phpBB vs Piped
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 | phpBB | Piped |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Social Networks | Social Networks |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Language | PHP | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,090 | ★ 10,168 |
| First released | 2000 | 2024 |
| Replaces | vBulletin, Discourse | YouTube |
Why pick each one
Choose Piped if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Vue
Frequently asked questions
Is phpBB or Piped better?
Neither is universally better. Piped has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are phpBB and Piped free and open-source?
Yes. phpBB is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Piped under AGPL-3.0-or-later. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run phpBB and Piped with Docker?
phpBB: check the project docs for container support. Piped: check the project docs for container support.