SHSelfHostIndex

SMF vs YAF.NET

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?
SM SMF Simple Machines Forum community bulletin board VS YA YAF.NET Open-source forum software for ASP.NET
FeatureSMFYAF.NET
CategoryForums & CommunityForums & Community
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseApache-2.0
LanguagePHPC#
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 745★ 548
First released20042006
ReplacesvBulletin, phpBBphpBB, vBulletin

Why pick each one

Choose SMF if…

  • Reliable and well established
  • No licensing fees
SMF details

Choose YAF.NET if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in C#
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
YAF.NET details

Frequently asked questions

Is SMF or YAF.NET better?

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

Are SMF and YAF.NET free and open-source?

Yes. SMF is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and YAF.NET under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run SMF and YAF.NET with Docker?

SMF: yes. YAF.NET: yes.

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