phpBB vs. SMF vs. miniBB vs. Phorum

General phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Version
3.0.8
2.0.6
2.4
5.2.9a
Release Date
2010-11-19 (13 years ago)
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
2008-08-17 (15 years ago)
2008-10-12 (15 years ago)
Last Update here
2011-06-22 (12 years ago)
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
2009-09-02 (14 years ago)
2008-10-16 (15 years ago)
Author
The phpBB Group
Simple Machines
miniBB Team
Phorum Dev Team
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
License
General Public License
BSD
GPL
The Phorum License (BSD)
License cost
0.00
0
Free
0
Main View
Thread-Type
Flat
Flat
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Setup phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard with manual interactions
wizard
manual
wizard
Hosting available
No
No
No
No
Technology phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
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
2
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database
Other Storage
Source Code Repo
Issue Tracker
Posts phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
BBCode
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
HTML
No
Yes
Optional
Optional
Emoticons
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Optional
Formatting Toolbar
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Optional
WYSIWYG Editor
No
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Quoting
Nested
Nested
Single
Nested
Syntax Highlighting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Attachments
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Tags
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mark as solved
Forums phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
unlimited
unlimited
one level
multiple levels
Last Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Yes
Yes
No
No
Trashcan Forum
No
Yes
Yes
No
Anti-Spam and Security phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
CAPTCHA
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Optional
Groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
No
Multiple groups
Flood Control
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
ACLs
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Blacklist
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Warnings
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Suspension
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Optional
User Reports
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Other
Plugin-based CAPTCHA system, Newly Registered Users permissions
An Akismet mod is available
Aksimet Plugin
Notification phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
E-Mail
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
Jabber
0
0
Bookmarks
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Community phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Avatars
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
User Ranks
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Rating/Karma System
Patch
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Signatures
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Users Online List
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Private Messaging
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Custom profile fields
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Moderation phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Moderators
global and forums
global, forums and threads
global and forums
global and forums
Move Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Split Threads
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Close Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shadow Topics
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Sticky Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Important Threads
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Yes
Search phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
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 phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Languages
0
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Templates
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global
global and forum specific
Custom BBCodes
Yes
Plugin
Patch
Plugin
Skin-Editor
Yes
Yes
Plugin
No
Smiley Packs
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Polls
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
Calendar
No
Yes
Plugin
No
Friendly URLs
Plugin
Plugin
Optional
Plugin
Data Management phpBB SMF miniBB Phorum
Available Importers
Pruning
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Yes
Archiving
No
Plugin
Plugin
No
Export Formats
SQL Dumps in .sql, sql.gz, and .sql.bz2
WAP(2), IMode
Users' logins/emails can be exported in CSV or TXT
Export private messages
Yes
Plugin
Plugin
No
Lo-Fi View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Optional
remove phpBB remove SMF remove miniBB remove Phorum