Open Source Simple Machines Forum AlternativesForum Software and other similar apps like Simple Machines Forum

The best open source alternative to Simple Machines Forum is Discourse. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Discourse or Flarum. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Simple Machines Forum and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Simple Machines Forum are Vanilla Forum, MyBB, NodeBB and bbPress.

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Alternatives list

  1. Discourse icon

    Discourse

     155 likes
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    Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. A modern forum, everything's been redesigned to be easy.

    70 Discourse alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Ruby
    • JavaScript
    • Cloudron
    • Docker
    Discourse screenshot 1
     

    • Most users think Discourse is a great Simple Machines Forum alternative.

    • Discourse is the most popular Web-based & Self-Hosted alternative to Simple Machines Forum.

    • Discourse is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Simple Machines Forum.

    • Discourse is Free Personal and Open SourceSimple Machines Forum is Free and Open Source
  2. Flarum icon

    Flarum

     82 likes
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    Flarum is free, open-source forum software with a focus on simplicity. You can use Flarum to easily set up a discussion forum for your website. Flarum is developed openly on GitHub.

    53 Flarum alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Apache HTTP Server
    • PHP
    Flarum screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Flarum as an Alternative to Simple Machines Forum
    Douze
    Positive
    0

    Flarum is a modernization of the aging forum structure, taht accounts for modern standards and uses (namely, smartphones).

    Simple Machines Forum Icon
    Flarum icon
    • Flarum is Free and Open SourceSimple Machines Forum is also Free and Open Source
    • Flarum is LightweightSimple Machines Forum is not according to our users
  4. phpBB icon

    phpBB

     90 likes
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    Since its creation in 2000, phpBB™ has become the most widely used Open Source forum solution. Like its predecessors, phpBB™ 3.2 “Rhea” has an easy to use administration panel and a user friendly installation process, which allows you to have a forum set up in minutes.

    53 phpBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    37 languages
     
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    6

    • Almost everyone thinks phpBB is a great Simple Machines Forum alternative.

    • phpBB is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Simple Machines Forum.

    • phpBB is Free and Open SourceSimple Machines Forum is also Free and Open Source
  5. Vanilla Forum icon

    Vanilla Forum

     22 likes
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    Vanilla provides a standards-compliant, multi-lingual, theme-able and pluggablecommunity forum software that powers discussion forums on 800,000 sites.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Vanilla Forum screenshot 1
    Vanilla Forum screenshot 2
     
  6. MyBB icon

    MyBB

     35 likes
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    MyBB is the free and open source, intuitive, extensible, and incredibly powerful forum software you've been looking for.

    47 MyBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    MyBB screenshot 1
     
  7. NodeBB icon

    NodeBB

     19 likes
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    A community forum allows you to engage and retain customers, keeping them interested and up-to-date with your latest product or service.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Subscription)
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Sandstorm
    • MongoDB
    • Redis
    • Cloudron
    • Node.JS
    NodeBB screenshot 1
     
  9. bbPress icon

    bbPress

     21 likes
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    bbPress is forum software with a twist from the creators of WordPress. Its focused on web standards, ease of use, ease of integration, and speed. bbPress will try to keep things as small and light as possible while still allowing great add-on feature possibilities.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    bbPress screenshot 1
     
  10. FUDforum icon

    FUDforum

     3 likes
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    FUDforum (Fast Uncompromising Discussion Forum) is a free and open source web discussion forum. FUDforum combines an extensive feature set while maintaining the ability to generate forum web pages extremely fast.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    FUDforum screenshot 1
     
  11. FluxBB icon

    FluxBB

     24 likes
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    FluxBB is a fast, light, user-friendly forum application for your website. FluxBB was designed as a lighter, faster alternative to some of the traditional feature heavy forum applications. It is easy to use and has a proven track record of stability and security making it an...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
     
  12. Forem icon

    Forem

     3 likes
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    Forem is open source software for building modern and independent communities for your developers, peers, customers, users. Forem is already powering communities that serve over 10 million monthly unique visitors.

    27 Forem alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    Home
     
  13. ElkArte icon

    ElkArte

     2 likes
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    ElkArte is a modern, powerful community building forum software. It is completely free to use and is licensed with an open source BSD-3 clause license.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    ElkArte screenshot 1
     
  14. AsmBB icon

    AsmBB

     4 likes
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    AsmBB is high performance web forum software, written entirely in assembly language. It is very lightweight, but provides decent set of features and ultimate performance.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    The default theme Wasp.
     
12 of 28 Simple Machines Forum alternatives