SHSelfHostIndex

SMF vs FUDforum

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 FU FUDforum Fast, scalable, customizable open-source forum
FeatureSMFFUDforum
CategoryForums & CommunityForums & Community
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseGPL-2.0
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 745★ 80
First released20042001
ReplacesvBulletin, phpBBphpBB, vBulletin

Why pick each one

Choose SMF if…

  • Reliable and well established
  • No licensing fees
SMF details

Choose FUDforum if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Written in PHP
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
FUDforum details

Frequently asked questions

Is SMF or FUDforum better?

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

Are SMF and FUDforum free and open-source?

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

Can I run SMF and FUDforum with Docker?

SMF: yes. FUDforum: check the project docs for container support.

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