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Simple Machines Forum

Community PlatformsForums & Discussion Boardsfree

Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a free, open-source forum platform that community builders can self-host to create traditional discussion board communities. It offers extensive customization through a package manager with hundreds of modifications and themes, making it suitable for communities that want full control over their forum appearance and functionality. The platform includes built-in moderation tools, member management, and Server Side Includes (SSI) for website integration, appealing to tech-savvy community managers who prefer owning their community infrastructure rather than relying on hosted platforms.

Founded

2001

Team Size

10

11%

Funding

Venture

0

Monthly Traffic

40,450

7%

Key Features

  • Package Manager for modifications
  • Custom theme engine
  • Server Side Includes (SSI)
  • Multi-language support
  • Self-hosted deployment

Use Cases

Self-hosted community forums

Deploy a fully-featured discussion forum on your own servers with complete control over data, customization, and branding

Niche hobby communities

Create specialized discussion boards for gaming, tech, or interest-based communities with custom modifications and themes

Website-integrated communities

Use SSI functionality to integrate forum data and member information directly into existing websites and content management systems

Multi-language communities

Build international communities with built-in support for 40+ languages and localization tools

Cost-conscious community building

Launch professional-grade community forums without monthly subscription fees, ideal for volunteer organizations and bootstrapped projects

Target Users

community managersforum administratorsweb developerstechnical community leads

Tags

forumopen-sourceself-hosteddiscussion-boardphpcustomizablemoderationfree