Free phpBB AlternativesTop Forum Software and other similar apps like phpBB

The best free alternative to phpBB 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 50 alternatives to phpBB and many of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to phpBB are Simple Machines Forum, Vanilla Forum, NodeBB and bbPress.

More about phpBB

phpBB alternatives page was last updated Jun 17, 2024

Discourse
156 likes
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.
69 Discourse alternatives
Cost / License
Free Personal
Open Source
Application type
Forum Software
Origin
United States
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
Ruby
JavaScript
Cloudron
Docker
+1
Is Discourse a good alternative to phpBB?

|
2comments
13users say it's a good alternative
Comments about Discourse as an Alternative to phpBB

Taurolyon
Negative commentMar 19, 2018
2
More of a comment system than categorized forum.
MikeSnap
Negative commentMay 3, 2017
3
It's more of a online messenger then a forum cms.
Some users think Discourse is a great phpBB alternative, some don't.
Discourse is the most popular Web-based & Self-Hosted alternative to phpBB.
Discourse is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to phpBB.
Discourse is Free Personal and Open SourcephpBB is Free and Open Source
Flarum
82 likes
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
Forum Software
Origin
Australia
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Apache HTTP Server
PHP
+5
Is Flarum a good alternative to phpBB?

|
3comments
19users say it's a good alternative
Comments about Flarum as an Alternative to phpBB

ab1
Positive commentJun 16, 2022
0
Better is some ways after some configuration!
Guest
Positive commentJul 16, 2017
1
Better looking, Faster, And simpler.
Review by a new / low-activity user.
RemovedUser
Positive commentMay 5, 2020
0
it's still in beta , but promising fast discourse like somehow forum
Review by a new / low-activity user.
Almost everyone thinks Flarum is a great phpBB alternative.
Flarum is Free and Open SourcephpBB is also Free and Open Source
Flarum is LightweightphpBB is not according to our users
MyBB
35 likes
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
Forum Software
Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Self-Hosted
Is MyBB a good alternative to phpBB?

|
9users say it's a good alternative
Almost everyone thinks MyBB is a great phpBB alternative.
MyBB is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to phpBB.
MyBB is Free and Open SourcephpBB is also Free and Open Source
MyBB is LightweightphpBB is not according to our users
Simple Machines Forum
36 likes
Simple Machines Forum — SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.
47 Simple Machines Forum alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Forum Software
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Self-Hosted
Is this a good alternative to phpBB?

|
1comment
7users say it's a good alternative
Comments about Simple Machines Forum as an Alternative to phpBB

Chip Thrasher
Positive commentFeb 4, 2017
0
It is very similar to the way phpBB works. However, it is less supported and harder to install.
Almost everyone thinks Simple Machines Forum is a great phpBB alternative.
Simple Machines Forum is Free and Open SourcephpBB is also Free and Open Source
Vanilla Forum
22 likes
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
Forum Software
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
Is Vanilla Forum a good alternative to phpBB?
NodeBB
19 likes
A community forum allows you to engage and retain customers, keeping them interested and up-to-date with your latest product or service.
46 NodeBB alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium (Subscription)
Open Source
Application type
Forum Software
Origin
Canada
Platforms
Online
Self-Hosted
Sandstorm
MongoDB
Redis
Cloudron
Node.JS
+7
Is NodeBB a good alternative to phpBB?
bbPress
21 likes
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
Forum Software
Origin
United States
Platforms
Online
Is bbPress a good alternative to phpBB?
FluxBB
24 likes
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
Forum Software
Alerts
Discontinued
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Is FluxBB a good alternative to phpBB?
FUDforum
3 likes
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
Origin
International
Platforms
Self-Hosted
+2
Is FUDforum a good alternative to phpBB?
Forem
3 likes
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.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Origin
United States
Platforms
Linux
Online
Self-Hosted
Is Forem a good alternative to phpBB?
miniBB
2 likes
miniBB is a standalone, open source program for building your own Internet forum. If you want a lite, simple and stable message board attached to your existing website at the very high integration level, which may include the full customization of the layout to the look of your...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Origin
International
Platforms
Self-Hosted
+1
Is miniBB a good alternative to phpBB?
ElkArte
2 likes
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
Is ElkArte a good alternative to phpBB?

12 of 41 phpBB alternatives

Free phpBB AlternativesTop Forum Software and other similar apps like phpBB

Alternatives list

Discourse

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

Comments about Discourse as an Alternative to phpBB

Flarum

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

Comments about Flarum as an Alternative to phpBB

MyBB

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

Simple Machines Forum

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

Comments about Simple Machines Forum as an Alternative to phpBB

Vanilla Forum

Cost / License

Application type

Platforms

NodeBB

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

bbPress

Cost / License

Application type

Origin

Platforms

FluxBB

Cost / License

Application type

Alerts

Platforms

FUDforum

Cost / License

Origin

Platforms

Forem

Cost / License

Origin

Platforms

miniBB

Cost / License

Origin

Platforms

ElkArte

Cost / License

Platforms