[Dean C]

Originally Posted by Marco van Herwaarden

As already mentioned before, vBulletin can do all you are asking for.

vBulletin has one of the best track records considering security, something that might not be the same for some of our (free/paid) competitors.

If it is worth the money is something only you can decide..

It has a good track record in patching security fixes. That is far more than can be said for the competition. However, it's had just as many vulnerabilities as phpBB or anyone else It would only take a private exploit to be discovered, an attack calculated and planned among those who know about it, and the same kind of devasation that happened a year or two ago with phpBB is possible.

That being said, if you only have a small community, I'd say stick with a simpler piece of kit If you have plans for a larger community, then it may be wise to invest now