Discourse vs Elk
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?
Discourse
Modern open-source community discussion platform
VS
Elk
Progressive web client for Mastodon and Pleroma
| Feature | Discourse | Elk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 47,619 | ★ 6,027 |
| First released | 2013 | 2022 |
| Replaces | phpBB, Reddit | Twitter app |
Why pick each one
Choose Elk if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in Vue
Frequently asked questions
Is Discourse or Elk better?
Neither is universally better. Discourse has the larger community, while Elk is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Discourse and Elk free and open-source?
Yes. Discourse is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Elk under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Discourse and Elk with Docker?
Discourse: yes. Elk: check the project docs for container support.