Elk 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?
Elk
Progressive web client for Mastodon and Pleroma
VS
Vanilla Forums
Open-source community forum software
| Feature | Elk | Vanilla Forums |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Vue | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,027 | ★ 2,800 |
| First released | 2022 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Twitter app | phpBB, Discourse |
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 Elk or Vanilla Forums better?
Elk is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Vanilla Forums if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Elk and Vanilla Forums free and open-source?
Yes. Elk is licensed under MIT and Vanilla Forums under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Elk and Vanilla Forums with Docker?
Elk: check the project docs for container support. Vanilla Forums: yes.