Discussion Board vs Simple:Press
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Discussion Board v2.6.1 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.6/5 Visit Details | Simple:Press v6.11.15 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.2/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 1,000+ | 300+ |
| Last updated | October 23, 2026 | September 17, 2026 |
| Editions | Discussion Board · Discussion Board Pro ($) | Simple:Press · Simple:Press Pro ($) |
| Pros | 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 | Forums and subforums run inside WordPress; Uses WordPress users and a user group system; Topic moderation tools in the admin |
| Cons | Registration approval and reCAPTCHA are Pro only; Free licence key is requested from the vendor site by email | Many features such as messaging and polls need the paid Pro bundle; Add-ons need a licence key entered in the admin; Pro features arrive as separate add-on downloads |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 1 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | 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 | User groups admin panel, Topic lock and unlock moderation tools, Email a user from the admin tools, Spoiler shortcode, Forum statistics computed on the site, Theme update checks from the admin panel, Pro add-on updates via licence key ($), Daily add-on status check ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Brevo mailing list (via wpdiscussionboard.com) | — | |
| Plugins | — | Yoast SEO |
| Other | Google reCAPTCHA ($) | Simple:Press add-on licence server ($), Simple:Press news feed |
| Requires WordPress | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 7.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | www.google.com, wpdiscussionboard.com | simple-press.com |
| Shortcodes | 10 | 1 |