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SMF — Simple, Powerful, Yours

Your community, off Facebook — on SMF.

Simple Machines Forum gives your community a proper home — no ads, no algorithm deciding who sees what, no risk of your group disappearing overnight. One-click install, 2GB NVMe SSD, unlimited traffic and free SSL. Try it free for 30 days, then just £0.99/month.

Start Free for 30 Days →Why Leave Facebook?
No credit card requiredNo ads, everYou own everything
SMF Hosting Plan
£0/first 30 days
then £0.99/month
One-click SMF install (Softaculous)
2GB NVMe SSD storage
Unlimited bandwidth
1 email account
Free SSL certificate (Let's Encrypt)
Daily automated backups
Custom domain support
Zero ads — guaranteed
Start Free — No Card Needed
Secured by Stripe · Cancel anytime · No lock-in
60s
Average setup time
2GB
NVMe SSD storage
∞
Bandwidth included
£0.99
Per month after trial

Sound familiar?

Tired of Facebook running your community?

You put in the effort. You moderate, you post, you grow the group. Then Facebook buries your content, plasters ads next to your discussions, and you realise — you're building on someone else's land. SMF hosted on Nexforum changes that.

Facebook Group
📉The algorithm decides which members see your posts — often fewer than 10%
📢Ads shown to your members inside your group, generating revenue for Meta — not you
🚫Group can be removed by automated systems with little warning or recourse
🔍Content is invisible to Google — years of discussions never discovered by new members
🔒Members must have a Facebook account — people who've left are locked out entirely
📊You own none of it — no data export, no portability, no safety net
Your SMF Forum on Nexforum
📬Every post is visible to every member who visits — no suppression, no guesswork
🚫Absolutely zero ads — your community space is clean and distraction-free
🔐Your forum can't be taken away — you control the hosting, you own the community
🌍Threads indexed by Google — your community grows organically through search
🙋Anyone with a browser can join — no Facebook account, no tracking, no barriers
💾Daily backups of everything — your data is yours and it's always safe
💡
Thinking about making the move from Facebook?

We've put together a full guide covering everything Facebook group admins need to know — from choosing the right forum software to migrating your members across.

Read the Migration Guide →

About SMF

Why SMF is the perfect first forum for your community.

Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a free, open-source forum platform with over 20 years of active development behind it. It's known for being genuinely easy to administer — ideal for community leaders coming from Facebook who want powerful tools without a steep learning curve.

🧭
Intuitive Admin Panel
If you've moderated a Facebook Group, SMF's admin panel will feel immediately familiar. Everything is clearly labelled and logically laid out — member management, board settings, moderation tools and permissions all in one clean interface.
🗂️
Boards & Categories
Unlike Facebook's single-stream format, SMF lets you organise discussions into boards and categories. Give each topic in your community its own dedicated space — making it far easier for members to find and follow conversations they care about.
🛡️
Proper Moderation Tools
SMF gives moderators the tools they actually need — move threads, split topics, merge posts, issue warnings, approve new members and ban troublemakers. Far more granular control than Facebook's limited group moderation features.
📧
Member Notifications
SMF notifies members of replies to their threads and topics they follow via email — no algorithm deciding whether they see it. Your members stay engaged because they're actually informed when activity happens.
🎨
Themeable & Customisable
A large library of free SMF themes lets you match your forum's look to your community's personality. From simple and clean to rich and bold — your forum looks like yours, not a generic platform template.
🔌
Mods & Extensions
The SMF customisation site hosts hundreds of free modifications — from social sharing buttons and reputation systems to advanced search and custom profile fields. Extend your forum's functionality without paying a penny extra.

Why Nexforum for SMF

Hosting that gives your SMF forum room to grow.

SMF is a mature, reliable platform — and Nexforum's infrastructure is built to match. Fast storage, zero bandwidth limits and daily backups mean you can focus on your community rather than your hosting.

