Flarum vs MyBB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | Flarum | MyBB |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Forums & Community |
| License | MIT | LGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,739 | ★ 1,232 |
| First released | 2015 | 2005 |
| Replaces | phpBB, vBulletin | vBulletin, phpBB |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Flarum or MyBB better?
Neither is universally better. Flarum has the larger community, while MyBB is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Flarum and MyBB free and open-source?
Yes. Flarum is licensed under MIT and MyBB under LGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Flarum and MyBB with Docker?
Flarum: yes. MyBB: yes.