Open Source Self-Hosted Discourse Alternatives

There are many alternatives to Discourse as a self-hosted solution if you are looking for a replacement. The best open source Self-Hosted alternative is Flarum. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Discourse and many of them are open source and available as a self-hosted solution so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Self-Hosted alternatives to Discourse are phpBB, NodeBB, Vanilla Forum and Simple Machines Forum.

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Alternatives list

  1. Flarum icon
     82 likes

    Flarum is free, open-source forum software with a focus on simplicity. You can use Flarum to easily set up a discussion forum for your website. Flarum is developed openly on GitHub.

    53 Flarum alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Apache HTTP Server
    • PHP
     
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    2
    Flarum vs Discourse Comments
    yaoqb
    Positive
    2

    Its fast lite-weight and easy, works with php and mariadb/mysql

    Guest
    Positive
    5

    Works on more shared-hosting environments, and is more cleanly designed / easy to set up.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Flarum is Free and Open SourceDiscourse is Free Personal and Open Source
    • Flarum is LightweightDiscourse is not according to our users
  2. phpBB icon
     90 likes

    Since its creation in 2000, phpBB™ has become the most widely used Open Source forum solution. Like its predecessors, phpBB™ 3.2 “Rhea” has an easy to use administration panel and a user friendly installation process, which allows you to have a forum set up in minutes.

    53 phpBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
     
  3. NodeBB icon
     20 likes

    A community forum allows you to engage and retain customers, keeping them interested and up-to-date with your latest product or service.

    45 NodeBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Sandstorm
    • MongoDB
    • Redis
    • Cloudron
    • Node.JS
     
  4. Vanilla Forum icon
     22 likes

    Vanilla provides a standards-compliant, multi-lingual, theme-able and pluggablecommunity forum software that powers discussion forums on 800,000 sites.

    50 Vanilla Forum alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
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    1
    Vanilla Forum vs Discourse Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    2

    Vanilla only supports open-source for Developers, they discourage use for non-profit or hobbyist purposes over a paid solution.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Vanilla Forum is Free Personal and Open SourceDiscourse is also Free Personal and Open Source
  5. MyBB icon
     35 likes

    MyBB is the free and open source, intuitive, extensible, and incredibly powerful forum software you've been looking for.

    47 MyBB alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
  6. Open Social icon
     5 likes

    Open Social is a purpose-built community engagement platform. Developed on top of a powerful open-source Drupal technology framework, Open Social allows organizations to create a central online hub for their members.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
     
  7. Forem icon
     3 likes

    Forem is open source software for building modern and independent communities for your developers, peers, customers, users. Forem is already powering communities that serve over 10 million monthly unique visitors.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
  8. Apache Answer icon
     2 likes

    Q&A platform software for teams at any scale. Whether it's a community forum, help center, or knowledge management platform, you can always count on Apache Answer.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    • Cloudron
     
  9. Thredded icon
     3 likes

    Feature-rich and lightning fast forums. Works standalone or as a Rails engine. Markdown by default, with plugins for code highlighting, KaTeX math, and BBCode. No JavaScript required. Easy deployment on Heroku or with Ansible.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
     
  10. Social websites go far beyond Facebook look-alikes and CB has literally hundreds of built-in features and can be extended with extra (free or commercial) add-ons from the CB Team and other parties that will help you realize your very own - tailored to your specific needs -...

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Joomla
     
12 of 24 Discourse alternatives