Flarum

Flarum is the extensible community framework – a fast, open-source platform for building forums. It targets small to enterprise communities and is designed to be extensible, scalable and free to use, with a strong emphasis on performance and a rich extension ecosystem. Administrators control data and customization with no vendor lock-in, and the project is supported by a Dutch-based foundation and commercial entity.

• Open-source MIT-licensed software that you can install anywhere, including shared hosting
• Extensible core with hundreds of extensions (1657 listed) to customize features and behavior
• Fine-grained permissions and groups to manage access and moderation
• Flexible editor options (bbcode/markdown or WYSIWYG) for content creation
• Theming and styling via admin appearance settings and custom CSS
• Notifications across in-browser, email, and other channels with real-time interactivity via WebSocket extensions
• Lightweight, fast frontend and backend built on Laravel and TypeScript
• Runs on a wide range of hosting environments, from self-hosted to managed hosting
• Strong community and ecosystem with ongoing development and support

• Freedom and control: open-source with no vendor lock-in and ownership of your data
• Extensibility: a large ecosystem of extensions to tailor features to your community needs
• Performance: lean core design optimized for speed and responsiveness
• Flexibility: self-hosted or managed hosting options, with deployment that suits small teams to large communities
• Active ecosystem: ongoing development, community support, and a wealth of resources and integrations

Managed hosting plans start at €50 per month for 50 simultaneous visitors. Each plan includes:

• Soft visitor limits with scalable handling
• 50 GB storage (avatars/uploads)
• Free premium 1st-party extensions
• Automatic upgrades for Flarum and extensions
• Human support via email/chat/phone
• Daily offsite backups
• Sign up available through the Flarum hosting page