12 Best Bootstrap Forum Templates (Most are FREE) 2025

When considering building a community of like-minded people, these versatile forum templates will do you well.

Forums help you create a community of like-minded people and increase your sales and earnings through ads.

There are many forum platforms to help you build your forums. Some of the best forum software are phpBB, vBulletin, Invision Community, and bbPress. Which bbPress is familiar to WordPress users?

Before we discuss the Bootstrap forum templates list, let’s examine some basic steps to creating a successful forum.

• Make sure you know what categories you will cover in your forum.
• Treat your forum like a blog, be consistent, and provide valuable content to the members.
• Members of the new forum will take some time to become active. As admins, we must initially engage them.
• If you have like-minded friends, ask them to join the forum to help you keep it active early on.
• Try to find active members in your forum and bring them to interesting topics to make the discussion even more useful for other users. Encourage them to join the discussion.

Free forum templates do not provide a full-blown forum solution out of the box. You must create one from scratch or use a third-party extension. We also added multiple premium alternatives and WordPress forum themes, which help simplify the process.

Best Forum WordPress Themes

1. BuddyBoss Web

BuddyBoss is the most popular forum and social network tool for WordPress. It is based on BuddyPress but adds unmatched flexibility in design and functionality.

More info / Download

2. Doctreat

Doctreat is a powerful Bootstrap template for establishing a doctor directory website with a forum. It is based on the popular Bootstrap Framework to guarantee exceptional performance across all devices, smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Of course, Doctreat works excellently on all modern web browsers and retina screens. Along with the sophisticated designs, Doctreat has tons of practical features in store that will wow every user.

Some treats include offline packages, appointment on call, RTL support, patient history, powerful search, and a one-to-one real-time chat system. Listing all the features of Doctreat would take a long time. Instead of ruining all the fun for you, we let you experience Doctreat first-hand instead. Create an advanced medical and health directory now with Doctreat and enjoy a quick, impactful end product.

More info / Download

3. Docly

Docly is an all-around solution if you search for a WordPress theme that covers documentation, knowledge base, and forum. It comes with a powerful bbPress plugin that simplifies forum creation. Indeed, even without coding knowledge, you can still make things happen comfortably.

Docly follows all the latest web practices to guarantee spectacular performance. It includes multiple page layouts, supports RTL languages, and works smoothly on any device. The handy switcher lets you switch between dark and light modes. If you are ready to start on the right path, choose Docly now.

More info / Download

4. Beehive

When it comes to building a social network, you can employ Beehive for an array of different purposes. That said, you can create a niche platform or a general one—the choice is yours. Beehive is powerful enough to handle heaps of ideas with ease. And if you would like to introduce a forum section, you can do that with Beehive.

The design of this WordPress theme is very modern and pleasing to the eye. It ensures that everything comes into view without distractions. Beehive offers a few extras, such as chat, notifications, groups, comments, classifieds, and news feeds.

More info / Download

5. Coinflip

Adding a forum section can be highly rewarding when running an online casino or gambling website. Thanks to Coinflip, you can now establish a full-blown website for the industry without breaking a sweat. Let’s face it: you will find it all and then some in this massive bundle of practical features and functions.

Coinflip delivers every necessary page layout, from front to internal. Moreover, the layout is responsive and cross-browser-compatible. As for the forums section, Coinflip uses the BuddyPress plugin, which helps everyone make it happen without experience. Enjoy the live demo preview and go from there.

More info / Download

6. eGovenz

As the name suggests, eGovenz is a WordPress theme that fits city government best. If this is something you want to take care of and a forum element, that’s what eGovenz is for. With the one-click installation process, you can start working on your project immediately. You can select from five customizable samples.

eGovernz sports Elementor drag-and-drop page builder, so you know performing edits and improvements will be a child’s play. Some other goodies are the bbPress WordPress plugin, Events Manager, tons of custom elements, and the list.

More info / Download

7. EasyMeals

Start a food blog and build a loyal community of fans and members with EasyMeals. It is a nifty solution for creating a spectacular website with a full-blown blog and forum. But there is a lot more to EasyMeals. The tool includes recipe sharing, user accounts, numerous shortcodes, and various header styles.

Social integration, testimonials, SEO optimization and compatibility with devices and web browsers – EasyMeals takes care of everything. As a result, you get to create a striking food blogging/community platform that will connect people with tasty ideas.

More info / Download

8. SquadForce

Gaming enthusiasts looking to start their online project? Make it with SquadForce. You can use this versatile Bootstrap tool for a wide range of purposes. For instance, SquadForce builds everything from news pages and game portals to eCommerce websites and forums, and heaps more in between. Also, you can be a beginner and still make some noise on the internet with SquadForce.

Loads of ready-to-use blocks, convenient navigation styles, eSport tournaments, WooCommerce support, and stunning galleries are a few of the specialties SquadForce has available for you. The bbPress integration lets you create a forum and build a loyal community. By the way, if you want to translate SquadForce, you can do that, too. Moreover, SquadForce includes automatic updates to ensure smooth website operation for years.

More info / Download

Best Free Bootstrap Forum Templates

9. Listing

Listing is a free directory-based website template. Here the users can log in and submit places and their details. Other users can also review the place and rate it as a community. The template’s clean design makes it an easy fit for today’s web audience. The full-width design and colorful line icons make this free template feel like a premium one. The template uses the latest HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap framework. Adding a few more pages and a few lines of coding, you can make this free template an effective forum for food lovers and travelers.

More info / Download

10. Pato

Pato is a free restaurant website template by default. It is a multi-page template with all the features you need to create an effective restaurant. In this template, users can see the food and reserve a table. These modern web elements help you mesmerize the users with beautiful food images. These features will also help you create an interactive forum website template for food lovers. This flexible website template is mobile-responsive and uses HTML5, CSS3, and the latest version of the Bootstrap framework.

More info / Download

11. SociFly

SociFly is a social network-based website template. Since it is designed to manage many users, this template includes all the features and options you need to run an effective forum. The design is also neat and clean. The intuitive design can easily handle both text and multimedia elements. Users can not only interact with each other but also like other content and send friend requests. The sticky right sidebar offers plenty of options for filtering content.

If you are looking for a template to improve the interaction between community members, then SociFly would be the best choice. One of the main reasons to create a forum is to advertise. The SociFly template provides ample space to add advertising banners. Another advantage of using this template is that you get four homepage variations.

More info / Download

12. MartPlace

MartPlace is a modern template based on the marketplace concept. The template’s features are similar to those on the Themeforest website. The user can see the product author, their product review, their followers, and portfolios. In other words, MartPlace is a more refined and modern-looking Envato market website.

In addition to the forum, you also get a dashboard with this template. You can elegantly visualize your activity stats on the dashboard with graphs and charts. Modern web elements manage to improve user engagement. MartPlace is a value-for-money template that gives you all the features to create an effective forum, marketplace, and customer support system. You can simply convert this template to the CMS version, integrate it with any other software you like, and kickstart your website immediately. This well-coded template uses HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap framework.

More info / Download

What’s Your Favorite

These are some of the best free forum templates for your forum websites. As mentioned before, premium templates offer more options and advanced features. But if you like staying economical, choose one from the free Bootstrap forum templates. We have collected a free template that includes almost all the basic features you would expect from a forum website. All the templates in the list use modern HTML and Bootstrap frameworks, so working with them won’t be a big issue for you. What is your favorite template? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.