# Simple Machines Reviews **Vendor:** SimpleMachines **Category:** [Other Marketing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/other-marketing) **Average Rating:** 3.3/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 3 ## About Simple Machines Simple Machines offers free open source software such as SMF, a community forum written in PHP. ## Simple Machines Reviews ### 1. Old Spaghetti is Terrible **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dave J. | Director of Software Architecture, NexTravel, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 13, 2021 **What do you like best about Simple Machines?** In 2003 or so, when I installed it, Simple Machines Forum (SMF) seemed like a better option than PphBB, which I had previously used. PhpBB had security issues and SMF seemed to have fewer problems. **What do you dislike about Simple Machines?** SMF is an old PHP application. The software "design" is something out of the late 1990s, where view logic is intermingled with controller and business logic. This results in a massive amount of spaghetti code that is difficult to unravel. This unstructured design leads to problems when you want to customize the forum look and feel or use add-ons. The methodology for plug-ins is terrible. Instead of an API, a plug-in is a "mod," which short for modification. A plugin updates the SMF code in order to add functionality in various places. This can result in a system that cannot be rolled back and sometimes it cannot even be updated. Furthermore, updating SMF can break plugins and plugins can break SMF. It's terrible. The UI is old and antiquated and the last time I used it, it was not responsive for mobile devices. **Recommendations to others considering Simple Machines:** Search for a different solution like NodeBB, Discourse, or even Vanilla Forums. **What problems is Simple Machines solving and how is that benefiting you?** SMF is an open-source online user forum. I used it to bring together a community around a specific topic. I created a large happy community despite the software. ### 2. SMF is the most elegant solution I've used so far. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Katina H. | Technical Support Analyst, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 03, 2021 **What do you like best about Simple Machines?** I first tried using SMF several years ago when I needed to deploy a forum fast for demo purposes. Trying SMF and some other solutions to choose the best one for intuitive administration, supporting all features they desired, I choose SMF. Everyone loved it! SMF got awarded with "Best free forum award" in 2009. In my opinion, that should have been news to no one, as it was fully expected. Installation and configuration are relatively fast and easy, with minimal server and client requirements. SMF has its own package manager for smooth administration. With all that said, it is worth noting that SMF supports the industry security standards. The features supported are too many to list separately. What really got me at first were the overall smoothness, the language support and the interface. SMF supports PHP and MySQL/PostgreSQL, Apache, ASpell, user ranking, smileys, email notifications, file upload, user karma, permission profiles, over 45 different languages, themes, mods and customizations, etc. Dedicated tools are available for easy conversion from other forum software to SMF for easy transition. And the best part is that it is open-source! **What do you dislike about Simple Machines?** There had been several twists around licensing through the years. Finally released under the BSD license, SMF is easier to distribute. **Recommendations to others considering Simple Machines:** SMF has been around for some time now. The community forum keeps a huge database of answers to most of the questions that could arise. Check it! If the solution is not there - do not be shy and reach out for help. There are constant new updates on hot topics, reported issues, feature requests, mods and what not. The friendly community is there for you! **What problems is Simple Machines solving and how is that benefiting you?** Fast and easy to build and maintain discussion boards and forums several clicks away, requiring almost minimal technical skills from both users and administrators. This combination could have some bad effects in some other universe, but luckily the way SMF is built makes it stable and reliable. ### 3. SMF is the best forum software ever **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew F. | Founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Simple Machines?** The best parts about SMF is that it is free and open source and very secure. It has many features like premium subscriptions, Access Control Lists (ACL), and great media features. Moderation and Administration is very easy. I use the development version because Its new theme is great **What do you dislike about Simple Machines?** The fact the latest stable version doesn't have Mobile support It would be nice to see the development version see the light of day **Recommendations to others considering Simple Machines:** If you use SMTP for mail test it before using SMF **What problems is Simple Machines solving and how is that benefiting you?** Simple machines allows me to have a community where my clients can communicate and ask questions ## Simple Machines Discussions - [What is Simple Machines used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-simple-machines-used-for) - [View Simple Machines pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/simple-machines/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-21+01%3A41%3A57+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=562284d0-7deb-403d-896f-3689904f333f&secure%5Btoken%5D=324f45d20880fe19104d676b45482310c63ee41689ed0c1711387d1eda6ac777&format=llm_user) ## Top Simple Machines Alternatives - [Thinkific](https://www.g2.com/products/thinkific/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (380 reviews) - [Google Trends](https://www.g2.com/products/google-trends/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (260 reviews) - [Retention.com](https://www.g2.com/products/retention-com/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (121 reviews)