Self-hosted alternatives to Reddit
Want forums and link aggregators without handing your data to Reddit? These 15 open-source apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $10/month.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemmy direct | Actively maintained | 14.7k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| PieFed direct | Health unknown | – | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Discourse | Actively maintained | 48k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Flarum | Actively maintained | 16.4k | MIT | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Answer | Actively maintained | 15.7k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| NodeBB | Actively maintained | 15.2k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Redlib | Actively maintained | 4k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Misago | Actively maintained | 2.8k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| phpBB | Actively maintained | 2.1k | GPL-2.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| MyBB | Actively maintained | 1.2k | LGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Simple Machines Forum | Actively maintained | 755 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| qpixel | Actively maintained | 444 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Talkyard | Maintained | 1.8k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Habitat | Actively maintained | 151 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| AsmBB | Health unknown | – | EUPL-1.2 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
The options in detail
1. Lemmy
Link aggregator for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-30. Latest release 1.0.0-beta.3 (2026-10-29). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. PieFed
Link aggregator / reddit clone for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).
Health unknown Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. Discourse
Advanced forum / community solution based on Ruby and JS.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-04. Latest release _gh-attach-assets (2026-07-15). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM incl. postgres. How to run it →
4. Flarum
Delightfully simple forums. Next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun again.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-09. Latest release v2.0.0 (2026-10-09). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Answer
Knowledge-based community software. You can use it to quickly build your Q&A community for product technical support, customer support, user communication, and more.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-09-22. Latest release v2.0.3 (2026-10-09). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. NodeBB
Forum software built for the modern web.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v4.16.7 (2026-10-31). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Redlib
Private alternative front-end to Reddit, with its origins in Libreddit.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-22. Latest release v0.40.0 (2026-10-22). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Misago
Fully featured modern forum application that is fast, scalable and responsive.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-23. Latest release 0.39.6 (2026-06-19). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. phpBB
Flat-forum bulletin board software solution that can be used to stay in touch with a group of people or can power your entire website.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. MyBB
Free, extensible forum software package.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-23. Latest release mybb_1841 (2026-09-16). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. Simple Machines Forum
Free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-01. Latest release v2.1.8 (2026-10-11). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. qpixel
Q&A-based community knowledge-sharing software.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-09-27. Latest release v0.13.0 (2026-09-12). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Talkyard
Create a community, where your users can suggest ideas and get questions answered. And have friendly open-ended discussions and chat (Slack/StackOverflow/Discourse/Reddit/Disqus hybrid).
Maintained Last activity 2026-07-10. Latest release tyse-v1.2026.003-f220a7d9f-regular (2026-05-26). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. Habitat
Platform for Local Communities.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-21. Latest release 1.7.1 (2026-10-21). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. AsmBB
Fast, SQLite-powered forum engine written in ASM.
Health unknown Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Reddit?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Actively maintained and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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Other alternatives guides
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