Flarum vs Forumbee
Flarum
flarum.org
Forumbee
forumbee.comSide by side
| Figure | Flarum | Forumbee |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $50/mo |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 0 | 10 |
| Spec score · Forum Software | 7.9 (#6) | 9.1 (#1) |
| Spec score · Customer Community Software | 7.9 (#13) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Spec score · Online Community Platforms | 7.8 (#29) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 7.6 (#86) | 8.7 (#19) |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Integrations | Flarum's documentation describes a REST API for consuming forum data. | The pricing page names Slack, Google Analytics, Front, Zendesk and other integrations. |
| License | Flarum is released under the MIT License. | The terms retain Forumbee intellectual-property rights and grant customers service access, indicating proprietary software rather than an open-source license. |
| Moderation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Private spaces | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Flarum is a free, open-source discussion platform for websites and online communities. | Forumbee provides online communities and a knowledge base to engage users, deflect support tickets, and accelerate product adoption. |
| Security | The installation guide says Flarum's default public directory keeps sensitive source code files inaccessible from the web root. | Forumbee says its safeguards include encryption in transit, access controls, monitoring, and secure storage practices. |
| Support | Flarum directs users with questions to its community forum, where users can get help with their instances. | The Premium plan includes email support, while the Enterprise plan includes a dedicated success manager with an annual subscription. |
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
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.