BuddyPress vs Flarum
BuddyPress
buddypress.org
Flarum
flarum.orgSide by side
| Figure | BuddyPress | Flarum |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Community Building Platforms | 8.5 (#7) | 7.8 (#13) |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 8.0 (#66) | 7.6 (#86) |
| Founded | 2008 | 2014 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | BuddyPress can be extended with WordPress.org plugins, and the project points developers to its plugin developer documentation and supported add-ons. | Flarum's documentation describes a REST API for consuming forum data. |
| Moderation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Notifications | Members can receive notifications about activity, messages, friendships, and groups, and can enable or disable notification emails in settings. | Flarum offers in-browser notifications, email digests, and real-time notifications through extensions. |
| Private spaces | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | BuddyPress adds social networking features to WordPress sites so people with shared interests can connect and communicate. | Flarum is a free, open-source discussion platform for websites and online communities. |
| Requirements | BuddyPress requires WordPress, PHP 5.2.4 or greater, MySQL 5.0 or greater, and Apache mod_rewrite; HTTPS is listed as recommended. | The installation guide lists Apache or Nginx, PHP 8.3 or later, a supported database, and SSH access for maintenance commands as server requirements. |
| Support | The project provides a community support forum for questions and troubleshooting. | Flarum directs users with questions to its community forum, where users can get help with their instances. |
Plans
In their own words
BuddyPress
BuddyPress is a free, open-source WordPress plugin that adds social networking features to websites. It supports campus networks, company communication tools, niche communities, and product-focused networks. Administrators can disable unneeded features, with the theme adjusting menus, pages, and buttons to match. Extended Profiles provides configurable fields, field groups, avatars, account settings, and visibility choices such as Everyone, Only Me, All Members, and My Friends. Activity streams combine site, member, and group activity with updates, comments, favorites, mentions, and RSS feeds. Members can create public, private, or hidden groups, while group administrators manage membership and invitations. Private messages work between people on a member’s friends list, with inbox and sent folders. Notifications cover activity, messages, friendships, and groups. WordPress.org plugins extend the system, and the BP REST API exposes community data and authenticated actions through JSON endpoints. BuddyPress requires WordPress, PHP 5.2.4 or later, MySQL 5.0 or later, and Apache mod_rewrite.
Flarum
Flarum is free, open-source forum software for running discussions on websites and online communities. It provides group permissions, category access controls, moderation and flagging. Administrators can adjust settings, themes, CSS and extensions, and disable unneeded features. Members can write with lightweight Markdown or WYSIWYG editors. Notifications include in-browser alerts and email digests, while extensions can provide real-time notifications. A REST API lets external scripts interact with the forum and follows JSON:API practices. The extension manager discovers and installs add-ons, most of which are open source and free. Self-hosting requires Apache or Nginx, PHP 8.3 or later, a supported database and SSH access for some maintenance. Flarum is MIT-licensed and directs support questions to its community forum. Its documentation describes version 2.0 as a release candidate, not a final stable release. The project serves communities from small hobby groups to large enterprise forums.