ElkArte vs Fider
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted forums & community options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
ElkArte
Modern, free community forum software
VS
Fider
Open platform for collecting and voting on feedback
| Feature | ElkArte | Fider |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 187 | ★ 4,458 |
| First released | 2013 | 2017 |
| Replaces | SMF, phpBB, vBulletin | Canny, UserVoice |
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
Choose Fider if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is ElkArte or Fider better?
Neither is universally better. Fider has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ElkArte and Fider free and open-source?
Yes. ElkArte is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Fider under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ElkArte and Fider with Docker?
ElkArte: check the project docs for container support. Fider: yes.