Fider vs vichan

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?
FeatureFidervichan
CategoryForums & CommunityForums & Community
LicenseAGPL-3.0Tinyboard
LanguageGoPHP
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 4,458★ 770
First released20172012
ReplacesCanny, UserVoice4chan-style boards

Why pick each one

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)
Fider details

Choose vichan if…

  • Released under the Tinyboard license
  • Written in PHP
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
vichan details

Frequently asked questions

Is Fider or vichan better?

Fider is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider vichan if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Fider and vichan free and open-source?

Yes. Fider is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and vichan under Tinyboard. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Fider and vichan with Docker?

Fider: yes. vichan: check the project docs for container support.

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