Discourse Discourse
vs
Simple Machines Forum Simple Machines Forum

This is a side by side comparison of Discourse and Simple Machines Forum. Two products that are similar in nature, yet provide unique feature-sets that are worth taking in to account before making a purchasing decision or start using the software. This page can help you broadly analyze the products and weigh pros and cons against one another. Allowing you scrutinize peoples opinions about Discourse and Simple Machines Forum, before making a decision if any of the products fit your use-case.

What is Discourse?

Discourse is an open source internet forum and mailing list software. The application is written with Ember.js and Ruby on Rails, and can be self-hosted in the cloud or on local hardware for free. Discourse also provides managed hosting starting at $100/month, so that you can focus on building a community rather than installing software and managing servers.

How much does Discourse cost?

No pricing information available..

What platforms does Discourse support?

Discourse is available for Web and SaaS .

Top Discourse Alternatives

Flarum

A free and open-source modern forum software written in PHP. With Flarum you can eaisly setup your own discussion froum and host it online.

Free & Open Source
👍 Most people think Flarum is a good alternative to Discourse.

NodeBB

NodeBB is an open source forum software powered by Node.js and supports either Redis, MongoDB, or a PostgreSQL database. With NodeBB you can self-host communities with instant interactions and real-time notifications powered with the help of web sockets. Thousands of organizations have also stared their communites with NodeBB SaaS product, free from self-service and maintinance.

Free , Commercial & Open Source
👍 Most people think NodeBB is a good alternative to Discourse.

phpBB

One of the world most popular, free, open-source and self-hosted forum software, written in PHP. With phpBB you can create communities that can be hosted with most hosting providers. The software package is built and designed from the ground up to to be extensible and provides customization option through themes and feature extensions through plugins. The extensive database of user-created extensions and styles database, easy of use, and the simple installation process has made phpBB a common choice among self-hosted forums and communities.

Free & Open Source

The software Simple Machines Forum Simple Machines Forum is removed from the Top Discourse Alternatives since you are comparing against it. If you are looking for more software, applications or projects similar to Discourse Discourse we recommend you to check out our full list containing 8 Discourse Alternatives.

Discourse Gallery

What is Simple Machines Forum?

Simple Machines Forum or SMF in short is a free and open-source forum software. SMF can be used to build your own online community that you self-host on a host of your choice. Simple Machines Forum comes packed with features for customization, extension and management of your community. The template engine puts you in control of the design of your community. The plugin architecture makes it easy to extend and provide further feautres though third-party built packages. 

How much does Simple Machines Forum cost?

No pricing information available..

What platforms does Simple Machines Forum support?

Simple Machines Forum is available for Web , Self-Hosted and PHP .

Top Simple Machines Forum Alternatives

bbPress

bbPress is forum software from the creators of WordPress. With bbPress you can quickly setup a forum for asyncronous discussion and subscriptions for your WordPress-powered site.

Free & Open Source

LayerBB

LayerBB is a small yet feature rich, free and open-source community software written in PHP. LayerBB enables you to quickly and easily start your own community while providing great flexibility and customisability.

Free & Open Source

Flarum

A free and open-source modern forum software written in PHP. With Flarum you can eaisly setup your own discussion froum and host it online.

Free & Open Source

The software Discourse Discourse is removed from the Top Simple Machines Forum Alternatives since you are comparing against it. If you are looking for more software, applications or projects similar to Simple Machines Forum Simple Machines Forum we recommend you to check out our full list containing 8 Simple Machines Forum Alternatives.

Simple Machines Forum Gallery