Elgg vs HumHub
Elgg
elgg.orgHumHub
humhub.comSide by side
| Figure | Elgg | HumHub |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €144/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Online Community Platforms | 8.7 (#8) | 8.8 (#6) |
| Spec score · Community Building Platforms | 8.7 (#5) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Spec score · Social Networking Software | 8.6 (#5) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 8.1 (#59) | 9.1 (#7) |
| Audience | The site describes Elgg as suitable for universities, schools, colleges, organizations, and companies building communities or collaborative platforms. | HumHub says it serves organizations of any size, including small teams, nonprofits, and large enterprises. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Hosting | Elgg lists third-party hosting providers and says the project does not officially endorse the listed companies. | HumHub can be self-hosted on an organization's infrastructure or run as managed SaaS hosted on European servers. |
| Integrations | Elgg provides RPC web services for integrations with external applications and mobile clients. | Listed module integrations include OnlyOffice, Collabora Online, LDAP, SAML SSO, and a RESTful API. |
| Notable limit | The download page says the MIT release excludes the contents of the mod directory, which contains Elgg's plugins. | The maker says pricing for networks with 1,000 or more users requires a custom quote. |
| Private spaces | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Elgg is an open source social networking engine for building social environments such as campus networks, organizational collaboration platforms, and company communications tools. | HumHub is an open-source intranet and collaboration platform for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. |
| Support | Elgg lists community discussions, technical support forums, and professional service providers as support resources. | Community Edition support is through the community and GitHub, Professional support uses email/helpdesk, and Enterprise includes a dedicated Customer Success Manager. |
Plans
HumHub
- Professional Edition€144 a month
- Community EditionFree
- Professional Edition€144 a month
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
In their own words
Elgg
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.
HumHub
HumHub is an open-source intranet and collaboration platform for communication and knowledge sharing. It is intended for company intranets, knowledge bases, project hubs, and customer or partner communities. Built-in tools include personalized dashboards, activity streams, configurable notifications, granular permissions, full-text search, file management, and social interactions. More than 80 optional modules add choices such as News, Messenger, Calendar, LDAP, SAML SSO, surveys, and translation tools. The platform supports private spaces, events, and moderation, with integrations including OnlyOffice, Collabora Online, LDAP, SAML SSO, and a RESTful API. Organizations can host it on their own infrastructure or use managed SaaS on European servers. The maker says its SaaS hosting is GDPR-compliant and uses ISO 27001-certified servers; on-premise users retain data in their own environment. Community Edition is available free under AGPLv3 for self-hosting. Professional Edition is €144 a month, billed monthly, for up to 100 users with SaaS hosting and no onboarding. Networks with 1,000 or more users require a custom quote.