Compare MyBB vs PhpBB 3 vs Simple Machines 2

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Popular Forum Comparisons: IP.Board vs PhpBB 3 vs vBulletin 4, MyBB vs Simple Machines 2 vs XenForo, FluxBB vs ProBoards vs PunBB, FUDForum vs Phorum vs Vanilla Forums, IceBB vs PhpBB 3.

Comparison
Results

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Select

Version

1.6.12

3.1.2

2.0.6

Last Release

December 16, 2013

November, 25 2014

November 12, 2013

License

GPL License

BSD License

Price

Free

Resources

Official Website »
Download »

Ergonomy

Easy to Use

Perfection

Easy to Use

Installation

Easy to Do

Fast & Simple

Easy to Do

Administration

Efficient & Fast

Community Size

Big Community

Huge Community

Our Opinion

User Reviews

9.2/10 (1992 votes)

8.4/10 (832 votes)

4.4/10 (1265 votes)

Demonstration

Open Demo »

Open Demo »

Open Demo »

Server Requirements

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Operating System

GNU/Linux
BSD Unix
Microsoft Windows
Apple Mac OS

GNU/Linux
BSD Unix
Microsoft Windows
Apple Mac OS

GNU/Linux
BSD Unix
Microsoft Windows
Apple Mac OS

Web Server

Apache 1.3
Apache 2.0/2.2
Microsoft IIS
Lighttpd
Nginx

Apache 1.3
Apache 2.0/2.2
Microsoft IIS
Lighttpd
Nginx

Apache 1.3
Apache 2.0/2.2
Microsoft IIS
Lighttpd
Nginx

Languages

PHP 4
PHP 5

PHP 4
PHP 5

PHP 4
PHP 5

Databases

MySQL
Postgresql
SQLite

MySQL
Postgresql
SQLite
Microsoft SQL Server
Oracle

MySQL
Postgresql
SQLite

Browsers & Clients
Requirements

Compatible
Browsers

Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer

Google Chrome

Opera

Apple Safari

Konqueror

Mozilla SeaMonkey

Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer

Google Chrome

Opera

Apple Safari

Konqueror

Mozilla SeaMonkey

Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer

Google Chrome

Opera

Apple Safari

Konqueror

Mozilla SeaMonkey

Plugins/
Technologies

HTML
Javascript
AJAX
CSS

AJAX

HTML
Javascript
AJAX
CSS

Localization

Yes

Languages

Supported Languages:

Portuguese (Brazilian)

Chinese (Simplified)

Czech

German

Estonian

Spanish

French

Greek

Hungarian

Persian

Dutch

Urdu

Polish

Serbian

Russian

Arabic

Turkish

English (British)

English (American)

Chinese (Traditional)

Supported Languages:

Albanian

Basque

Bulgarian

Portuguese (Brazilian)

Belarusian

Catalan

Chinese (Simplified)

Czech

German

Danish

Estonian

Spanish

Finnish

French

Galician

Greek

Croatian

Hungarian

Indonesian

Hebrew

Persian

Italian

Japanese

Kurdish

Lithuanian

Dutch

Norwegian

Polish

Portuguese

Romanian

Serbian

Russian

Arabic

Swedish

Slovene

Sindhi

Slovak

Thai

Turkish

Ukrainian

English (British)

English (American)

Vietnamese

Chinese (Traditional)

Supported Languages:

Albanian

Bangali

Bulgarian

Portuguese (Brazilian)

Catalan

Chinese (Simplified)

Czech

German

Danish

Spanish

Finnish

French

Galician

Greek

Croatian

Hungarian

Indonesian

Hebrew

Hindi

Persian

Italian

Japanese

Kurdish

Macedonian

Dutch

Norwegian

Urdu

Polish

Portuguese

Romanian

Serbian

Russian

Arabic

Swedish

Slovak

Thai

Turkish

Ukrainian

English (British)

English (American)

Uzbek

Vietnamese

Chinese (Traditional)

Compatibility with
Smartphones

Compatible
SmartPhones

Android
iPhone
BlackBerry
Windows Phone 7
Symbian Phones (Nokia)
HP WebOS (ex-Palm)

Android
iPhone
BlackBerry
Windows Phone 7
Symbian Phones (Nokia)
HP WebOS (ex-Palm)

Android
iPhone
BlackBerry
Windows Phone 7
Symbian Phones (Nokia)
HP WebOS (ex-Palm)

