NodeBB vs Flarum

Both products are plain discussion forums rather than course or event platforms, so the choice is about how you want to run one. NodeBB gives you three routes: install it from GitHub under GPLv3, rent one of four monthly hosted plans, or talk to the company about an enterprise build. Flarum is MIT-licensed, free, and installed by an administrator with composer on a server they control, with no hosted option described on its site. The cost curve differs too, because NodeBB hosting rises with pageviews while Flarum has no plan tiers at all.

Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.

Both are reviewed in full in our community platform ranking: NodeBB and Flarum.

1. 01

   Renting versus installing it yourself

   NodeBB's homepage lists three options side by side: Open Source, where you install on your own server from GitHub, One Click Forum Hosting, and Enterprise. A team with no sysadmin can start hosted and still keep the self-hosted door open. Flarum's site describes only the self-install path, with admins using composer and the php flarum command line, and it names no partner-hosted option. For a team without server skills, NodeBB removes a real barrier at the start.

   Edge: NodeBB

2. 02

   Four hosted tiers against one free download

   NodeBB's hosted plans are Starter, Hamlet, Village and City, billed monthly, with allowances from 50,000 pageviews and 5GB up to 10,000,000 pageviews and 300GB. All four include unlimited staff users, SSL, custom plugins, a custom domain and priority support. Flarum is listed as free and forever with no paid tier described, and it invites donations through a supporters page. If your only question is licence cost, Flarum is the cheaper line, though you carry the server bill yourself.

   Edge: Flarum

3. 03

   When a busy month pushes you up a tier

   Because NodeBB's hosted plans are capped by pageviews, a forum that grows or has a traffic spike has to move up to a bigger plan, and storage and backup frequency change with it: weekly backups on Starter, daily on the others. Flarum has no pageview meter in anything we read, so traffic does not change its software price. Server sizing for a large Flarum forum is not given anywhere on the site. Predictable software cost goes to Flarum.

   Edge: Flarum

4. 04

   Trial terms and exit

   NodeBB hosting opens with a two-week free trial needing a credit card, and afterwards runs without long-term contracts, and you can cancel any time. Non-profits and start-ups can ask for special pricing, and qualifying open-source projects can request free hosting equal to Starter. Flarum has nothing to trial in that sense, since you download and install it, and no paid plan exists to cancel. NodeBB gets the edge for buyers who value written concessions and a clear way out.

   Edge: NodeBB

5. 05

   Built-in forum features and what is left to extensions

   Flarum's site names discussions, groups and permissions, moderation with flagging, Markdown and WYSIWYG editors, notifications, email digests, private messages and search, with an extension ecosystem for more. It also says audit logging and GDPR tools are in core. NodeBB's pages we read stress plugins, including custom plugins on every hosted plan, but do not list the forum feature set in the same detail. On the evidence we hold, Flarum is the better documented for features.

   Edge: Flarum

6. 06

   Licence and where the maker sits

   NodeBB is licensed GPL-3.0 in its official repository, and its footer reads NodeBB, Inc., Made in Canada. Flarum is MIT-licensed, with the Flarum Foundation named as copyright holder, no address shown, and no country stated on the pages we read. MIT is the more permissive licence if you plan to build closed extensions, while GPLv3 requires sharing modifications you distribute. A buyer who needs a stated jurisdiction for a vendor should favour NodeBB.

   Depends on the buyer

Can I run Flarum without my own server?

The site describes installing with composer and the php flarum command line on a server you control, and it names no partner-hosted option.

It also says the Realtime feature runs a websocket service that rules out most shared hosting. So you need real server access, or someone who can set it up.

Does NodeBB charge for the self-hosted version?

The open-source version is installed from GitHub under the GPL-3.0 licence, and we read no price for it. Charges apply to the hosted plans, which are billed monthly by pageviews and storage. An enterprise route exists and we found no price listed for it.

Which of the two leaves more room for a charity forum on a small budget?

NodeBB says non-profits and start-ups can ask for special pricing, and qualifying open-source projects can request free hosting equal to Starter.

Flarum is free software, so the only cost is running your own server and the time to maintain it. A charity with no technical volunteer will probably find NodeBB's hosted route easier.

• NodeBB pricing: the four monthly hosted plans, their pageview and storage ranges, backup frequency, the card-required trial and the non-profit and open-source concessions.
• NodeBB homepage: the three routes (open source, one-click hosting, enterprise) and the Canada footer.
• NodeBB on GitHub: the GPL-3.0 licence of the official repository.
• Flarum: the MIT licence, free-forever listing, composer install, websocket note, named features, core audit logging and GDPR tools, and the Foundation copyright line.