bbPress vs Discussion Board
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | bbPress v2.6.20 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 3.9/5 Visit Details | Discussion Board v2.6.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.6/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 100,000+ | 1,000+ |
| Last updated | October 15, 2026 | October 23, 2026 |
| Editions | bbPress | Discussion Board · Discussion Board Pro ($) |
| Pros | Free and open source, from the WordPress contributors; Uses WordPress users and roles, and works with BuddyPress | One-click setup creates the forum pages on activation; Front-end registration with email verification; Topic and reply notifications by email, with opt-out; Shortcodes place the forum on any page |
| Cons | Lean feature set compared with dedicated community suites; Forum styling depends on the theme | Registration approval and reCAPTCHA are Pro only; Free licence key is requested from the vendor site by email |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Forum, topic, reply and stats widgets, Login widget, Akismet spam checking for posts, BuddyPress activity integration, Theme compatibility layer | Front-end new topic form, Front-end registration and login forms, Creates login, new topic and topic list pages, Pending user role for new registrations, Email notifications on new topics and replies, Notification opt-out for topic authors, Discussion topics custom post type |
| Integrations | ||
| — | Brevo mailing list (via wpdiscussionboard.com) | |
| Plugins | Akismet, BuddyPress | — |
| Other | — | Google reCAPTCHA ($) |
| Requires WordPress | 6.0 | 5.6 |
| Requires PHP | 7.2 | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | — | www.google.com, wpdiscussionboard.com |
| Shortcodes | — | 10 |