# phpBB

19 Hacker News commenters recommended phpBB and 16 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend phpBB for running forums with strong access controls, ranks that keep new accounts unposted until verified, and a long track record of stability. The most common caveat is a history of security vulnerabilities and constant patching.

## Why people recommend it

- Access controls and ranks stop spam (2 comments): "That is a simple method in phpBB. Using ranks one can set new accounts to be able to post and nobody can see their message until verified by a moderator." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47349594)) "I still use it for private and semi-private forums. The access controls make it much easier to stop drive-by spammers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46842370))
- Nostalgia for classic forum experience (6 comments): "I really love that a phpBB board like this still exists outside the dominant social media hellscape" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46326344)) "I'm also glad I got to experience phpBB message boards" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47386044)) "I loved posting on phpBB forums back in the day." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49642894))
- Stable and moddable over years (3 comments): "phpBB also had a reputation for stability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49619909)) "as moddable as phpbb was back in the day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49619327)) "Don't reinvent the wheel PHPBB, MyBB and others are still updated." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49449203))
- Good for private communities (2 comments): "I still use it for private and semi-private forums. The access controls make it much easier to stop drive-by spammers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46842370)) "If you didn't like one community, it was super easy to find one you did." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46954819))

## What people warn about

- Security vulnerabilities and constant patching (5 comments): "phpbb was a nightmare to keep patched (even without any plugins/customization) and free of spam accounts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48756483)) "The code was rife with vulnerabilities, so the boards needed constant patching" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46841671)) "it's still having critical security vulns after 26 years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49440361))
- Spam accounts and spambot problems (3 comments): "phpbb was a nightmare to keep patched (even without any plugins/customization) and free of spam accounts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48756483)) "even back then those forums were overrun with spambots" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49212108)) "PHPbb kept getting trashed by spammers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029842))
- Slow performance and throughput (2 comments): "It was slow, but it worked just fine for my friends and I!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48066669)) "PhpBB is not much better. Pathetic throughput at best and it has not gotten better in decades now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47992202))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "phpBB", https://hackerapproved.com/p/phpbb/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).