Invidious vs phpBB
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted social networks options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
| Feature | Invidious | phpBB |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-3.0-only | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Crystal | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 22,442 | ★ 2,090 |
| First released | 2023 | 2000 |
| Replaces | YouTube | vBulletin, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Choose Invidious if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0-only license
- Mature project with 22.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Crystal
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or phpBB better?
Neither is universally better. Invidious has the larger community, while phpBB is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Invidious and phpBB free and open-source?
Yes. Invidious is licensed under GPL-3.0-only and phpBB under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Invidious and phpBB with Docker?
Invidious: check the project docs for container support. phpBB: check the project docs for container support.