Discourse vs phpBB
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
phpBB
Classic free and open-source bulletin board
| Feature | Discourse | phpBB |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 47,619 | ★ 2,090 |
| First released | 2013 | 2000 |
| Replaces | phpBB, Reddit | vBulletin, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Discourse or phpBB better?
Neither is universally better. Discourse has the larger community, while phpBB is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Discourse and phpBB free and open-source?
Yes. Discourse is licensed under GPL-2.0 and phpBB under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Discourse and phpBB with Docker?
Discourse: yes. phpBB: check the project docs for container support.