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SPECIFICTION
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Elgg

elgg.org

Free plan WebAPISelf-hosted
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Spec score 8.7 #8 of 54 in Online Community Platforms

What it is

Elgg is a free, open-source framework for building web applications where people sign in and share information. It can serve as a foundation for campus networks, organizational collaboration platforms, or company communications tools. Hooks and events let plugins extend or change application behavior, while the view system supports custom themes. Granular content access policies can support private networks and intranets; user groups and a file storage API provide building blocks for managing members and their files. Elgg supports on-site and email notifications, as well as RPC web services for external applications and mobile clients. Its listed security features include anti-CSRF validation, XSS filters, HMAC signatures, and password hashing. The project offers documentation, tutorials, an API reference, community discussions, and a repository with more than 1,000 open-source plugins. It is free to download, install, and use. The full package with core plugins is offered under GPLv2; the framework without plugins is offered under MIT. Self-hosting requires a database and a configured cron job for background tasks.

Spec sheet

What it does
Elgg is an open source framework for building socially aware web applications where users log in and share information.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Purpose
Elgg is an open source social networking engine for building social environments such as campus networks, organizational collaboration platforms, and company communications tools.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Audience
The site describes Elgg as suitable for universities, schools, colleges, organizations, and companies building communities or collaborative platforms.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Free plan
YesRead 21 Sep 2026 · elgg.org
Integrations
Elgg provides RPC web services for integrations with external applications and mobile clients.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Security
Elgg documents bcrypt password hashing, login throttling, input filtering, CSRF tokens, and access control lists.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Support
Elgg lists community discussions, technical support forums, and professional service providers as support resources.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
License
The full package with core plugins is available under GPLv2, while the framework without those plugins is also available under MIT.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Access control
Elgg includes granular content access policies for private networks and intranets.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Access controls
Elgg provides granular content access policies that can support private networks and intranets.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Community resources
The project lists a community repository with more than 1,000 open source plugins and provides documentation, tutorials, and an API reference.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Community support
Elgg points users to its community, documentation, plugin repository, and professional service providers for help and services.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Customization
Plugins can extend Elgg's views to create custom themes.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Extensibility
Its hooks and events let plugins extend and modify most aspects of an application's functionality and behavior.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Groups and files
Elgg includes support for user groups and a file storage API for user-generated files.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Hosting
Elgg lists third-party hosting providers and says the project does not officially endorse the listed companies.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Installation
The download page recommends Composer as the simplest way to install and maintain an Elgg project.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
License and cost
Elgg is free to download, install, and use; the full framework and core plugins are offered under GPLv2, while the framework without plugins is offered under MIT.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Notable limit
The download page says the MIT release excludes the contents of the mod directory, which contains Elgg's plugins.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Notifications
Elgg supports on-site and email notifications and says its notification service can integrate with third-party services.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Private spaces
YesRead 21 Sep 2026 · elgg.org
Security reporting
The Elgg project asks that potential security vulnerabilities be reported to [email protected].Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Self-hosting
Elgg's installation guide describes installing it on your own server using Composer or a pre-packaged ZIP file.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Technical requirement
An Elgg installation needs a database and a configured cron job for background tasks such as notifications and database cleanup.Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org
Themes
Elgg's view system lets plugins collaborate on presentation and build custom themes.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org
Who it is for
Elgg describes use cases including campus social networks, organizational collaboration platforms, and company communications tools.Read 11 Oct 2026 · elgg.org

Plans and prices

Free Free Free to download, install, and use Read 11 Oct 2026 · learn.elgg.org

Every Elgg plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free to download, install, and use
  • Granular access policies for private spaces
  • Plugins can extend functionality and themes
  • More than 1,000 open-source plugins listed
  • Documentation, tutorials, and API reference available

Limits

  • Self-hosting requires a database
  • Background tasks need a configured cron job
  • MIT release excludes the plugin directory

Who it suits

Elgg suits universities, schools, organizations, and companies building a community or collaboration platform they can host and extend. It is best matched to teams prepared to manage the server, database, and scheduled background tasks.

Verdict

Elgg offers a customizable foundation for social and collaborative web applications, with access controls and a large plugin repository. Its self-hosting requirements and the distinction between the MIT framework and GPLv2 package are important considerations.

Where Specifiction places it

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