Distribution

Web Application

Android Market
Apple Store
Nokia Ovi Store
BlackBerry App World

Android Market
Apple Store
Nokia Ovi Store
BlackBerry App World

Threads / Topics

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Forum Style

Flat/Threaded

Flat

Forum Organization

Forum Categories
URL Redirection Forum
Sub Sections

Forum Categories
URL Redirection Forum
Sub Sections

Forum Categories
URL Redirection Forum
Sub Sections
Trashcan Forum

Topic Tags

Plugin

Sticky Threads

Yes

Thread Icons

Yes

Hot Topics

Yes

Related Threads

Yes

Plugin

Detect
Duplicate Threads

Plugin

Hidden Topics

Yes

Unread Topics

Yes

Announcements

Yes

Forum Posts

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Message
Editing Form

WYSIWYG Editor
Rich Text Editor
Formatting Buttons
Preview Button

Rich Text Editor
Preview Button

WYSIWYG Editor
Formatting Buttons
Preview Button

Post Editing Format

Plain
HTML
BBCode

HTML
BBCode

HTML
BBCode

Spell Checker

Plugin

Yes

Emoticons

Yes

Quick Reply Box

Yes

Syntax Highlighting

Plugin

Message Quoting

Yes

Message Rating

Yes

Plugin

Attachments

Yes

Image Attachment

Upload via Classic Attachments
Use BBCode or HTML

Upload via Classic Attachments
Use BBCode or HTML

Upload via Classic Attachments
Use BBCode or HTML

Embedded Videos

No.

YouTube
Dailymotion
Vimeo
Attachment
HTML 5 <video>

Forum Features

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Poll Creation

Yes

Private Messages

Yes

Instant Messaging

Yes

Calendar

Yes

Members List

Yes

Online Users List

Yes

Technical Features

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Bundled Software

Portal
Wiki
Blog
Downloads Manager

No.

Portal
Blog
Downloads Manager
Gallery

RSS/Atom
Syndication

RSS 2.0

ATOM 1.0

RSS 1.0
RSS 2.0
ATOM 1.0

Friendly URLs

Yes

Remote Control

No.

Cache System

Yes

Template Engine

Custom Template Engine

Custom Template Engine

Custom Template Engine

Post By Email

Plugin

User Profiles &
Options

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

User Profile

Yes

Avatars

Yes

Signatures

Yes

Ranks

Yes

Bookmark Threads

Yes

Plugin

User Selectable
Themes

Yes

Email Notifications

Yes

Export
Private Messages

Yes

Plugin

Payment
Subscriptions

Plugin

Yes

Security & Spam
Protection

CAPTCHA

Yes

CAPTCHA Complexity

Normal

Abnormal Behavior
Detection

Yes

Words Filtering

Yes

User Blacklist

Yes

IP Blocking

Yes

Customization

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Plugins

Yes

~495 Available Plugins.

Yes

~433 Available Plugins.

Yes

~1883 Available Plugins.

Plugin Installation

Easy

Very Easy

Themes

Yes

~270 Available Themes.

Yes

~525 Available Themes.

Yes

~1326 Available Themes.

Custom BBCodes

Yes

Custom Emoticons

Yes

Custom
Thread Icons

Yes

Custom
Profile Fields

Yes

Third Applications &
Websites

Social Networks

CMS / Blog Bridges

No.

Drupal
Joomla

Drupal
Joomla
Mambo
WordPress
e107
XOOPs
iGaming CMS

User Accounts
Integration

No.

LDAP
OpenId

Facebook Connect
OpenId
Google+ Connect
Twitter

Content Aggregation

No.

Moderation &
Threads Management

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Moderation

Pre-Moderation
Post-Moderation
Reactive Moderation
Distributed Moderation

Pre-Moderation
Post-Moderation
Reactive Moderation
Distributed Moderation

Pre-Moderation
Post-Moderation
Reactive Moderation
Distributed Moderation

Moderator
per Section

Yes

Global Moderator

Yes

Move Threads

Yes

Shadow Topics

Yes

Close/Lock Threads

Yes

Users
Management

User Groups

Yes

User Registration

Free Registration
Registration needs Approval
Invitation Only
User Account created by Administrator
Confirmation sent by email for validation

Free Registration
Registration needs Approval
Invitation Only
Confirmation sent by email for validation

Free Registration
Registration needs Approval
User Account created by Administrator
Confirmation sent by email for validation

New Users
Limitation

Plugin

Yes

Guest Posting

Yes

Multiple
Administrators

Yes

Send Warnings
to Users

Yes

Access Control List

Yes

User Banishment

Yes

Mass Mailing

Yes

Installation &
Upgrading

MyBB

PhpBB 3

Simple Machines 2

Installation Method

Installation Wizard

Upgrade Method

Upgrade Wizard

Update
Notifications

Yes

Forum Migration

Yes

Database
Management

Backup Database

Yes

Prune Database

Yes

Restore Database

Yes

Administration
Tools

Statistics

Yes

Error/Notice
Log Viewer

Yes

Tasks Scheduler

Yes

W3C Norms &
Accessibility

HTML / XHTML

XHTML 1.0 Transitional

XHTML 1.0 Strict

XHTML 1.0 Transitional

Stylesheets (CSS)

CSS 2

CSS 2

CSS 2

Accessibility (WAI)

UTF-8 Support

Yes

W3C Norms

Yes

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