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

Simple Machines Forum is described as '— SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes' and is a Forum Software in the social & communications category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Simple Machines Forum for a variety of platforms, including Self-Hosted, Web-based, Linux, Windows and Mac apps. The best Simple Machines Forum alternative is Discourse. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Flarum or phpBB. Other great apps like Simple Machines Forum are XenForo, NodeBB, Vanilla Forum and MyBB.

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Simple Machines Forum — SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own...

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Simple Machines Forum alternatives page was last updated Jun 17, 2024
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  1. Discourse icon
     149 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.

    65 Discourse alternatives

    License model

    • Free PersonalOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Ruby
    • JavaScript
    • Cloudron
    • Docker

    Discourse Features

    1. ActivityPub icon  Support for ActivityPub
    2.  Email list
    3.  Trust Level system
    4.  Interactive tutorials
    5.  Infinite scroll
    6.  REST API
    7. Patreon icon  Patreon Integration
    8. Slack icon  Slack integration
    9.  Mobile friendly
    10.  Integrated Spam Protection

    Discourse VS Simple Machines Forum

     
    • 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
     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.

    51 Flarum alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • AU flagAustralia

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Apache HTTP Server
    • PHP

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Visual design
    3.  Simplicity
    4.  Web Forms

    Flarum VS Simple Machines Forum

     
    Comments about Flarum as an Alternative to Simple Machines Forum
    Douze
    Positive Oct 16, 2023
    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
  3. phpBB icon
     89 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.

    52 phpBB alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP

    phpBB VS Simple Machines Forum

     
    • 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
  4. XenForo icon
     20 likes
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    A compelling community experience. Intuitive. Social. Engaging. Fast. XenForo brings a fresh outlook to forum software.

    44 XenForo alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • MySQL Community Edition
    • Self-Hosted
    • MariaDB
    • PHP

    XenForo VS Simple Machines Forum

     
    • XenForo is the most popular commercial alternative to Simple Machines Forum.

    • XenForo is Paid and ProprietarySimple Machines Forum is Free and Open Source
  5. NodeBB icon
     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.

    License model

    • FreemiumOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • CA flagCanada

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Sandstorm
    • MongoDB
    • Redis
    • Cloudron
    • Node.JS

    NodeBB Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2. ActivityPub icon  Support for ActivityPub

    NodeBB VS Simple Machines Forum

     
  6. Vanilla Forum icon
     21 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.

    50 Vanilla Forum alternatives

    License model

    • Free PersonalOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Vanilla Forum Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions

    Vanilla Forum VS Simple Machines Forum

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

    48 MyBB alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Integrated Spam Protection

    MyBB VS Simple Machines Forum

     
  8. vBulletin icon
     20 likes
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    vBulletin (abbreviated as vB) is a commercial Internet forum software written in PHP using a MySQL database server.

    45 vBulletin alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • PHP

    vBulletin VS Simple Machines Forum

     
    • vBulletin is the most popular Android & iPhone alternative to Simple Machines Forum.

    • vBulletin is Paid and ProprietarySimple Machines Forum is Free and Open Source
  9. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Invision Community is a flexible, feature-packed and easy to customize platform that powers some of the biggest and best communities on the web.

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Flat File CMS
    2.  Portal
    3.  Cloud based

    Invision Community VS Simple Machines Forum

     
  10. bbPress icon
     20 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.

    43 bbPress alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online

    bbPress VS Simple Machines Forum

     
  11. WoltLab Suite icon
     9 likes
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    WoltLab Suite (formerly Burning Board) is an enterprise grade CMS built for communities and forums.

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • MySQL Community Edition
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP

    WoltLab Suite VS Simple Machines Forum

     
  12. FUDforum icon
     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.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted

    FUDforum VS Simple Machines Forum

     
12 of 45 Simple Machines Forum alternatives