Best self-hosted Communication - Social Networks and Forums apps

Mastodon

★ 50,053

Mastodon is a decentralized social network (the fediverse) where each server is independent and interconnected. By hosting your own instance, you set the community rules and no algorithm controls your feed.

Discourse

★ 47,306

Discourse is the modern forum and community platform, with topics, moderation and gamification. Self-hosted, it's the way to have your own discussion space without depending on social-media groups.

Flarum

★ 16,325

Delightfully simple forums. Flarum is the next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun again.

Answer

★ 15,562

Knowledge-based community software. You can use it to quickly build your Q&A community for product technical support, customer support, user communication, and more.

NodeBB

★ 15,143

Forum software built for the modern web.

Lemmy

★ 14,453

Link aggregator for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).

diaspora*

★ 13,656

Distributed social networking server.

Misskey

★ 11,212

Decentralized app-like microblogging server/SNS for the Fediverse, using the ActivityPub protocol like GNU social and Mastodon.

PixelFed

★ 7,010

Ethical photo sharing platform, powered by ActivityPub federation (alternative to Instagram).

HumHub

★ 6,694

Flexible kit for private social networks.

remark42

★ 5,528

Lightweight and simple comment engine, which doesn't spy on users. It can be embedded into blogs, articles or any other place where readers add comments.

Isso

★ 5,286

Lightweight commenting server written in Python and Javascript. It aims to be a drop-in replacement for Disqus.

Redlib

★ 3,418

An alternative private front-end to Reddit, with its origins in Libreddit.

Misago

★ 2,729

Fully featured modern forum application that is fast, scalable and responsive.

Loomio

★ 2,550

Collaborative decision-making tool that makes it easy for anyone to participate in decisions which affect them.

Artalk

★ 2,278

Comment system built in Golang, providing a lightweight and highly customizable solution for adding comments to your website.

phpBB

★ 2,074

Flat-forum bulletin board software solution that can be used to stay in touch with a group of people or can power your entire website.

Movim

★ 2,021

Modern, federated social network based on XMPP, with a fully featured group-chat, subscriptions and microblogging.

Coral

★ 1,985

A better commenting experience from Vox Media.

Talkyard

★ 1,806

Create a community, where your users can suggest ideas and get questions answered. And have friendly open-ended discussions and chat (Slack/StackOverflow/Discourse/Reddit/Disqus hybrid).

Elgg

★ 1,676

Powerful open source social networking engine.

Friendica

★ 1,675

Social Communication Server.

MyBB

★ 1,223

Free, extensible forum software package.

OSSN

★ 1,220

Social networking software that allows you to make a social networking website and helps your members build social relationships, with people who share similar professional or personal interests.

Scoold

★ 919

Stack Overflow in a JAR. An enterprise-ready Q&A platform with full-text search, SAML, LDAP integration and social login support.

Simple Machines Forum

★ 729

Free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.

Enigma 1/2 BBS

★ 649

Enigma 1/2 is a modern, multi-platform BBS engine with unlimited "callers" and legacy DOS door game support.

Chirpy

★ 604

Privacy-friendly and customizable Disqus (comment system) alternate.

qpixel

★ 437

Q&A-based community knowledge-sharing software.

Socialhome

★ 382

Federated and decentralized profile builder and social network engine.

Hatsu

★ 251

Bridge that interacts with Fediverse on behalf of your static site.

BuddyPress

★ 247

Powerful plugin that takes your WordPress.org powered site beyond the blog with social-network features like user profiles, activity streams, user groups, and more.

Akkoma

Federated microblogging server with Mastodon, GNU social, and ActivityPub compatibility.

AsmBB

Fast, SQLite-powered forum engine written in ASM.

GoToSocial

ActivityPub federated social network server implementing the Mastodon client API.

Hubzilla

Decentralized identity, privacy, publishing, sharing, cloud storage, and communications/social platform.

Iceshrimp.NET

Federated microblogging server that communicates over ActivityPub.

PieFed

A link aggregator / reddit clone for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).

Pleroma

Federated microblogging server, Mastodon, GNU social, & ActivityPub compatible.

yarn.social

Self-Hosted, Twitter™-like Decentralised micro-logging platform. No ads, no tracking, your content, your data.