Proboards and EZBoards were what we worked hard to move away from. They served us at the time and I still have accounts there, but I would never go back.

The only host I really liked was IPBFree. And yes if I recall correctly you could pay to have access to other features (for much cheaper than going it alone) and so have database access.

Otherwise it is a really big draw back for a free host-too big for me.