⚡
NVMe SSD — Noticeably Faster
SMF stores all its threads, member data and settings in a database. NVMe solid-state storage makes every database query — thread loads, searches, profile lookups — respond faster than traditional hosting, keeping your forum feeling snappy as it grows.
🌐
Unlimited Bandwidth
When your community really gets going, traffic spikes happen. Nexforum imposes no bandwidth caps — your SMF forum keeps loading quickly whether you have a dozen members browsing or a thousand.
🔒
Free SSL, Auto-Renewed
HTTPS is non-negotiable for member trust. Every Nexforum account includes a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, renewed automatically — your SMF forum will never show a browser security warning to your members.
💾
Daily Automated Backups
Every post, every member, every uploaded avatar and attachment — backed up daily. If a mod update causes an issue or something goes wrong, we can restore your SMF forum quickly with minimal data loss.
🌍
Your Own Domain
Run your SMF forum on your own domain name rather than a generic subdomain. Your community gets a proper web address that reflects its identity — and that members can find and remember without needing a Facebook link.
🛡️
DDoS Protection Included
Online communities occasionally attract unwanted attention. Nexforum's network-level DDoS mitigation keeps your SMF forum accessible even under pressure, so your members are never locked out.

Getting started

From Facebook Group to live SMF forum in three steps.

01
🆓

Start Your Free Trial

Sign up at Nexforum — no credit card required. Your 30 days start immediately. You get the full plan, not a cut-down demo. No commitment, no risk.

02
🖱️

Install SMF in One Click

Open Softaculous in your control panel, find Simple Machines Forum and click Install. Choose your domain, set an admin username and let the installer handle the rest — database, files, configuration all done automatically.

03
📣

Invite Your Members Over

Set up your board categories to mirror your Facebook Group's topics, customise your theme and post in your Facebook Group with the link. Many communities successfully migrate in just a few days.

From the community

Facebook group admins who moved to SMF.

★★★★★

"I'd been running a Facebook group for my local walking club for four years. One day Facebook decided to unpublish it — automated system, no explanation. That was the wake-up call. Got SMF running on Nexforum in under an hour and haven't looked back."

Angela B.
Walking club, 800 members
★★★★★

"What I love most about SMF compared to the Facebook group is that discussions are actually organised. My members can find old threads, search the history, follow specific topics. Facebook's feed made everything disappear within hours. This is so much better."

Martin C.
Classic car enthusiast group
★★★★★

"The 30-day free trial meant I could set up SMF, get a feel for it and even bring some early adopters over from the group — all before spending a penny. £0.99 a month is nothing. The hardest part was deciding to make the move."

Lisa H.
Gardening community admin

Frequently asked questions

SMF hosting — your questions answered.

Is SMF a good choice for a Facebook group migration?
SMF is an excellent choice for groups migrating from Facebook. Its admin panel is straightforward enough for non-technical moderators, the board-and-category structure maps naturally to how Facebook groups organise topics, and the member management tools are more powerful than anything Facebook offers. It's one of our top recommendations for group admins making the switch.
Will my members find SMF easy to use?
Yes. SMF has a clean, familiar interface that most internet users can navigate without any guidance. Registering, posting, replying and following threads are all intuitive. The main difference from Facebook is that discussions are organised into boards rather than a single feed — which most members quickly find they prefer.
Can I install SMF mods and themes on Nexforum?
Absolutely. Your SMF installation runs on standard web hosting, so you can install any modification or theme from the SMF customisation site or third-party sources. There are no restrictions on what you add to your forum.
Can I use my own domain name?
Yes. All Nexforum plans support custom domain names. Point your domain's DNS to our servers, let us know the domain and we'll configure your SMF installation to use it — including automatic HTTPS via a free SSL certificate.
How many members can my SMF forum have?
There are no artificial limits on members, posts or threads. Your 2GB NVMe SSD storage goes a very long way for a text-based community — most forums with tens of thousands of posts use only a fraction of that. Bandwidth is unlimited, so traffic is never a concern.
What happens after the 30-day free trial?
Your SMF forum continues running seamlessly. You'll receive a reminder before your trial ends, at which point your plan moves to £0.99/month billed via Stripe. If you decide not to continue, cancel at any time — no charges, no hassle.

Explore other forum software

Not sure SMF is the right fit? Compare your options.

Every forum platform on Nexforum installs in one click via Softaculous. Your 30-day free trial covers all of them — try as many as you like.

🔵
phpBB
World's most popular forum software
 🟠
MyBB
Fast, flexible and highly extensible
 🟡
FluxBB
Lightweight and distraction-free
 🟣
Vanilla Forums
Modern feel, closest to social platforms

Ready to move your community off Facebook?

Free for 30 days. Then just £0.99/mo. No credit card required. No Facebook needed.

Start Free for 30 Days →No hidden fees · Secured by Stripe · Cancel anytime