MyBB vs. vBulletin vs. phpBB vs. SMF vs. XenForo

General MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Version
1.6.3
4.1.5
3.0.8
2.0.6
1.5.2
Release Date
2011-04-16 (12 years ago)
2011-07-26 (12 years ago)
2010-11-19 (13 years ago)
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
2015-10-19 (8 years ago)
Last Update here
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2011-08-25 (12 years ago)
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
2015-11-15 (8 years ago)
Author
MyBB Group
vBulletin Solutions
The phpBB Group
Simple Machines
XenForo Ltd
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
License
Custom
commercial / visible source
General Public License
BSD
commercial / visible source
License cost
US$0
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
0.00
0
$140
Main View
Thread-Type
Threaded or Flat
Threaded or Flat
Flat
Flat
Flat
Setup MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard
wizard with manual interactions
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
wizard
Hosting available
No
No
No
No
No
Technology MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Programming Language
PHP
PHP
PHP
PHP
PHP
UTF-8 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data Storage
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
1
MySQL 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 MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
BBCode
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HTML
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Emoticons
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Formatting Toolbar
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
WYSIWYG Editor
Plugin
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Quoting
Nested
Nested
Nested
Nested
Single
Syntax Highlighting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Attachments
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Tags
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mark as solved
Forums MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
Last Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Trashcan Forum
Plugin
Yes
No
Yes
No
Anti-Spam and Security MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
CAPTCHA
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
Flood Control
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ACLs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Blacklist
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Warnings
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Suspension
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Reports
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
Akismet plugin available.
Akismet
Plugin-based CAPTCHA system, Newly Registered Users permissions
An Akismet mod is available
Advanced Spam Manager "Spam Cleaner", Questions and Answer System
Notification MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
E-Mail
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
Jabber
No
Bookmarks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Community MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Avatars
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Ranks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Rating/Karma System
Yes
Yes
Patch
Yes
Yes
Signatures
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Users Online List
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Private Messaging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom profile fields
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Moderation MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Moderators
global and forums
global and forums
global and forums
global, forums and threads
global and forums
Move Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Split Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Close Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shadow Topics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Sticky Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Important Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
No
Search MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Full-text search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Author search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Advanced search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unread Topics
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Customization MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Languages
0
0
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Templates
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
Custom BBCodes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Skin-Editor
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Smiley Packs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Polls
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Calendar
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Friendly URLs
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Data Management MyBB vBulletin phpBB SMF XenForo
Available Importers
Pruning
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Archiving
No
Yes
No
Plugin
No
Export Formats
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
SQL Dumps in .sql, sql.gz, and .sql.bz2
WAP(2), IMode
NA
Export private messages
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
No
Lo-Fi View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
remove MyBB remove vBulletin remove phpBB remove SMF remove XenForo