What MyBB does

MyBB is a free and open source forum software project originally conceived in 2002 as a fork of XMB (XMB Group) and first publicly released as MyBB 1.0 on December 9, 2005. The product is a PHP-based discussion platform that supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite databases, and ships with an extensible plugin architecture (hooks at hundreds of integration points), a built-in template and theme editor, moderation and administration tooling, private messaging, and performance features including caching support (eAccelerator, APC, memcached, X-Cache) and database failover with master/slave replication for large deployments. The software is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 3 and has been described in its own materials as powering "thousands of engaging, vibrant, and unique communities across the internet," with community-maintained translations covering more than 30 languages.

The entity behind the project, MyBB Group, is a volunteer-run community organization headquartered in Temple City, California (United States); it is not a conventional commercial company. MyBB has no published pricing for the core software, generates no disclosed revenue, and operates without funding rounds, paid tiers, or named enterprise customers; it accepts voluntary donations to support development. The go-to-market motion is entirely community-led: discovery happens through community forums, GitHub, official documentation, the blog, an official Discord server, and word-of-mouth within the forum-administrator and developer communities. Distribution is direct via self-serve download from mybb.com and the public GitHub repository, with extensions, themes, and translations distributed through a community-run "Extend" marketplace. Strategic positioning is centered on cost efficiency (zero licensing cost), extensibility, multilingual reach, and a long-running volunteer contributor base, rather than on AI differentiation, commercial services, or aggressive market expansion.

Name

MyBB

Legal name

MyBB Group

Website

https://mybb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MyBB is a volunteer-run, free open source forum software project licensed under LGPL. Built in PHP with MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite support, it powers thousands of self-hosted online discussion communities globally with plugins, themes, and 30+ language translations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Source Forum Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Hosting & Membership Platforms (MPACAJAF)

Keywords

• Forum software
• Open source forum
• Discussion board software
• Community forum platform
• Bulletin board software

Headquarters

HQ city

Temple City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Software Distribution: MyBB is completely free and open source forum software distributed under the LGPL license. The project has no commercial revenue model and is maintained by volunteers. Users can download and use the software without payment. Donations are accepted to support the project but are not required for software use.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MyBB develops and distributes a free, open source PHP-based forum software package (LGPL v3) that enables individuals and organizations to self-host online discussion communities. The product bundles an extensible plugin architecture, theme/template editor, moderation tools, private messaging, user management, and database support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite, and is extended via a community-contributed ecosystem of plugins, themes, and 30+ language translations distributed through the Extend marketplace.

Product overview

MyBB is a single unified free and open source forum software product built with PHP. The core MyBB Forum Software includes all essential features: plugins, themes, moderation, administration, discussions, user management, private messaging, and performance optimization. The product is extended through community-contributed plugins and themes available via the Extend marketplace, and localized through community-maintained translations covering 30+ languages. Support resources include official documentation, community forums, and a Discord server. MyBB follows a release-based versioning model with over 60 versions released since 2005.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MyBB Forum Software Free and open source PHP-based forum software for self-hosting online discussion communities. Includes plugin system, theme/template editor, moderation tools, administration panel, discussion threads, user management, private messaging, and performance optimization features. Targeted at forum administrators, website owners, hobbyists, community managers, small businesses, and organizations seeking an affordable, customizable discussion platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Community-maintained translations available for more than 30 languages

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Vanilla Forums: Commercial community/forum SaaS platform with cloud-hosted and open source editions; comparable to MyBB at the forum-software layer with an enterprise go-to-market motion.
• NodeBB: Modern Node.js-based open source forum platform that competes in the same community-discussion category with a more contemporary technology stack and plugin ecosystem.

Direct peers

• XenForo: Commercial forum software that targets the same forum-administrator segment as MyBB with a paid licensing model; represents the primary commercial alternative in the same product category.
• Discourse: Modern open source forum/discussion platform built on Ruby on Rails; competes directly with MyBB for new community deployments, with stronger enterprise positioning and a hosting business model.
• phpBB: Direct open source PHP-based forum software competitor with a comparable volunteer community model, similar extensibility architecture, and overlapping target audience of forum administrators.
• Flarum: Modern open source forum software built with PHP/JS; targets the same next-generation community-builder audience that MyBB is trying to retain.
• Simple Machines Forum (SMF): Long-running open source PHP forum software with a comparable volunteer community, LGPL-style licensing, and similar extensibility philosophy — a near-direct analogue to MyBB.
• vBulletin: Historic commercial forum software that once dominated the category and still competes for migration candidates from MyBB on feature parity and enterprise capability.
• bbPress: WordPress.org-maintained lightweight forum plugin; overlaps with MyBB primarily for WordPress-centric site owners seeking simpler forum functionality.

Broad incumbents

• Reddit: Large-scale hosted community/discussion platform that competes for the same end-user attention and use cases as MyBB-powered forums, but operates a centralized hosted model rather than self-hosted software.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/mybbsecurity
• GitHubgithub.com/mybb

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MyBB