| General | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version |
1.4.7
|
2.0.6
|
4.1.5
|
3.2.3
|
| Release Date |
2015-06-04 (11 years ago)
|
2013-10-22 (12 years ago)
|
2011-07-27 (14 years ago)
|
2011-10-18 (14 years ago)
|
| Last Update here |
2016-02-08 (10 years ago)
|
2013-10-25 (12 years ago)
|
2011-08-26 (14 years ago)
|
2012-02-07 (14 years ago)
|
| Author |
Matt Beale, Mark Rendle
|
Simple Machines
|
vBulletin Solutions
|
Invision Power Services
|
| URL | ||||
| Free and Open Source |
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
| License |
GPL
|
BSD
|
commercial / visible source
|
Commercial
|
| License cost |
0
|
0
|
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
|
License from $175 / Hosted from $5 per month
|
| Main View | ||||
| Thread-Type |
Threaded or Flat
|
Flat
|
Threaded or Flat
|
Flat
|
| Setup | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Installation method |
wizard
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
| Upgrade method |
wizard
|
wizard
|
wizard with manual interactions
|
wizard
|
| Hosting available |
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
| Technology | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Programming Language |
PHP
|
PHP
|
PHP
|
PHP 5.2+
|
| UTF-8 Support |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Data Storage |
1
MySQL Database |
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database |
1
MySQL Database |
1
MySQL Database |
| Other Storage | ||||
| Source Code Repo | ||||
| Issue Tracker | ||||
| Posts | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| BBCode |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| HTML |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Emoticons |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Formatting Toolbar |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| WYSIWYG Editor |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Quoting |
Nested
|
Nested
|
Nested
|
Nested
|
| Syntax Highlighting |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Attachments |
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
| Tags |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Mark as solved | ||||
| Forums | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Categories |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Subforums |
unlimited
|
unlimited
|
unlimited
|
|
| Last Post |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Redirect Forums |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Trashcan Forum |
Optional
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Anti-Spam and Security | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| CAPTCHA |
Optional
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Groups |
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
| Flood Control |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| ACLs |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Blacklist |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Warnings |
Unknown
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Suspension |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Bans |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| IP-Block |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Audit Logging |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| User Reports |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Other |
Worming, Pilllorying
|
An Akismet mod is available
|
Akismet
|
Spam Monitoring Service, Flag As Spammer, Question & Answer System
|
| Notification | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| RSS/ATOM |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
| Instant Messaging |
Yes
|
No
|
||
| Bookmarks |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Community | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Avatars |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| User Ranks |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Rating/Karma System |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Signatures |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Users Online List |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Private Messaging |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Custom profile fields |
Optional
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Moderation | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Moderators |
global, forums and threads
|
global, forums and threads
|
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
| Move Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Split Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Close Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Shadow Topics |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Sticky Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Important Threads |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Search | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Full-text search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Author search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Advanced search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Unread Topics |
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
| Customization | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Languages |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Mobile View |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Templates |
CSS only
|
global and forum specific
|
global and forum specific
|
global and forum specific
|
| Custom BBCodes |
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Skin-Editor |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Smiley Packs |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Plugins |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Special Features | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Statistics |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Polls |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Calendar |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Friendly URLs |
No
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Data Management | Beehive Forum | SMF | vBulletin | Invision Power Board |
| Available Importers | ||||
| Pruning |
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Archiving |
Unknown
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Export Formats |
WAP(2), IMode
|
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
|
SQL
|
|
| Export private messages |
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Lo-Fi View |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| remove Beehive Forum | remove SMF | remove vBulletin | remove Invision Power Board |