MyBB Free Forum Software. Comparison: MyBB vs PhpBB 2 vs PhpBB 3 vs Simple Machines

	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
License	GPL License	GPL License	GPL License	Custom License
Version	1.4.9	2.0.21	3.0.6	2.0 RC1
Last Release	September 21, 2009	06/08/2006	Nov 17, 2009	February 4, 2009
Live Demonstrations	Live Demonstration	Live Demonstration	Live Demonstration	Live Demonstration
Screenshots	Screenshots	Screenshots	Screenshots	Screenshots
Web Site	Web Site	Web Site	Web Site	Web Site
Download	Download	Download	Download	Download
Price	Free	Free	Free	Free
Installation	Good	Good	Very Good	Good
Administration	Good	Good	Good	Good
Ergonomy	Good	Good	Very Good	Good
Our Opinion
Users Opinion	9/10 (106 votes)	6/10 (74 votes)	8/10 (199 votes)	8/10 (181 votes)

Server Requirements	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Operating System	Linux Windows Server 2003 Windows XP	Linux Windows Server 2003	Linux Windows Server 2003 Windows XP	Linux Windows Server 2003
Web Server	Apache 1.3 Apache 2.0/2.2 Microsoft IIS Lighttpd	Apache 1.3 Apache 2.0/2.2 Microsoft IIS	Apache 1.3 Apache 2.0/2.2 Microsoft IIS	Apache 1.3 Apache 2.0/2.2 Microsoft IIS Lighttpd Nginx
Languages	PHP 4 PHP 5	PHP 4 PHP 5	PHP 4	PHP 4 PHP 5
Databases	MySQL Postgresql SQLite	MySQL Postgresql Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft Access	MySQL Postgresql SQLite Microsoft SQL Server Oracle	MySQL
Browsers & Clients Requirements	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Compatible Browsers	Mozilla Firefox 3 Mozilla Firefox 2 Mozilla Firefox 1 Opera Safari Konqueror Internet Explorer 7 Internet Explorer 6 Chrome Mozilla SeaMonkey	Opera Safari Konqueror Internet Explorer 6 Mozilla SeaMonkey	Mozilla Firefox 3 Mozilla Firefox 2 Mozilla Firefox 1 Opera Safari Konqueror Internet Explorer 7 Internet Explorer 6 Chrome Mozilla SeaMonkey	All
Technologies or plugins	HTML and Javascript HTML and AJAX	HTML and Javascript	HTML and Javascript	HTML and Javascript
Localization	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Languages	Arabic Azeri Chinese Czech Dutch (Nederlands) English (United Kingdom) Estonian French (Français) German (Deutsch) - Formal German (Deutsch) - Informal Greek Hungarian Persian Polish Portuguese (Brazil) Russian Serbian Spanish (Español) Turkish Urdu Go to the Translation List.
Forum Threads & Posts	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Forum Style	Flat	Flat	Flat	Flat
Emoticons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Attachments	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Thread Icons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Post Editing Form	Rich Text Editor Format Buttons Preview Button	Plain Text Format Buttons Preview Button	Rich Text Editor Preview Button	Rich Text Editor Format Buttons Preview Button
Post Editing Format	Plain HTML BBCode	Plain HTML BBCode	HTML BBCode	HTML BBCode
Forum Organization	Forum Categories URL Redirection Forum Sub Sections	Forum Categories URL Redirection Forum Sub Sections	Forum Categories URL Redirection Forum Sub Sections	Forum Categories URL Redirection Forum Sub Sections
Sticky Threads	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes
Detect Duplicate Threads	No	Unknown	No	No
Shadow Topics	Yes	Unknown	No	Yes
Post Quoting	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Post Rating	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes
Syntax Highlighting	Plugin	Plugin	Unknown	Plugin

Key Features & Additional Tools	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Bundled Softwares	No.	No.	No.	No.
Private Messages	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Instant Messaging	Yes	No	Yes	No
Calendar	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Poll Creation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Users List	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Online Users List	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RSS/Atom Syndication	RSS 2.0		RSS 2.0	RSS 2.0
Remote Control	No.	No.	No.	No.
Friendly URLs	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
User Profiles & Options	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
User Profile	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
User Avatars	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
User Signatures	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
User Ranks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Unread Topics	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bookmark Threads	Yes	Yes	Unknown	Yes
Quick Reply Box	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Email Notifications	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Export private messages	Yes	No	Yes	No
Payment Subscriptions	No	Plugin	No	No
Security & Spam Protection	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Captcha Protection	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Words Filtering	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guest Posting	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Customization	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Plugins	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Themes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cache	Yes	No	Unknown	Yes
Custom BBCodes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Custom Emoticons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Custom Thread Icons	Yes	Plugin	Unknown	Yes
Custom User Profile Fields	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes
CMS / Blog integration	No.	Drupal WordPress	No.	No.
User Accounts integration	No.	No.	ldap	No.
Template Engine	No.	No.	No.	No.

Administration & Support	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
Installation Method	Installation Wizard	Installation Wizard	Installation Wizard	Installation Wizard
Upgrade Method	Upgrade Wizard	Upgrade Wizard	Upgrade Wizard	Upgrade Wizard
Updates Notifications	true	false	true	true
User Management	User Groups	User Groups	User Groups	User Groups
User Banishment	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mass Mailing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Move Threads	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Close/Lock Threads	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Backup Database	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Prune Database	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Restore Database	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Statistics	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Error/Notice Log Viewer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Scheduled Tasks	Yes	No	Yes	No
W3C Norms/Accessibility	MyBB	PhpBB 2	PhpBB 3	Simple Machines
HTML / XHTML	XHTML 1.0 Transitional	HTML 4.01	XHTML 1.0 Strict	XHTML 1.0 Transitional
Stylesheets (CSS)	CSS 2	CSS 1	CSS 2	CSS 2
Accessibility (WAI)	AA	No.	AA	AA
UTF-8 Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
W3C Norms	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes