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30-OFF-HOSTING
Simple Machines Forum Hosting
Hosting tuned for your SMF community. Lightweight PHP, MariaDB, 1-click installs, and 24+ years of in-house forum hosting experience.
One lightweight plan, fully SMF-ready.
SMF is resource-efficient by design, so it runs comfortably on our entry shared plan. You get the PHP runtime, MariaDB database, Softaculous one-click installer, free SSL, free CloudFlare CDN integration, and 24/7 in-house support that an SMF community needs, at a price point that fits a volunteer or hobbyist forum budget.
Ultra Lite
Lightweight forum tier · LAMP stack · Softaculous
- 1-click Simple Machines Forum install
- Lightweight LAMP runtime, ideal for SMF
- 10 GB SSD web space
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Unlimited email accounts
- 1 free domain registration w/annual order
- PHP 7.4 - 8.3 per-domain selector
- MariaDB databases tuned for forum workloads
- Softaculous 1-click app installer
- SMF Package Manager fully supported
- CloudLinux CageFS account isolation
- Daily JetBackup, 30-day restore points
- Free CloudFlare CDN integration
- Free forum site migration
- Free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate
- AI Coding Assistant included
- 24/7 in-house forum support
- Free setup · 45-day money-back
Built for lean, fast-moving forum communities.
SMF asks for very little and rewards you for it. We pair that light footprint with the PHP runtime, MariaDB database, one-click installer, and human support team a busy board actually leans on, all on the entry plan with no upsells.
PHP + MariaDB
PHP 7.4 through 8.3 per-domain via cPanel's PHP Selector, paired with MariaDB tuned for forum query patterns. SMF 2.1.x is happiest on PHP 8.2, and that runtime is one click away in cPanel.
Softaculous 1-Click Install
Softaculous installs SMF with one click, including database creation, admin account, and the SMF configuration file. A new board goes live in about five minutes with no SSH or manual file work.
Lightweight Runtime
SMF's low memory footprint pairs perfectly with our entry shared plan. The same plan many people use for a small business website hosts a fully featured SMF community comfortably, without an upgrade.
Themes + Package Manager
SMF's built-in Package Manager installs themes, mods, and language packs from the official Simple Machines repository or any uploaded ZIP. Our servers allow the file writes and database changes SMF needs to install packages cleanly.
24/7 In-House Support
Our support team is in-house, not outsourced, and we have been hosting forum communities since 2002. Open a ticket and a real engineer answers it, whether it's an SMF install question, a database tuning request, or a hacked-board recovery.
99.9% Uptime Guarantee
Daily JetBackup with 30-day restore points, RAID and UPS on every shared host, on-site technicians, and a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee. When members are mid-conversation, your forum needs to stay reachable.
PHP, MariaDB, and Softaculous, ready in one click.
SMF was built to stay light, and our entry plan gives it exactly what it asks for: a current PHP runtime, a MariaDB database, and the Softaculous installer that stands the board up. Softaculous creates the database, writes Settings.php, and provisions the admin account for you, so a fresh community is taking its first posts in minutes rather than after a weekend of manual setup.
See what's included →Hosting forum communities since 2002.
Simple Machines Forum hosting built for the long-haul community.
Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a free, open-source forum platform written in PHP and backed by MySQL or MariaDB, and it has earned a reputation as one of the lightest, most resource-efficient boards you can self-host. A clean default interface, deep theme support, and a built-in package manager for mods let a small team run a serious community without the server overhead a heavier platform demands. That efficiency is exactly why SMF pairs so naturally with shared hosting, and why long-running hobby, gaming, and support communities have stayed on it for years.
What you get on the Ultra SMF plan
Every shared hosting plan includes 1-click SMF installation through Softaculous, modern PHP with OPcache, MariaDB tuned for forum read-heavy workloads, free Let's Encrypt SSL, free CloudFlare CDN integration, daily JetBackup, ModSecurity with the OWASP Core Rule Set, and CloudLinux CageFS to isolate your account from your shared neighbors. We also include the AI Coding Assistant in cPanel for hands-on customization of SMF themes and template files, and a 12-minute average support response time during business hours so SMF setup questions get answered quickly.
Plenty of room to grow
If your community grows past what shared hosting can handle, the path forward is straightforward: move up to Nginx Optimized hosting for a faster cache stack, or to VPS hosting for a dedicated CPU/RAM slice and root access. SMF migrates cleanly between plans because the install is just files plus a database. You can also explore other forum and community options on our Application Hosting hub, including phpBB, MyBB, and Discourse, if you ever want to compare or convert. The SMF entry on our hosting features page covers where it fits in the broader supported stack. Same hardware, same in-house support team, same renewal pricing as your introductory rate.
The exact stack Simple Machines asks for.
