YaBB vs. SMF vs. BurningBoard vs. vBulletin

General YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Version
2.5 AE
2.0.6
4.1.11
4.1.5
Release Date
2010-07-04 (13 years ago)
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
2016-03-12 (8 years ago)
2011-07-26 (12 years ago)
Last Update here
2010-07-06 (13 years ago)
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
2016-05-30 (7 years ago)
2011-08-25 (12 years ago)
Author
YaBB Development Team
Simple Machines
Woltlab GmbH
vBulletin Solutions
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
Yes
No
No
License
YPL (Modified GNU GPL)
BSD
commercial / visible source
commercial / visible source
License cost
Free
0
$89.99
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
Main View
Thread-Type
Flat
Flat
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Setup YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
wizard
wizard with manual interactions
Hosting available
Yes
No
No
No
Technology YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Programming Language
Perl
PHP
PHP5
PHP
UTF-8 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data Storage
0
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
1
MySQL Database
1
MySQL Database
Other Storage
Source Code Repo
Issue Tracker
Posts YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
BBCode
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HTML
Optional
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 YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
one level
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
Last Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Patch
Yes
Yes
Yes
Trashcan Forum
Optional
Yes
Yes
Yes
Anti-Spam and Security YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
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
Optional
Yes
Yes
Yes
Suspension
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Optional
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Reports
Optional
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
trademark "the Guardian" system
An Akismet mod is available
Akismet
Notification YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
E-Mail
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
Private message notifications and broadcast messages
Plugin
Bookmarks
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Community YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Avatars
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Ranks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Rating/Karma System
Patch
Yes
Yes
Yes
Signatures
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Users Online List
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Private Messaging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom profile fields
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Moderation YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Moderators
global and forums
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
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sticky Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Important Threads
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Search YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
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 YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Languages
0
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Templates
global
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
Custom BBCodes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Skin-Editor
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Smiley Packs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Polls
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Calendar
Patch
Yes
Yes
Yes
Friendly URLs
Optional
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Data Management YaBB SMF BurningBoard vBulletin
Available Importers
Pruning
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Archiving
No
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Export Formats
print layout; storage folders
WAP(2), IMode
sql
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
Export private messages
No
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Lo-Fi View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
remove YaBB remove SMF remove BurningBoard remove vBulletin