Phorum 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?
Phorum
Lightweight, mature PHP message board software
VS
Spectrum
Open-source platform for building online communities
| Feature | Phorum | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | PHP-3.01 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 67 | ★ 10,837 |
| First released | 1998 | 2017 |
| Replaces | phpBB | Discord, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Choose Phorum if…
- Released under the PHP-3.01 license
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 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 Phorum or Spectrum better?
Neither is universally better. Spectrum 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 Phorum and Spectrum free and open-source?
Yes. Phorum is licensed under PHP-3.01 and Spectrum under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Phorum and Spectrum with Docker?
Phorum: check the project docs for container support. Spectrum: yes.