SHSelfHostIndex

Discuz! X vs SMF

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted forums & community options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
DI Discuz! X Widely used Chinese-origin community forum system VS SM SMF Simple Machines Forum community bulletin board
FeatureDiscuz! XSMF
CategoryForums & CommunityForums & Community
LicenseGPL-3.0BSD-3-Clause
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 25★ 745
First released20102004
ReplacesphpBB, vBulletinvBulletin, phpBB

Why pick each one

Choose Discuz! X if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in PHP
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Discuz! X details

Choose SMF if…

  • Reliable and well established
  • No licensing fees
SMF details

Frequently asked questions

Is Discuz! X or SMF better?

SMF is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Discuz! X if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Discuz! X and SMF free and open-source?

Yes. Discuz! X is licensed under GPL-3.0 and SMF under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Discuz! X and SMF with Docker?

Discuz! X: yes. SMF: yes.

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