Discourse vs ElkArte
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Discourse
Modern open-source community discussion platform
VS
ElkArte
Modern, free community forum software
| Feature | Discourse | ElkArte |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Forums & Community |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 47,619 | ★ 187 |
| First released | 2013 | 2013 |
| Replaces | phpBB, Reddit | SMF, phpBB, vBulletin |
Why pick each one
Choose ElkArte if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Discourse or ElkArte better?
Neither is universally better. Discourse has the larger community, while ElkArte is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Discourse and ElkArte free and open-source?
Yes. Discourse is licensed under GPL-2.0 and ElkArte under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Discourse and ElkArte with Docker?
Discourse: yes. ElkArte: check the project docs for container support.