ElkArte vs Spectrum
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
Spectrum
Open-source platform for building online communities
| Feature | ElkArte | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 187 | ★ 10,837 |
| First released | 2013 | 2017 |
| Replaces | SMF, phpBB, vBulletin | Discord, Discourse |
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 Spectrum if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is ElkArte or Spectrum better?
Neither is universally better. Spectrum 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 ElkArte and Spectrum free and open-source?
Yes. ElkArte is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Spectrum under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ElkArte and Spectrum with Docker?
ElkArte: check the project docs for container support. Spectrum: yes.