Tildes vs vichan
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?
| Feature | Tildes | vichan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Tinyboard |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,000 | ★ 770 |
| First released | 2018 | 2012 |
| Replaces | 4chan-style boards |
Why pick each one
Choose Tildes if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose vichan if…
- Released under the Tinyboard license
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Tildes or vichan better?
Neither is universally better. Tildes has the larger community, while vichan is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Tildes and vichan free and open-source?
Yes. Tildes is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and vichan under Tinyboard. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Tildes and vichan with Docker?
Tildes: check the project docs for container support. vichan: check the project docs for container support.