Flarum vs NodeBB
Flarum
flarum.org
NodeBB
nodebb.orgSide by side
| Figure | Flarum | NodeBB |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $20/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 6 |
| Spec score · Discussion Forum Software | 7.9 (#4) | 8.9 (#2) |
| Spec score · Forum Software | 7.9 (#6) | 8.8 (#3) |
| Spec score · Community Building Platforms | 7.8 (#13) | 8.7 (#6) |
| Spec score · Online Community Platforms | 7.8 (#29) | 8.6 (#11) |
| Spec score · Community Platforms | 7.6 (#86) | 9.3 (#3) |
| Founded | 2014 | 2014 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Moderation tools | Yes | Yes |
| Private spaces | Yes | Yes |
| Product | Flarum is free, open-source forum software for running a discussion community on a website. | NodeBB is a community discussion platform for forums and online communities. |
| Security | The installation guide says Flarum's default public directory keeps sensitive source code files inaccessible from the web root. | NodeBB operates a bug bounty program, but eligible testing is limited to try.nodebb.org and third-party plugins are excluded. |
| Support | Flarum directs users with questions to its community forum, where users can get help with their instances. | Paid hosting plans list priority support, and NodeBB also points users to its community support forum. |
Plans
NodeBB
- Starter$20 a month
- Hamlet$100 a month
- Village$250 a month
- City$750 a month
- Self-hostedFree
- Enterprise SolutionsPriced 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.
NodeBB
NodeBB is a community discussion platform for forums and online communities, including brand communities and product support boards. Members can write topics and replies using a visual editor or Markdown, chat in real time, and receive notifications for follows, likes and topic subscriptions. They can form groups with activity feeds, tag topics and follow tags for updates. Administrators can create unlimited moderator and administrator accounts and set their permissions. More than 500 plugins and themes can be installed through the control panel, and public Read and RESTful Write APIs support integrations. Spam-prevention integrations include Akismet, StopForumSpam and Project Honeypot. Self-hosted NodeBB is free to download and install under GPLv3; hosted plans start at $20 a month and include priority support. Basic full-text search uses the bundled database engine; Solr and Elasticsearch search require third-party plugins. Installation guides cover Linux, macOS, Windows and cloud deployment options including Docker.