MyBB vs Laravel.io
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted forums & community options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | MyBB | Laravel.io |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 68 · Good |
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | LGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,242 | ★ 2,501 |
| First released | 2005 | 2014 |
| Replaces | vBulletin, phpBB | phpBB |
What are MyBB and Laravel.io?
MyBB
MyBB is a free, open-source forum software focused on being easy to use, customizable, and extensible. It provides a powerful moderation suite and a plugin and theme system.
- Easy administration panel
- Plugin and theme system
- Powerful moderation tools
- Lightweight footprint
Laravel.io
Laravel.io is a clean, modern discussion forum built with the Laravel PHP framework, offering threads, tags, and user reputation. It is the software that powers the official Laravel community forum.
- Built on Laravel
- Threads and tags
- Developer friendly
- Powers the laravel.io community
MyBB vs Laravel.io: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — LGPL-3.0 for MyBB versus MIT for Laravel.io. MyBB is the more established project (first released 2005), while Laravel.io arrived in 2014. Laravel.io has the considerably larger community, at 2,501 GitHub stars versus 1,242. MyBB lists first-class Docker deployment; Laravel.io does not.
Why pick each one
Choose MyBB if…
- Simple to install and run
- Good customization
Watch out for
- Classic forum styling
- No native real-time features
Choose Laravel.io if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is MyBB or Laravel.io better?
Neither is universally better. Laravel.io 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 MyBB and Laravel.io free and open-source?
Yes. MyBB is licensed under LGPL-3.0 and Laravel.io under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MyBB and Laravel.io with Docker?
MyBB: yes. Laravel.io: check the project docs for container support.