| General | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version |
2.0.6
|
4.1.5
|
2.4
|
0.9.0.4
|
| Release Date |
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
|
2011-07-26 (12 years ago)
|
2008-08-17 (15 years ago)
|
2009-01-02 (15 years ago)
|
| Last Update here |
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
|
2011-08-25 (12 years ago)
|
2009-09-02 (14 years ago)
|
2009-03-11 (15 years ago)
|
| Author |
Simple Machines
|
vBulletin Solutions
|
miniBB Team
|
bbpress.org
|
| URL | ||||
| Free and Open Source |
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| License |
BSD
|
commercial / visible source
|
GPL
|
GPL2
|
| License cost |
0
|
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
|
Free
|
0
|
| Main View | ||||
| Thread-Type |
Flat
|
Threaded or Flat
|
Flat
|
Flat
|
| Setup | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Installation method |
wizard
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
wizard
|
| Upgrade method |
wizard
|
wizard with manual interactions
|
manual
|
wizard
|
| Hosting available |
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
| Technology | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Programming Language |
PHP
|
PHP
|
PHP
|
PHP
|
| UTF-8 Support |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Data Storage |
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database |
1
MySQL Database |
1
MySQL Database |
1
MySQL Database |
| Other Storage | ||||
| Source Code Repo | ||||
| Issue Tracker | ||||
| Posts | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| BBCode |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| HTML |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Emoticons |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Formatting Toolbar |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| WYSIWYG Editor |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
No
|
| Quoting |
Nested
|
Nested
|
Single
|
Nested
|
| Syntax Highlighting |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| Attachments |
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
Multiple files
|
| Tags |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Mark as solved | ||||
| Forums | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Categories |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Subforums |
unlimited
|
unlimited
|
one level
|
unlimited
|
| Last Post |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| Redirect Forums |
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Plugin
|
| Trashcan Forum |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Anti-Spam and Security | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| CAPTCHA |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Groups |
Multiple groups
|
Multiple groups
|
No
|
One group only
|
| Flood Control |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| ACLs |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
No
|
| Blacklist |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Warnings |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Suspension |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| Bans |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| IP-Block |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| Audit Logging |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| User Reports |
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Plugin
|
| Other |
An Akismet mod is available
|
Akismet
|
||
| Notification | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| RSS/ATOM |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
|
| Instant Messaging |
0
|
Plugin
|
||
| Bookmarks |
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Yes
|
| Community | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Avatars |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| User Ranks |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Rating/Karma System |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Signatures |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Users Online List |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Private Messaging |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Custom profile fields |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Moderation | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Moderators |
global, forums and threads
|
global and forums
|
global and forums
|
global
|
| Move Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Split Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Close Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Shadow Topics |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Unknown
|
| Sticky Threads |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Important Threads |
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Search | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Full-text search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Author search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Advanced search |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| Unread Topics |
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
Database tracked
|
|
| Customization | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Languages |
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Mobile View |
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
Unknown
|
| Templates |
global and forum specific
|
global and forum specific
|
global
|
global
|
| Custom BBCodes |
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Patch
|
Plugin
|
| Skin-Editor |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
No
|
| Smiley Packs |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Plugins |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Special Features | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Statistics |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
| Polls |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Calendar |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
No
|
| Friendly URLs |
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
| Data Management | SMF | vBulletin | miniBB | bbPress |
| Available Importers | ||||
| Pruning |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Archiving |
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Export Formats |
WAP(2), IMode
|
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
|
Users' logins/emails can be exported in CSV or TXT
|
BBXF
|
| Export private messages |
Plugin
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
Plugin
|
| Lo-Fi View |
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Plugin
|
| remove SMF | remove vBulletin | remove miniBB | remove bbPress |