XDA Forums
Depends
Confidence: Low
Use it if you root, ROM, or develop for Android . it's the largest community there and free to join.
Comparison
XDA Forums vs XenForo
XDA Forums and XenForo both land on Depends.
XenForo
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you run a serious, high-traffic discussion community and can self-host or pay for managed cloud.
| Compare | XDA Forums | XenForo |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Android developers | Large, long-running discussion communities |
| Who it's not for | iOS or non-Android developers | Casual groups wanting free or cheap |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.² | Multiple CVEs 2024-2026 (RCE, SSRF, auth bypass); self-hosters must patch promptly. |
| Support quality | No evidence in reviewed sources | Only anecdotal community-forum evidence |
| Public sentiment | No user reviews specific to XDA surfaced; broader forum sentiment notes old-school forums declining versus Reddit and Discord.⁴ | Opinions split: many operators run it happily for years, while a vocal group calls the license overpriced and the modernization pace slow.15 |
| Biggest gotcha | No moderation control, SLA, or data ownership . it's XDA's community, not yours.¹ | First-year price isn't total price . renewals, hosting, add-ons stack up |
Pick XDA Forums when
- Android developers
- Custom ROM and kernel modders
- Device rooters and tinkerers
- Buyers troubleshooting Android devices
When XDA Forums is not a fit
- iOS or non-Android developers
- Teams wanting to host their own branded community
- Anyone seeking a purchasable product with a contract
- Enterprises needing SLAs, moderation control, or data ownership
Pick XenForo when
- Large, long-running discussion communities
- Hobbyist and enthusiast forums at scale
- Teams with PHP hosting and admin skills
- Paid membership-only communities
When XenForo is not a fit
- Casual groups wanting free or cheap
- Non-technical owners . self-hosting and patching required
- Anyone wanting modern chat-style community UX
- Zero-maintenance buyers unwilling to pay cloud prices
Sources
- XDA Forums . Product pageforum.xda-developers.comofficial
- XDA Forums . Product security pageforum.xda-developers.comsecurity
review
review
- The Sad State of Web Forums . and some Alternativeshelgeklein.comnews
news
- Website Toolbox . Forum pricingwebsitetoolbox.comofficial
- XenForo . official sitexenforo.comofficial
- Self-hosted XenForo licensesxenforo.comofficial
- XenForo Cloudxenforo.comofficial
- 195$ is a brazen, overpriced pricepointxenforo.comreview
- Total cost for setting up a XenForo forumxenforo.comreview
- Xenforo Review: Alot of hype about nothingforumpromotion.netreview
- XenForo Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- CVE-2026-35056 . NVDnvd.nist.govsecurity