SMF vs. vBulletin vs. miniBB

General SMF vBulletin miniBB
Version
2.0.6
4.1.5
2.4
Release Date
2013-10-21 (10 years ago)
2011-07-26 (12 years ago)
2008-08-17 (15 years ago)
Last Update here
2013-10-25 (10 years ago)
2011-08-25 (12 years ago)
2009-09-02 (14 years ago)
Author
Simple Machines
vBulletin Solutions
miniBB Team
URL
Free and Open Source
Yes
No
Yes
License
BSD
commercial / visible source
GPL
License cost
0
$285 Suite or $195 Forum
Free
Main View
Thread-Type
Flat
Threaded or Flat
Flat
Setup SMF vBulletin miniBB
Installation method
wizard
wizard
wizard
Upgrade method
wizard
wizard with manual interactions
manual
Hosting available
No
No
No
Technology SMF vBulletin miniBB
Programming Language
PHP
PHP
PHP
UTF-8 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data Storage
3
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database, SQLite File Database
1
MySQL Database
1
MySQL Database
Other Storage
Source Code Repo
Issue Tracker
Posts SMF vBulletin miniBB
BBCode
Yes
Yes
Yes
HTML
Yes
Yes
Optional
Emoticons
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Formatting Toolbar
Yes
Yes
Plugin
WYSIWYG Editor
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Quoting
Nested
Nested
Single
Syntax Highlighting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Attachments
Multiple files
Multiple files
Multiple files
Tags
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Mark as solved
Forums SMF vBulletin miniBB
Categories
Yes
Yes
Yes
Subforums
unlimited
unlimited
one level
Last Post
Yes
Yes
Yes
Redirect Forums
Yes
Yes
No
Trashcan Forum
Yes
Yes
Yes
Anti-Spam and Security SMF vBulletin miniBB
CAPTCHA
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Groups
Multiple groups
Multiple groups
No
Flood Control
Yes
Yes
Plugin
ACLs
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Blacklist
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Warnings
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Suspension
Yes
Yes
Yes
Bans
Yes
Yes
Yes
IP-Block
Yes
Yes
Yes
Audit Logging
Yes
Yes
Plugin
User Reports
Yes
Yes
No
Other
An Akismet mod is available
Akismet
Notification SMF vBulletin miniBB
RSS/ATOM
Yes
Yes
Plugin
E-Mail
Yes
Yes
Yes
Instant Messaging
0
Bookmarks
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Community SMF vBulletin miniBB
Avatars
Yes
Yes
Plugin
User Ranks
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Rating/Karma System
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Signatures
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Users Online List
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Private Messaging
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Custom profile fields
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Moderation SMF vBulletin miniBB
Moderators
global, forums and threads
global and forums
global and forums
Move Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Split Threads
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Close Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shadow Topics
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Sticky Threads
Yes
Yes
Yes
Important Threads
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Search SMF vBulletin miniBB
Full-text search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Author search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Advanced search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unread Topics
Database tracked
Database tracked
Database tracked
Customization SMF vBulletin miniBB
Languages
0
0
0
Mobile View
Unknown
Unknown
Unknown
Templates
global and forum specific
global and forum specific
global
Custom BBCodes
Plugin
Yes
Patch
Skin-Editor
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Smiley Packs
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Plugins
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special Features SMF vBulletin miniBB
Statistics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Polls
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Calendar
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Friendly URLs
Plugin
Yes
Optional
Data Management SMF vBulletin miniBB
Available Importers
Pruning
Yes
Yes
Plugin
Archiving
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Export Formats
WAP(2), IMode
Single Table CSV, Single and Multi-Table SQL
Users' logins/emails can be exported in CSV or TXT
Export private messages
Plugin
Yes
Plugin
Lo-Fi View
Yes
Yes
Yes
remove SMF remove vBulletin remove miniBB