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Simple Machines Forum vs MyBB: catalog facts
Simple Machines Forum	MyBB
Free Free and open source under the BSD-3-Clause license.	Free Free and open source under the LGPL-3.0 licence, supported by donations.
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Release packages install without extra build steps Permissive BSD license	Large catalogue of plugins and themes Built-in template and theme editor
Traditional forum layout rather than a modern discussion interface Needs a PHP and database server to host	Traditional bulletin board design rather than a modern chat-style forum Needs a PHP web server you maintain yourself
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: BSD-3-Clause	License: LGPL-3.0
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.