NodeBB AlternativesForum Software and other similar apps like NodeBB

NodeBB is described as 'A community forum allows you to engage and retain customers, keeping them interested and up-to-date with your latest product or service' and is a Forum Software in the social & communications category. There are more than 25 alternatives to NodeBB for a variety of platforms, including Self-Hosted, Web-based, Linux, Windows and Mac apps. The best NodeBB alternative is Discourse. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Flarum or phpBB. Other great apps like NodeBB are Simple Machines Forum, MyBB, XenForo and bbPress.

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

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NodeBB alternatives page was last updated May 3, 2025
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  1. Discourse icon
     149 likes
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    Discourse is an open source discussion platform built for the next decade of the Internet. A modern forum, everything's been redesigned to be easy.

    66 Discourse alternatives

    License model

    • Free PersonalOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Ruby
    • JavaScript
    • Cloudron
    • Docker

    Discourse Features

    1. ActivityPub icon  Support for ActivityPub
    2.  Email list
    3.  Trust Level system
    4.  Interactive tutorials
    5.  Infinite scroll
    6.  REST API
    7. Patreon icon  Patreon Integration
    8. Slack icon  Slack integration
    9.  Mobile friendly
    10.  Integrated Spam Protection

    Discourse VS NodeBB

     
    • Discourse is the most popular Web-based & Self-Hosted alternative to NodeBB.

    • Discourse is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to NodeBB.

    • Discourse is Free Personal and Open SourceNodeBB is Freemium and Open Source
  2. Flarum icon
     82 likes
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    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.

    51 Flarum alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • AU flagAustralia

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • Apache HTTP Server
    • PHP

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Visual design
    3.  Simplicity
    4.  Web Forms

    Flarum VS NodeBB

     
    Comments about Flarum as an Alternative to NodeBB
    Guest
    Positive Apr 22, 2016
    3

    Has a similar modern look, powered by php.

    NodeBB Icon
    Flarum icon
    • Most users think Flarum is a great NodeBB alternative.

    • Flarum is Free and Open SourceNodeBB is Freemium and Open Source
    • Flarum is LightweightNodeBB is not according to our users
  3. phpBB icon
     88 likes
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    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.

    54 phpBB alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP

    phpBB VS NodeBB

     
    • phpBB is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to NodeBB.

    • phpBB is Free and Open SourceNodeBB is Freemium and Open Source
  4. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Simple Machines Forum — SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted

    Properties

    1.  User friendly

    Features

    1.  Portal

    Simple Machines Forum VS NodeBB

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

    48 MyBB alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Integrated Spam Protection

    MyBB VS NodeBB

     
  6. XenForo icon
     20 likes
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    A compelling community experience. Intuitive. Social. Engaging. Fast. XenForo brings a fresh outlook to forum software.

    44 XenForo alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • MySQL Community Edition
    • Self-Hosted
    • MariaDB
    • PHP

    XenForo VS NodeBB

     
    • XenForo is the most popular commercial alternative to NodeBB.

    • XenForo is Paid and ProprietaryNodeBB is Freemium and Open Source
  7. bbPress icon
     20 likes
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    bbPress is forum software with a twist from the creators of WordPress. Its focused on web standards, ease of use, ease of integration, and speed. bbPress will try to keep things as small and light as possible while still allowing great add-on feature possibilities.

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online

    bbPress VS NodeBB

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

    License model

    • Free PersonalOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Vanilla Forum Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions

    Vanilla Forum VS NodeBB

     
  9. FluxBB icon
     24 likes
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    FluxBB is a fast, light, user-friendly forum application for your website. FluxBB was designed as a lighter, faster alternative to some of the traditional feature heavy forum applications. It is easy to use and has a proven track record of stability and security making it an...

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Discontinued

    Development of FluxBB has halted in favor of of joint open-source alternative, Flarum: https://web.archive.org/web/20221007200349if_/https://fluxbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8282

    FluxBB Features

    1.  Website integration

    FluxBB VS NodeBB

     
  10. ZeroTalk icon
     13 likes
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    Forum(s) built with JavaScript ( with CoffeeScript ) and alternativeto.net/software/json for the database distributed by the network .

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Python
    • JSON
    • JavaScript
    • ZeroNet
    Discontinued

    The last update is from 2020.

    ZeroTalk Features

    1.  Decentralized
    2.  Distributed

    ZeroTalk VS NodeBB

     
  11. vBulletin icon
     20 likes
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    vBulletin (abbreviated as vB) is a commercial Internet forum software written in PHP using a MySQL database server.

    45 vBulletin alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • PHP

    vBulletin VS NodeBB

     
    • vBulletin is the most popular Android & iPhone alternative to NodeBB.

    • vBulletin is Paid and ProprietaryNodeBB is Freemium and Open Source
  12. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Invision Community is a flexible, feature-packed and easy to customize platform that powers some of the biggest and best communities on the web.

    46 Invision Community alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes

    Features

    1.  Flat File CMS
    2.  Portal
    3.  Cloud based

    Invision Community VS NodeBB

     
12 of 44 NodeBB alternatives