Flarum
The least baroque forum here; extensions arrive before courses, events or payments.
Technical Profile & Specs
verified 2026-08-10
- Cost
- $0 / forever (Open Source)
- License
- MIT
- Hosting Model
- Self-host (your server)
- Platforms
- webself-hostedself-host, real ops
- Installation
- Install the release archive or Composer package on PHP with MySQL/MariaDB and a configured web server
- Operational Setup
- A non-expert must already know PHP hosting, Composer, database credentials, file permissions, cron, and web-server rewrites, and the current 1.x line is receiving only critical and security fixes while 2.0 matures.
- Where Your Data Lives
- Discussions, users, and extension data live in the SQL database; avatars and uploaded assets live on the server filesystem or extension-provided storage.
- The Catch / Trade-off
- Flarum is lean and attractive, but much of the community experience depends on extensions and there is no built-in equivalent to Bettermode's courses, events, payments, or portal builder.
Replaces 3 paid apps
up to $197/mo ($2,364/yr) in subscriptions
Flarum FAQ
Common questions
Is Flarum free and open source?+
Flarum is an open-source tool licensed under MIT that runs on self-host. The least baroque forum here; extensions arrive before courses, events or payments.
What paid software does Flarum replace?+
Flarum serves as a free replacement for 3 paid SaaS applications: Bettermode, Circle.so, Tribe Community, saving up to $197/month ($2,364/year) in subscription bills.
How do you install and set up Flarum?+
Installation: Install the release archive or Composer package on PHP with MySQL/MariaDB and a configured web server. Setup notes: A non-expert must already know PHP hosting, Composer, database credentials, file permissions, cron, and web-server rewrites, and the current 1.x line is receiving only critical and security fixes while 2.0 matures.
What is the catch or trade-off with Flarum?+
Flarum is lean and attractive, but much of the community experience depends on extensions and there is no built-in equivalent to Bettermode's courses, events, payments, or portal builder.