phpBB vs. MyBB vs. vBulletin vs. XMB

General phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Version
3.0.8
1.6.3
4.1.5
1.9.11
Release Date
2010-11-19 (13 years ago)
2011-04-16 (12 years ago)
2011-07-26 (12 years ago)
Febuary 28, 2009
Last Update here
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2011-08-25 (12 years ago)
2012-03-02 (12 years ago)
Author
The phpBB Group
MyBB Group
vBulletin Solutions
The XMB Group
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
License
General Public License
Custom
commercial / visible source
General Public License
License cost
0.00
US$0
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
0.00
Main View
Thread-Type
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Threaded or Flat
Flat
Setup phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
Hosting available
No
No
No
No
Technology phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Programming Language
PHP
PHP
PHP
php
UTF-8 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data Storage
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
1
MySQL Database
Other Storage
Source Code Repo
Issue Tracker
Posts phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
BBCode
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
HTML
No
Yes
Yes
Optional
Emoticons
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Formatting Toolbar
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
WYSIWYG Editor
No
Plugin
Yes
No
Quoting
Nested
Nested
Nested
Nested
Syntax Highlighting
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Attachments
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Tags
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mark as solved
Forums phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
unlimited
unlimited
unlimited
one level
Last Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Trashcan Forum
No
Plugin
Yes
No
Anti-Spam and Security phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
CAPTCHA
Yes
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
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Suspension
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Reports
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Other
Plugin-based CAPTCHA system, Newly Registered Users permissions
Akismet plugin available.
Akismet
Notification phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
E-Mail
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
Jabber
Bookmarks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Community phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Avatars
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User Ranks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Rating/Karma System
Patch
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Signatures
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Users Online List
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Private Messaging
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Custom profile fields
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Moderation phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Moderators
global and forums
global and forums
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
Yes
Yes
Yes
Search phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Full-text search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Author search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Advanced search
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Unread Topics
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Session tracked
Customization phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Languages
0
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Templates
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
Custom BBCodes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Skin-Editor
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Smiley Packs
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Polls
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Calendar
No
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Friendly URLs
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Data Management phpBB MyBB vBulletin XMB
Available Importers
Pruning
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Yes
Archiving
No
No
Yes
No
Export Formats
SQL Dumps in .sql, sql.gz, and .sql.bz2
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
Export private messages
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Lo-Fi View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
remove phpBB remove MyBB remove vBulletin remove XMB