Discourse vs mlmym
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
mlmym
Old-Reddit-style alternative front-end for Lemmy
| Feature | Discourse | mlmym |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 47,619 | ★ 287 |
| First released | 2013 | 2023 |
| Replaces | phpBB, Reddit |
Why pick each one
Choose mlmym if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Discourse or mlmym better?
Neither is universally better. Discourse has the larger community, while mlmym is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Discourse and mlmym free and open-source?
Yes. Discourse is licensed under GPL-2.0 and mlmym under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Discourse and mlmym with Docker?
Discourse: yes. mlmym: yes.