Lobsters vs phpBB mChat
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?
Lobsters
Computing-focused link aggregation and discussion site
VS
phpBB mChat
Shoutbox extension for phpBB forums
| Feature | Lobsters | phpBB mChat |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,814 | ★ 14 |
| First released | 2012 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Reddit, Hacker News | vBulletin chatbox |
Why pick each one
Choose Lobsters if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (4.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose phpBB mChat if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Lobsters or phpBB mChat better?
Neither is universally better. Lobsters has the larger community, while phpBB mChat is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Lobsters and phpBB mChat free and open-source?
Yes. Lobsters is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and phpBB mChat under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lobsters and phpBB mChat with Docker?
Lobsters: check the project docs for container support. phpBB mChat: check the project docs for container support.