Murof
Docker on any $5 VPS
docker compose up -d- Open your domain, finish a 5-step setup wizard
- Optional: import your old forum from Admin
All the features. None of the weight.
How Murof compares with XenForo, vBulletin, Discourse, phpBB and MyBB on price, speed, features and setup. Every competitor figure has a source, checked Nov 11, 2026.
Features, included
The things communities ask for most, and whether each product includes them at no extra cost.
Key features included at no extra cost
Built inPartlyPaid extraFree official pluginAdd-onNo
| Feature | Murof | XenForo | vBulletin | Discourse | phpBB | MyBB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everything included, no paid official add-onsOne price buys the whole product. | Built in: All of it, one licence | Paid extra: Gallery, Resource Manager and Enhanced Search sold separately | Paid extra: Some add-ons sold separately | Built in: Official plugins are free | Built in: Free; extensions fill gaps | Built in: Free; plugins fill gaps |
| Branding removalYour forum, your name, no vendor link. | Built in: Included | Paid extra: $250 one-time | Unknown: Not listed publicly | Built in: Free (open source) | Built in: Free (open source) | Built in: Free (open source) |
| One app, one containerApp, database and web server ship together. No PHP, MySQL or Redis to set up. | Built in: One container, database built in | No: PHP + MySQL + web server | No: PHP + MySQL + web server | Partly: One Docker image, 1 GB RAM minimum with swap | No: PHP + database + web server | No: PHP + database + web server |
| One-click updates with automatic backup and rollbackUpdating should never be the scary part. | Built in: Backup, update and rollback in one press | Partly: Upgrade from the control panel | No: Upload files, run upgrade script | Partly: Web upgrade, no automatic rollback | No: Manual file upload | No: Manual file upload |
| Move in from other forums, from the admin panelBring members, posts and passwords without a terminal. | Built in: vBulletin 3-6, XenForo, phpBB, MyBB; passwords and old links kept | Built in: Official importers | Partly: ImpEx, a separate tool | Partly: Command-line import scripts | Partly: Limited converters | Partly: Merge System, a separate tool |
| Import a Discord serverTurn years of Discord history into searchable threads. | Built in: Built in | No: No | No: No | No: No | No: No | No: No |
| Two-way Discord bridgeThreads and replies flow between a forum and a Discord forum channel, both ways. | Built in: Built in, edits and deletes carry over | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only | Partly: Official chat integration posts one way | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only |
| Discord role syncForum groups and supporter perks follow members' Discord roles. | Built in: Built in | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only |
| Project pages with update logsMembers give what they make its own page with screenshots, links and updates people can follow. | Free official plugin: Showcase, free official plugin | No: Not built in | No: Not built in | No: Not built in | No: Not built in | No: Not built in |
| Levels, XP and a forum RPGMembers level up, earn gold, buy gear and duel, all from posting. | Free official plugin: Quest, free official plugin | Add-on: Third-party only | Add-on: Third-party only | Partly: Trust levels and badges, no RPG | Add-on: Extension | Add-on: Plugin |
| Solved answersMark the reply that fixed it, so the next person finds it fast. | Built in: Best answer card + Solved in lists | Built in: Question threads | No: Not built in | Free official plugin: Official Solved plugin | Add-on: Extension | Add-on: Plugin |
| Contests and jamsRun one inside Events: a secret theme, a submission window, voting and ranked results. | Free official plugin: Part of Events, free official plugin | No: Not built in | No: Not built in | No: Not built in | No: Not built in | No: Not built in |
| Post reactionsA quick way to say thanks without a reply. | Built in: 16 emoji | Built in: Built in | Built in: Likes | Built in: Built in | Add-on: Extension | Add-on: Plugin |
| Paid memberships with no platform cutYour community can pay for itself. | Built in: Stripe supporter plans | Built in: User upgrades | Built in: Paid subscriptions | Free official plugin: Official Subscriptions plugin | Add-on: Extension | Add-on: Plugin |
| Sign in with Discord, Steam, Google, Apple and XPeople join in one tap with the account they already use. | Built in: All five built in | Partly: Some providers | Partly: Some providers | Partly: Some providers | Partly: Some providers | Add-on: Plugin |
What the software costs over 3 years
Licence plus updates for 3 years. Hosting is left out for everyone. Free options cost nothing up front; you pay in extensions, setup time and upkeep instead.
3-year software cost, US dollars
Murof: $299 once with 12 months of updates and support, then $79 a year only if you want new versions. Your forum never stops working if you don't renew. Bars over $1,000 are cut short.
Speed
Murof's numbers are from our own load test: Murof 1.0 release candidate with the big-forum speed work, on a 4 vCPU 2.3 GHz cloud VM with 15 GB RAM; Murof pinned to 2 vCPUs (one process); test forum of 500,000 members, 555,555 threads and 10 million posts (7.8 GB). None of the other five publishes a comparable load test, so we don't make up numbers for them. Try any of them on the same server and compare for yourself.
Page time, 10-million-post forum
Memory needed
Getting it running
What a first install looks like for each.
Discourse
Docker, 1 GB+ RAM with swap
- Clone the launcher, run discourse-setup
- Set up outgoing email (SMTP) before it will finish
- Rebuild the container to add plugins
XenForo, vBulletin, phpBB, MyBB
PHP hosting with MySQL
- Create a MySQL database and user
- Upload the files by FTP or SFTP
- Run the web installer, then delete the install folder
Switch in an afternoon
Import from vBulletin, XenForo, phpBB, MyBB or Discord. Members keep their passwords and old links keep working.
Sources
Checked Nov 11, 2026. XenForo and vBulletin show add-on and renewal prices only at checkout, so those come from the third-party pages named here; check the vendor before you buy. Feature cells describe each product's standard download without third-party add-ons. Spotted something out of date? Tell us in the community and we'll fix it.
- XenForo: self-hosted licences (vendor)
- gConverter: True cost of XenForo (Apr 9, 2026) (third party)
- Raklet: vBulletin vs Raklet (updated May 2026) (third party)
- vBulletin: purchases and add-ons (vendor)
- Discourse: pricing (vendor)
- Discourse: cloud install guide (vendor)
- phpBB: free, open-source (GPL) (vendor)
- MyBB: requirements and licence (vendor)