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Discourse-compatible Antville vs Phorum

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?
DI Discourse-compatible Antville Long-running community and weblog hosting platform VS PH Phorum Lightweight, mature PHP message board software
FeatureDiscourse-compatible AntvillePhorum
CategoryForums & CommunityForums & Community
LicenseApache-2.0PHP-3.01
LanguageJavaScriptPHP
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 91★ 67
First released20011998
ReplacesWordPress, phpBBphpBB

Why pick each one

Choose Discourse-compatible Antville if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Written in JavaScript
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Discourse-compatible Antville details

Choose Phorum if…

  • Released under the PHP-3.01 license
  • Written in PHP
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Phorum details

Frequently asked questions

Is Discourse-compatible Antville or Phorum better?

Neither is universally better. Discourse-compatible Antville has the larger community, while Phorum is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Discourse-compatible Antville and Phorum free and open-source?

Yes. Discourse-compatible Antville is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Phorum under PHP-3.01. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Discourse-compatible Antville and Phorum with Docker?

Discourse-compatible Antville: check the project docs for container support. Phorum: check the project docs for container support.

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