Flarum vs Invision Community
Flarum
flarum.orgInvision Community
invisioncommunity.comSide by side
| Figure | Flarum | Invision Community |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 14 |
| Spec score · Discussion Forum Software | 7.9 (#4) | 8.8 (#3) |
| Spec score · Customer Community Software | 7.9 (#13) | 8.7 (#7) |
| Spec score · Online Community Platforms | 7.8 (#29) | 8.6 (#10) |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 7.6 (#86) | 9.0 (#9) |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Integrations | Flarum's documentation describes a REST API for consuming forum data. | The platform offers a REST API, real-time webhooks, a Zapier connection to 8,000+ apps, and built-in integrations. |
| Intended users | Flarum describes itself as suitable for communities ranging from small hobby groups to large enterprise forums. | The maker describes its plans as serving communities from growing groups through organizations seeking enterprise services and strategic support. |
| Moderation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Private spaces | Yes | Yes |
Plans
Invision Community
- CreatorPrice not published
- Creator PlusPrice not published
- ProfessionalPrice not published
- BusinessPrice not published
- Creator (annual)$89 a month
- Creator (monthly)$99 a month
- Creator Plus (annual)$149 a month
- Creator Plus (monthly)$169 a month
- Professional (annual)$229 a month
- Professional (monthly)$259 a month
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.
Invision Community
Invision Community combines discussion forums, publishing, event management, media galleries, webinars and other community tools. Its drag-and-drop page builder makes pages from prebuilt or custom content blocks without coding. Course features include lessons, progression paths, certificates, badges and quizzes. Administrators can use group permissions to control access to forums, clubs and pages, including paid membership tiers. Integrations include a REST API, real-time webhooks, a Zapier connection to 8,000+ apps and built-in options; developer documentation also describes GraphQL APIs with API key or OAuth authentication. The platform is available on the web, iOS, Android and as self-hosted software. Cloud customers can choose US or EU data storage depending on plan; cloud plans include TLS (HTTPS) and official support, though response times are not guaranteed. Self-hosted Classic requires a compatible server, secure PHP with GD and mbstring, and MySQL, which customers operate themselves. Classic costs $499, paid once, then 199.00 USD/year for updates. Invision Community is paid, has no free plan, and offers a 30-day trial.