DEV Community vs Forumbee
DEV Community
dev.toForumbee
forumbee.comSide by side
| Figure | DEV Community | Forumbee |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8/mo | $50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 10 |
| Spec score · Online Community Platforms | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Headquarters | New York, NY, United States | United States |
| Notable news | DEV++ launched on August 29, 2024 with an early-bird price of $8 per month. | A YesPress profile dated August 6, 2026 describes Forumbee as a bootstrapped community-software company founded in 2012 by Chris Greener. |
| Privacy | DEV’s privacy policy says it does not directly collect or store payment card information entered through its services. | Forumbee says clients retain ownership of submitted customer data and that it does not sell or rent personal information. |
| Purpose | DEV is a community where software developers collaborate and learn from one another. | Forumbee provides online communities and a knowledge base to engage users, deflect support tickets, and accelerate product adoption. |
| SDKs | Forem publishes a Ruby SDK plus Android and iOS core-interface SDK repositories. | No official Forumbee SDK or public developer-library listing was found on the opened official pages. |
| Self-hosting | Forem can be self-hosted on DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud or bare metal using the official playbook. | The opened product and terms pages describe hosted service operation and provide no self-hosting option. |
| Support | DEV directs users to [email protected] for help with accounts and other inquiries. | The Premium plan includes email support, while the Enterprise plan includes a dedicated success manager with an annual subscription. |
| What it does | DEV is a community where software developers share knowledge, learn, collaborate and manage their careers. | Forumbee is a cloud platform for branded communities combining forums, Q&A, knowledge-base content and idea collection. |
Plans
Forumbee
- Premium$250 a month
- Enterprise$750 a month
- Additional Admin Users$50 a month
- Additional Members$100 a month
- Professional Services$200 a month
- Personalized Training$300, paid once
- Assisted Account Setup Package$1,500, paid once
- Custom Theme Package$3,500, paid once
- Gamification Module$4,200 a year
- Custom PlanPriced on request
In their own words
DEV Community
DEV Community is a place for software developers to share work and learn with one another. Members can publish articles, tutorials, and announcements, then comment, follow authors, and engage with other readers. Posts are expected to be substantial and on-topic rather than primarily promotional or aimed at creating backlinks. Organizations can set up branded profiles with multiple contributors, analytics, and custom calls to action. DEV is built on Forem, open-source software that people can inspect and contribute to, and Forem provides API documentation for programmatic access. DEV lists web, Android, iOS, and API availability, with native mobile apps and direct messaging. The service has a Free Forever plan at free. Accounts can be created through Apple, GitHub, Twitter/X, or email. DEV was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York, NY. It directs account and general inquiries to [email protected], and vulnerability reports to [email protected]; its bug bounty reward program is suspended.