phpBB mChat vs Utterances
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?
phpBB mChat
Shoutbox extension for phpBB forums
VS
Utterances
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| Feature | phpBB mChat | Utterances |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14 | ★ 9,696 |
| First released | 2014 | 2018 |
| Replaces | vBulletin chatbox | Disqus |
Why pick each one
Choose phpBB mChat if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Utterances if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 9.7k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is phpBB mChat or Utterances better?
Neither is universally better. Utterances has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are phpBB mChat and Utterances free and open-source?
Yes. phpBB mChat is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Utterances under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run phpBB mChat and Utterances with Docker?
phpBB mChat: check the project docs for container support. Utterances: check the project docs for container support.