diaspora* vs Vanilla Forums
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
diaspora*
Privacy-focused decentralized social network
VS
Vanilla Forums
Open-source community forum software
| Feature | diaspora* | Vanilla Forums |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,656 | ★ 2,800 |
| First released | 2010 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Facebook, Twitter | phpBB, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is diaspora* or Vanilla Forums better?
Neither is universally better. diaspora* has the larger community, while Vanilla Forums is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are diaspora* and Vanilla Forums free and open-source?
Yes. diaspora* is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Vanilla Forums under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run diaspora* and Vanilla Forums with Docker?
diaspora*: yes. Vanilla Forums: yes.