WordPress hosting and any add-on plugins you choose. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | bbPress | $0 | Free GPL plugin that you host yourself on your own WordPress site. | Read from https://bbpress.org/about/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with bbPress before buying. ## Key features - **Forums inside WordPress:** Runs on the same user accounts and admin area as the rest of a WordPress site, with a one-click install. - **Multisite forums:** Can divide a site into sections and let users create content in them. - **Spam protection:** Supports Akismet for filtering spam posts. - **RSS feeds:** Provides feeds for forums, topics and replies. - **Customizable templates:** Forum templates can be restyled and overridden in a WordPress theme. - **Plugin extensions:** Extra features such as profiles or attachments come from WordPress's plugin system rather than the core plugin. ## Good for - WordPress site owners who want a simple discussion board on their own domain - Communities that prefer lightweight, open-source software over hosted platforms ## Worth knowing - It runs only inside WordPress, so you need a WordPress site and your own hosting. - It is deliberately minimal: many features come from separate plugins you choose and maintain. - It has no hosted version, so updates, backups and spam handling are up to you. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.0 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. bbPress is a free forum plugin that runs inside WordPress, with Akismet spam filtering and RSS feeds. It is deliberately bare, so profiles, attachments and most other things come from extra plugins that you choose and keep updated, on hosting you pay for. - **Value for money: C.** The plugin is $0, but it only runs on a WordPress site you host yourself, so the real cost is that hosting. Software you must host sits at a C. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The whole plugin is free under the GPL with no caps. You still need your own WordPress hosting. - **Features: C.** Forums, topics, replies, RSS and Akismet are built in. The listing says it is deliberately minimal and extra features come from other plugins. - **Ease of use: D.** It needs a WordPress install, your own hosting, and you handle updates and backups. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** Web only, inside WordPress. Akismet is the one named integration. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from bbPress's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among course and community platforms - bbPress's GPA of 2.0 is higher than 23 of the 98 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 21. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 71 of 98) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - bbPress has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 1.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/courses-communities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** bbPress is free, so making your own would save you nothing. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 54 of the 98 other course and community platforms grade higher. - You could make: RSS reader: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Akismet **Tags:** Community, Open source, RSS reader ## Alternatives - [wpForo](https://toolgpa.com/tools/wpforo): WordPress forum plugin with optional paid AI features. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bbpress-vs-wpforo) - [Asgaros Forum](https://toolgpa.com/tools/asgaros-forum): Lightweight discussion board plugin for WordPress. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/asgaros-forum-vs-bbpress) - [phpBB](https://toolgpa.com/tools/phpbb): Free open-source bulletin board software written in PHP. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bbpress-vs-phpbb) - [MyBB](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mybb): Free open-source forum software with plugins and themes. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bbpress-vs-mybb) - [Discourse](https://toolgpa.com/tools/discourse): Open-source discussion forum software with hosted plans. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bbpress-vs-discourse) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://bbpress.org/about/ - https://bbpress.org/about/features/ - https://bbpress.org/about/requirements/ - https://wordpress.org/plugins/bbpress/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/bbpress Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).