Maintained since 2000 on PHP and MySQL, phpBB combines low resource use with a mature extension ecosystem, a classic open-source choice for cheap long-running discussion boards, though mobile experience and automated governance lag.
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Launched in 2010 by former vBulletin core developers in the UK, XenForo is commercially licensed with a mature add-on market, where paid downloads, user upgrades, and permission groups anchor its fit for resource and membership communities.
Started around 2014 by Australian developer Toby Zerner, Flarum pairs a PHP backend with a single-page front end for a lightweight modern forum under MIT, with a minimal core and on-demand extensions for small communities.