SMF's official system requirements are short, and every line of them is already covered on our entry shared plan. Nothing to enable, nothing to buy on top.
- PHP 7.4 to 8.3, your pick. SMF 2.1.x runs on PHP 7.4 through 8.3; we recommend PHP 8.2 for new boards. The per-domain PHP Selector in cPanel lets you set the exact runtime for your forum without touching the rest of your account.
- MariaDB for the message store. SMF keeps every post, topic, and member in a MySQL-compatible database. Our MariaDB is tuned for the read-heavy pattern a busy board generates, and you create and manage databases straight from cPanel.
- Cron for scheduled tasks. SMF leans on scheduled maintenance jobs such as digest mailing, pruning, and daily cleanup. cPanel's Cron Jobs let you drive SMF's scheduled task file on a real system cron instead of relying on visitor page loads to trigger it.
- Outbound email that lands. Registration confirmations, password resets, and topic notifications all go out through the mail stack on your cPanel account, so members actually receive the emails SMF sends.
- Free SSL and account isolation. A free Let's Encrypt certificate encrypts logins and private messages from day one, and CloudLinux CageFS keeps your forum walled off from other tenants on the server.
What SMF customers ask before choosing a plan.
The questions our sales team gets every week. If yours isn't here, drop us a line.
What versions of Simple Machines Forum are supported?
Every current SMF release is supported, including the SMF 2.1.x stable branch (recommended for new installs) and SMF 2.0.x for upgrade compatibility. Softaculous tracks each upstream release within a few days, so security and maintenance updates apply through cPanel in one click. PHP 8.2 and 8.3 are the recommended runtimes for SMF 2.1, and both are available per-domain on every plan.
Can I install SMF with one click?
Yes. Softaculous in cPanel installs Simple Machines Forum with a single click. It creates the database, sets up the admin account, and writes the configuration file for you. A working SMF board is typically live within five minutes of signup, without manual file uploads, database creation, or config-file editing.
Can I migrate my existing forum to Ultra?
Yes, free site migration is included on annual plans. Our technicians handle the file copy, database export and import, mail accounts, and post-migration optimization for SMF, phpBB, MyBB, vBulletin, and most other forum platforms. If you are moving from another forum software to SMF, the Simple Machines team maintains a set of converters inside SMF itself for phpBB, MyBB, vBulletin, IPB, and others, and we can help you run those converters as part of the move.
What PHP version does Simple Machines Forum need?
SMF 2.1.x supports PHP 7.4 through PHP 8.3, and we recommend PHP 8.2 on new installs for the best performance and security. SMF 2.0.x supports older PHP versions if you need compatibility with legacy mods. Every plan exposes a per-domain PHP Selector in cPanel, so you can pick the exact runtime your SMF board needs without changing it for the rest of your account.
Can I install custom themes and packages on SMF?
Yes. SMF has a built-in Package Manager in the admin control panel that installs themes, mods, and language packs from the official Simple Machines repository or from any ZIP file you upload. Our servers allow file modifications and database writes from inside the SMF admin panel, so themes and packages install cleanly without any server-side configuration changes.
Is SSL included for my forum?
Yes. Every domain gets a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate with auto-renewal. SMF logins, private messages, and admin sessions are encrypted from day one. You can also bring your own paid SSL certificate if you need extended validation or wildcard coverage.
Why pick Simple Machines Forum over phpBB on Ultra?
Both run well on our LAMP stack. SMF has a lighter resource footprint, a cleaner default theme, and the SMF Package Manager handles mods and themes in one workflow without needing to extract anything by hand. phpBB has a larger third-party extension ecosystem and a longer history on the open web. Pick SMF if you want a lean, fast-to-administer board. Pick phpBB if you want maximum extension choice. You can install either through Softaculous in one click, so trying both before you commit is straightforward.
The communities SMF was built for.
Simple Machines Forum stays lean on purpose, which is exactly why it suits boards run by volunteers rather than IT departments. Here are the three that feel most at home on our entry Ultra Lite plan.
The hobby community
An enthusiast board that has been going for years. SMF's light footprint and one-click Softaculous updates keep it fast and current without a server admin, on a plan that fits a volunteer budget.
The club or league
A gaming clan, sports league, or local club coordinating members and events. The SMF Package Manager adds the themes and mods you want, and daily JetBackup means a bad extension is never the end of the thread.
The niche support board
A product, software, or special-interest board where members help each other. Real cron drives digest mailings and pruning on a clock, and free SSL keeps logins and private messages encrypted from day one.
Ready to launch your SMF forum?
Install Simple Machines Forum in one click and start your first board today. 30% off new SMF hosting orders with code 30-OFF-HOSTING, a 45-day money-back guarantee, and free forum migration on annual plans.
