Comparison of Internet forum software

This is a comparison of the features of various Internet forum packages that exist.

General Information

Basic general information about the archivers: creator/company, license/price etc.

	Creator	Current stable version	Programming language	Cost (USD)	License
aterr [1]	Chris Jenkinson	0.9	PHP	Free	GPL
bbPress [2]	?	Nightly Builds Only	PHP 4.2>	Free	GPL
blazeboard [3]	?	0.55b	PHP	Free	GPL
bttlxeForum [4]	Battleaxe Software Ltd.	2.0	ASP 3.0	Free	[5]
Burning Boards [6]	?	2.3.3	PHP	25 Euro	Proprietary
Community Server [7]	?	?	ASP.NET / C#	?	Proprietary
E-Blah [8]	Justin Osborne	Platinum 9.6	Perl	Free	GPL
FusionBB [9]	InteractivePHP, Inc.	1.0	PHP	$149 Standard License, $39 Renewal	Proprietary
Groupee Forums [10]	Groupee, Inc.	4.0.3 (with Groupee Community 1.2.11)	Java	$25/month on shared server, $499/month on dedicated server	Proprietary
IceBB [11]	MutantMonkey	0.8.6	PHP	Free	?
Ideal BB [12]	Ideal Science	1.5.3b	ASP	$299	Proprietary
Ikonboard [13]	John Jarvis	3.1.2a	Perl	Free	Other
Invision Power Board [14]	Invision Power Services Inc.	2.1.4	PHP	$69.95 p.a. / $185 perpetual (1 yr support)	Proprietary
Jive Forums [15]	Jive Software	4.2.2	Java	?	Proprietary
k4BB [16]	BestWebEver.com	2.0 RC1	PHP 4.2>	Free	LGPL
Kareha [17]	Dag Agren	2.0.3	Perl	Free	Public Domain
MercuryBoard [18]	Jason Warner & Mark Elliot	1.1.4	PHP	Free	GPL
miniBB [19]	Paul Puzyrev & Sergei Larionov	1.7g	PHP	Free	GPL
mwForum [20]	Markus Wichitill	2.6.6	Perl	Free	GPL
MyBB [21]	MyBB Group	1.02	PHP	Free	Other
OvBB [22]	Jonathon J. Freeman	V0.08a	PHP	Free	MIT-type
PasForum [23]	?	?	Pascal (FPC, Kylix, Delphi)	Free	Artistic/Other
phpBB [24]	James Atkinson	2.0.19	PHP	Free	GPL
PunBB [25]	Rickard Andersson	1.2.10	PHP	Free	GPL
Quicksilver Forums [26]	Geoff Dunn & Roger Libiez (Samson)	1.1.9	PHP	Free	GPL
RForum [27]	Andreas Schwarz	0.2	Ruby	Free	MIT
Shiichan [28]	Shii	3956	PHP	Free	GPL
SMF [29]	Simple Machines	1.1 RC2	PHP	Free	Other
smallForum [30]	Filip Cekić	2.0.3	PHP	Free	Other
Sylphagora [31]	Vystrix Nexoth	1.2	PHP	Free	GPL
tForum [32]	?	?	PHP	Free	GPL
Tuvai BB [33]	Leroy Gerrits (Tuvai)	1.5	PHP	Free	Other
UBB.classic [34]	Groupee, Inc.	6.7.3	Perl	$199 standard license, $99 renewal	Proprietary
UBB.threads [35]	Groupee, Inc.	6.5.2	PHP	$299 standard license, $125 renewal	Proprietary
Unclassified NewsBoard [36]	Yves Goergen	1.5.3	PHP	Free	GPL
UseBB [37]	UseBB Team	0.7	PHP	Free	GPL
Vanilla [38]	Mark O'Sullivan [39]	0.9.2.2	PHP	Free	GPL
vBulletin [40]	Jelsoft Enterprises	3.5.3	PHP	$85 p.a. / $160 lifetime	Proprietary
Web Wiz Forum [41]	Bruce Corkhill	7.95	ASP	Free	Linkware
WSN Forum [42]	Paul Knierim	1.20	PHP	Free / $48.50	Proprietary
XMB [43]	XMB Software	1.9.3 Nexus Final	PHP	Free	GPL
YaBB [44]	YaBB Development Team	2.0	Perl	Free	Other
	Creator	Current stable version	Programming language	Cost	License

Features

	Flat	Threaded	User-selectable themes	Calendar	Image attachment
aterr	No	Yes	No	No	No
bbPress	Yes	No	No	No	No
blazeboard	Yes	No	?	No	No
BttlxeForum	No	Yes	?	No	No
Burning Boards	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
E-Blah	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
FusionBB	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Groupee Forums	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
IceBB	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ideal BB	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes
Ikonboard	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Invision Power Board	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jive Software	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
k4BB	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kareha	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
MercuryBoard	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
miniBB	No	?	No	No	No
mwForum	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
MyBB	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
OvBB	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
PasForum	Yes	No	No	No	No
phpBB	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
PunBB	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Quicksilver Forums	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes
RForum	No	No	?	No	No
Shiichan	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
SMF	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sylphagora	No	Yes	No	No	?
tForum	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Tuvai BB	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
UBB.classic	Yes	No	No	No	No
UBB.threads	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Unclassified NewsBoard	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
UseBB	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Vanilla	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
vBulletin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Web Wiz Forum	Yes	No	No	No	No
WSN Forum	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
XMB	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
YaBB	Yes	No	?	No	Yes
	Flat	Threaded	User-selectable themes	Calendar	Image attachment

Data storage

Information about what data storage system can be used.

	Flat file	MySQL	PostgreSQL	MSSQL	Oracle	SQLite	Access
aterr	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
bbPress	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
blazeboard	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
bttlxeForum	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Burning Boards	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
E-Blah	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
FusionBB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Groupee Forums	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
IceBB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Ideal BB	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Ikonboard	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Invision Power Board	No	Yes	No	Yes ($60)	Yes ($60)	No	No
Jive Software	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
k4BB	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Kareha	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
MercuryBoard	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
miniBB	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
mwForum	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
MyBB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
OvBB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
PasForum	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
phpBB	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
PunBB	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Quicksilver Forums	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
RForum	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
SMF	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Shiichan	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Sylphagora	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
tForum	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Tuvai BB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
UBB.classic	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
UBB.threads	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Unclassified NewsBoard	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
UseBB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Vanilla	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
vBulletin	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Web Wiz Forum	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
WSN Forum	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
XMB	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
YaBB	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
	Flat file	MySQL	PostgreSQL	MSSQL	Oracle	SQLite	Access