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Compare them all:
Wikis
Forums
Podcatchers
Weblogs
Feature Comparison
| General | SMF  | vBulletin |
|---|---|---|
 Version |
 1.1.10 |
4.0.0 |
| Release Date |
July 14th, 2009 |
2009-12-11 |
| Author |
SMF Development Team |
vBulletin Solutions |
| URL |
www.simplemachines.org |
www.vbulletin.com |
| Free and Open Source |
 Yes |
 No |
| License |
Custom |
commercial / visible source |
| License cost |
0 |
$285 Suite or $195 Forum |
| Programming Language |
PHP |
PHP |
| UTF-8 Support |
Yes |
Yes |
| Type |
Flat |
Threaded or Flat |
| Installation method |
wizard |
wizard |
| Upgrade method |
wizard |
wizard with manual interactions |
| Data Storage | SMF | vBulletin |
| MySQL |
Yes |
Yes |
| Postgres |
No |
No |
| Oracle |
No |
No |
| SQLite |
No |
No |
| Textfiles |
No |
No |
| other |
|
|
| Hosting available |
No |
No |
| Posts | SMF | vBulletin |
| BBCode |
Yes |
Yes |
| HTML |
Yes |
Yes |
| Emoticons |
Yes |
Yes |
| Formatting Toolbar |
Yes |
Yes |
| WYSIWYG Editor |
No |
Yes |
| Quoting |
Nested |
Nested |
| Syntax Highlighting |
Yes |
Yes |
| Attachments |
Multiple files |
Multiple files |
| Forums | SMF | vBulletin |
| Categories |
Yes |
Yes |
| Subforums |
unlimited |
unlimited |
| Last Post |
Yes |
Yes |
| Redirect Forums |
 Plugin |
Yes |
| Trashcan Forum |
Yes |
Yes |
| Anti-Spam and Security | SMF | vBulletin |
| CAPTCHA |
Yes |
Yes |
| Groups |
Multiple groups |
Multiple groups |
| Flood Control |
Yes |
Yes |
| ACLs |
Yes |
Yes |
| Blacklist |
Yes |
Yes |
| Warnings |
Plugin |
Yes |
| Suspension |
Yes |
Yes |
| Bans |
Yes |
Yes |
| IP-Block |
Yes |
Yes |
| Audit Logging |
Yes |
Yes |
| User Reports |
Yes |
Yes |
| Other |
An Akismet mod is available |
Akismet |
| Notification | SMF | vBulletin |
| RSS/ATOM |
Yes |
Yes |
| E-Mail |
Yes |
Yes |
| Instant Messaging |
|
|
| Bookmarks |
Plugin |
Yes |
| Community | SMF | vBulletin |
| Avatars |
Yes |
Yes |
| User Ranks |
Yes |
Yes |
| Rating/Karma System |
Yes |
Yes |
| Signatures |
Yes |
Yes |
| Users Online List |
Yes |
Yes |
| Private Messaging |
Yes |
Yes |
| Custom profile fields |
Plugin |
Yes |
| Moderation | SMF | vBulletin |
| Moderators |
global, forums and threads |
global and forums |
| Move Threads |
Yes |
Yes |
| Split Threads |
Yes |
Yes |
| Close Threads |
Yes |
Yes |
| Shadow Topics |
Yes |
Yes |
| Sticky Threads |
Yes |
Yes |
| Important Threads |
Plugin |
Yes |
| Search | SMF | vBulletin |
| Full-text search |
Yes |
Yes |
| Author search |
Yes |
Yes |
| Advanced search |
Yes |
Yes |
| Unread Topics |
Database tracked |
Database tracked |
| Customization | SMF | vBulletin |
| Languages |
47 |
Official: English, German; Translatable into any language |
| Templates |
global and forum specific |
global and forum specific |
| Custom BBCodes |
Plugin |
Yes |
| Skin-Editor |
Yes |
Yes |
| Smiley Packs |
Yes |
Yes |
| Plugins |
Yes |
Yes |
| Special Features | SMF | vBulletin |
| Statistics |
Yes |
Yes |
| Polls |
Yes |
Yes |
| Calendar |
Yes |
Yes |
| Friendly URLs |
Yes |
Yes |
| Data Management | SMF | vBulletin |
| Pruning |
Yes |
Yes |
| Archiving |
Plugin |
|
| Export Formats |
WAP(2), IMode |
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL |
| Export private messages |
Plugin |
Yes |
| Lo-Fi View |
Yes |
Yes |
| Last updated | 2009-09-27 | 2010-01-05 |
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