Member Avatar for sunandoghosh

FORUMS - certain facts and questions with respect to everyone

open source; language used; source code available; expandibility....

Respected people here,

I am fully aware that there is an old age contoversy as regards phpbb; vbulletin; sm forum; IPB;

I dont want to raise any controversy but just want answers to few questions:

# OUT of Phpbb; vbulletin; simple machines and invision power board:


Q1. Which is open source (meaning whose source code is freely available).....????

Q2. Which requires paying money but with source code...?????

Q2. What language and database each one of them use....?????

I would really really appreciate if someone can reply to all my three questions with respect to all four forums that i have said above....!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance

Best regards,

sunando

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Dani AI

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Quick, practical clarification (status checked Jan 9, 2026). “Open source” means the code is released under an OSI‑approved licence that explicitly allows reuse, modification and redistribution. “Source‑available” or “commercial with source” can mean you get readable files for your installation but the vendor’s EULA restricts what you may do (redistribute, relicense, etc.). Reading the files on your server is not the same as having an open‑source licence. (opensource.org)

Short, up‑to‑date breakdown of the four packages you named:

  • phpBB — open source (GNU GPL v2), written in PHP; supports MySQL/MariaDB plus PostgreSQL, SQLite and other backends in various releases. (github.com)
  • Simple Machines Forum (SMF) — SMF 2.x is released under BSD 3‑clause (open source). Older SMF 1.x used the Simple Machines License (more restrictive), so check the version you’re looking at. SMF is PHP + typically MySQL. (simplemachines.org)
  • Invision / IP.Board (Invision Community) — commercial, sold under an EULA that permits installation/owning the code but restricts redistribution; it’s PHP and uses MySQL/MariaDB. (invisioncommunity.com)
  • vBulletin — commercial/proprietary; historically distributed to licensees under restrictive terms (not OSI open source), PHP with MySQL/MariaDB. (en.wikipedia.org)

Quick checklist before choosing or buying:

  1. Inspect the package or repository for a LICENSE/COPYING file (that tells you exact rights). 2) Read the vendor EULA (IPB, vB) — redistribution and branding removal are common restrictions. 3) Check system requirements and supported DB backends. 4) If files are encoded (ionCube/Zend), expect you cannot edit them — ask the vendor. Use official docs or the project’s repo as the source of truth. (makeuseof.com)

Notes on the thread: and were directionally right; and rightly flagged the licence nuance for commercial boards and SMF’s version history. For full freedom to fork, modify and redistribute pick an OSI‑licensed board (phpBB or SMF 2.x); if paid support or managed hosting is the priority, IPB or vBulletin are options — but verify the EULA for exactly what you may change or redistribute. (github.com)

Recommended Answers

All 8 Replies

Member Avatar for g0rb4ch3v

phpBB is 100% open source
vB costs money and technically you get the source.
All of them use mysql but some have extras such as mssql, postgresql, msaccess, etc

Member Avatar for sunandoghosh

HI BUDDY...

thanks for ur reply...its appreciated...but then it was NOT complete :sad:

would be really happy if some knowledgeable geek can really answer to all of the questions in the light of all the forums...????

vB costs money and technically you get the source.

what do u mean by the term my friend "technically" u get the source...i mean in reality do we get it or not...???

thanks nonetheless for taking effort to reply...

waiting for some knowledgeable guru to answer to a normal user like me... :cry:

Member Avatar for aboyd

Technically, you get a product that has source code, and you can view it. However, it does not fall into the category of "open source" because you really don't have much freedom with it -- it has a restrictive license. Also, supposedly they have begun to "obfusicate" their code, so that even though you can read it, it's deliberately unfriendly to programmers. I don't know if that is true, it's just something I read from another poster here last night.

IPB is the same, I think -- you pay but then get source code. phpBB can use MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, and one other which I've forgotten. I think all of them use PHP nowdays, don't they?

-Tony

Member Avatar for Smittymator

The vBulletin uses PHP and MySql primarily. You can view its source and make changes to it, but you are limited to what you can legally do with it. So for that reason, it's not technically open-source.

PHPBB is open-source, uses PHP and MySql by default

YaBBSE Simple Machines Forum is certainly open-source and uses PHP and MySql by default as well.

Invision Power board uses PHP and Mysql, but i'm not completely sure about its source. I believe you have to purchase it and with that being the case, it's liable to have restrictions much like vBulletin.

All of these can be used with other sql's but from what I've seen, all are MySql by default.

Most people base their decision upon 3 factors:

1. Do I have the money/desire to purchase the software?
2. How easy will this be to set up, customize, and use?
3. What kind of support and help can I get when things go wrong?

Or course, there are several other things to consider, but from reading many posts across many different forums, those seem to be the most common. I hope this has helped you in some way.
Btw, I use SMF for my forum. It has a lot of features, was easy to modify and install, and has been very stable ever since I installed it.

-Smitty

Member Avatar for Rioshu

Uhhh...wait....it costs money to make a forum?

Member Avatar for Hellfire1190

YES! you cant just have free webspace unless you want ad's then its free. The only powerfull free ones i know of are phpbbfor free and invision free, but they dont give you as much or the ability to alter things as the paid forums do

Member Avatar for Rioshu

Then I'll just go with an invisionfree power board.

Member Avatar for snowcrash

...
YaBBSE Simple Machines Forum is certainly open-source and uses PHP and MySql by default as well.
...
-Smitty

Erm, strictly speaking SMF isn't open source though it's free. It has a license which doesn't allow you to redistribute it. Though, to be honest I don't the know the in's and out's of it.

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