Laravel.io vs SMF
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted forums & community options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Laravel.io | SMF |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 68 · Good | 78 · Good |
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,501 | ★ 749 |
| First released | 2014 | 2004 |
| Replaces | phpBB | vBulletin, phpBB |
What are Laravel.io and SMF?
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
SMF
SMF, or Simple Machines Forum, is a free, professional-grade forum package that lets you run an online community. It is known for stability, a strong permission system, and broad customization.
- Granular permission system
- Mods and themes support
- Strong moderation features
- Multilingual support
Laravel.io vs SMF: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Laravel.io versus BSD-3-Clause for SMF. SMF is the more established project (first released 2004), while Laravel.io arrived in 2014. Laravel.io has the considerably larger community, at 2,501 GitHub stars versus 749. SMF lists first-class Docker deployment; Laravel.io does not.
Why pick each one
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
Choose SMF if…
- Reliable and well established
- No licensing fees
Watch out for
- Dated default appearance
- Slower modern development
Frequently asked questions
Is Laravel.io or SMF better?
Neither is universally better. Laravel.io has the larger community, while SMF is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Laravel.io and SMF free and open-source?
Yes. Laravel.io is licensed under MIT and SMF under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Laravel.io and SMF with Docker?
Laravel.io: check the project docs for container support. SMF: yes.