bbPress vs. FUDforum vs. phpBB vs. SMF vs. vBulletin

General bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Version
0.9.0.4
3.0.9
3.0.8
2.0.6
4.1.5
Release Date
2009-01-02 (15 years ago)
2018-05-17 (5 years ago)
2010-11-19 (13 years ago)
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
2011-07-26 (12 years ago)
Last Update here
2009-03-11 (15 years ago)
2018-11-01 (5 years ago)
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
2011-08-25 (12 years ago)
Author
bbpress.org
The FUDForum development team and user community.
The phpBB Group
Simple Machines
vBulletin Solutions
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
License
GPL2
GNU General Public License
General Public License
BSD
commercial / visible source
License cost
0
Free
0.00
0
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
Main View
Classic forum list
Thread-Type
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Flat
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Setup bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard
wizard
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
wizard with manual interactions
Hosting available
No
Yes
No
No
No
Technology bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Programming Language
PHP
PHP
PHP
PHP
PHP
UTF-8 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data Storage
1
MySQL Database
7
DB2 Database, Firebird Database, Microsoft SQL Database, MySQL Database, Oracle Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
6
Firebird Database, Microsoft SQL Database, MySQL Database, Oracle Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
1
MySQL Database
Other Storage
Source Code Repo
Issue Tracker
Posts bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
BBCode
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HTML
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Emoticons
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Formatting Toolbar
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
WYSIWYG Editor
No
Plugin
No
Yes
Yes
Quoting
Nested
Nested
Nested
Nested
Nested
Syntax Highlighting
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Attachments
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Tags
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mark as solved
No
Forums bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
Last Post
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Trashcan Forum
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Anti-Spam and Security bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
CAPTCHA
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Groups
One group only
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Flood Control
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ACLs
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Blacklist
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Warnings
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Suspension
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Reports
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
Several others like SpamBot detection, prevent new users from posting links, etc.
Plugin-based CAPTCHA system, Newly Registered Users permissions
An Akismet mod is available
Akismet
Notification bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
E-Mail
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
Plugin
Yes - via ICQ, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Jabber, Google Chat or Skype.
Jabber
Bookmarks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Community bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Avatars
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Ranks
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Rating/Karma System
Plugin
Yes
Patch
Yes
Yes
Signatures
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Users Online List
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Private Messaging
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom profile fields
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Moderation bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Moderators
global
global and forums
global and forums
global, forums and threads
global and forums
Move Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Split Threads
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Close Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shadow Topics
Unknown
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sticky Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Important Threads
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Search bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Full-text search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Author search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Advanced search
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unread Topics
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Customization bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Languages
0
0
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Yes
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Templates
global
global
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
Custom BBCodes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Skin-Editor
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Smiley Packs
Plugin
Patch
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Polls
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Calendar
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Friendly URLs
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Data Management bbPress FUDforum phpBB SMF vBulletin
Available Importers
Pruning
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Archiving
Plugin
Optional
No
Plugin
Yes
Export Formats
BBXF
PDF (Adobe), ATOM, RSS, RDF, HTML
SQL Dumps in .sql, sql.gz, and .sql.bz2
WAP(2), IMode
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
Export private messages
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Lo-Fi View
Plugin
Optional
Yes
Yes
Yes
remove bbPress remove FUDforum remove phpBB remove SMF remove vBulletin