Discourse (Hosted)

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Discourse (Hosted)

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Discourse (Hosted).

Discourse (Hosted) is the managed hosting service for the open-source Discourse discussion forum. It delivers fully hosted, scalable forum instances with automatic updates, backups, security, and professional support for communities and businesses.

Alternatives List

#1
NodeBB

NodeBB

Real-time Node.js forum platform with plugins, themes, SSO, moderation tools, and integrations for building scalable community discussion boards.

NodeBB screenshot

NodeBB is a modern forum and community platform focused on fast, real-time discussions and extensibility. It provides a web-based discussion board with rich moderation, user management, and integration options, designed to scale from small communities to large deployments.

Key Features

  • Real-time updates for topics, posts, notifications, and chat (WebSocket-based)
  • Extensible plugin system for adding auth providers, integrations, and custom features
  • Theme system for customizing UI/branding and layouts
  • Built-in moderation tools (flags, user moderation controls, permissions)
  • Social features such as mentions, notifications, reactions, and user profiles
  • Built-in chat/messaging for community members
  • Multiple database backends supported (commonly Redis or MongoDB)
  • REST API and admin UI for configuration and management

Use Cases

  • Hosting a product/community support forum with roles, categories, and moderation
  • Migrating from legacy forums to a modern, mobile-friendly discussion platform
  • Building a branded community hub with SSO and plugin-based integrations

Limitations and Considerations

  • Requires an external database service (Redis or MongoDB) and operational tuning for larger installs
  • Many advanced capabilities depend on selecting and maintaining the right plugins/themes

NodeBB fits organizations that want a performant, modern forum with real-time interaction and a strong extension model. With its admin tooling, theming, and plugin ecosystem, it can be tailored to a wide range of community and support scenarios while remaining scalable.

14.9kstars
2.9kforks
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#2
Lemmy

Lemmy

Self-hosted, ActivityPub-based forum platform for communities, link posts, and threaded discussions with federation across the Fediverse.

Lemmy screenshot

Lemmy is a community discussion and link aggregation platform similar to Reddit, designed for running topic-based communities with posts, comments, and moderation tools. It supports federation via ActivityPub, allowing separate Lemmy servers (and other Fediverse platforms) to interact while remaining independently managed.

Key Features

  • ActivityPub federation between instances, including cross-instance communities and users
  • Reddit-style content model: communities, posts (links/text), threaded comments, voting, sorting, and feeds
  • Moderation tooling: community moderators, admin controls, reporting, bans, and content removal
  • User and community management including roles/permissions and instance policies
  • Multiple clients/frontends via API ecosystem (official and third-party web/mobile apps)
  • Media handling via URL/link posts and integrations commonly deployed with reverse proxies and object storage

Use Cases

  • Host a private or public community forum with familiar upvote/downvote dynamics
  • Create a federated network of communities across multiple organizations or groups
  • Replace centralized community platforms while keeping local control over policies and moderation

Limitations and Considerations

  • Federation can introduce moderation complexity (remote content, defederation decisions, instance-level policies)
  • Operationally requires a database and supporting services; upgrades should follow release notes to avoid breaking changes

Lemmy is well-suited for communities that want a modern discussion experience with federation and local autonomy. Its ActivityPub support and active ecosystem make it a practical choice for building interconnected forums without relying on a single centralized provider.

14.2kstars
937forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running