Loomio vs Vanilla Forums
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?
Loomio
Collaborative decision-making tool that makes it easy for anyone to
VS
Vanilla Forums
Open-source community forum software
| Feature | Loomio | Vanilla Forums |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,588 | ★ 2,800 |
| First released | 2026 | 2009 |
| Replaces | — | phpBB, Discourse |
Why pick each one
Choose Loomio if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Loomio or Vanilla Forums better?
Neither is universally better. Vanilla Forums has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Loomio and Vanilla Forums free and open-source?
Yes. Loomio is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Vanilla Forums under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Loomio and Vanilla Forums with Docker?
Loomio: yes. Vanilla Forums: yes.