Self-hosted alternatives to Reddit
Want forums and link aggregators without handing your data to Reddit? These 15 self-hosted apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $10/month.
About Reddit: Network of discussion communities.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemmy direct | Active | 14.7k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| PieFed direct | Active | 266 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Discourse | Active | 48.1k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Flarum | Active | 16.4k | MIT | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Answer | Active | 15.7k | Apache-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| NodeBB | Active | 15.2k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Redlib | Active | 4k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Misago | Active | 2.8k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| phpBB | Active | 2.1k | GPL-2.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| MyBB | Active | 1.2k | LGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Simple Machines Forum | Active | 758 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| qpixel | Active | 443 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Talkyard | Maintained | 1.8k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Habitat | Active | 157 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| AsmBB | Unknown | – | EUPL-1.2 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
The options in detail
1. Lemmy
Link aggregator for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).
Active Last commit 2026-11-06. 10+ releases in the past year. 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).
Active Last commit 2026-11-13. 50+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.8.12 (2026-11-11). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. Discourse
Advanced forum / community solution based on Ruby and JS.
Active Last commit 2026-11-10. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-06. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-09-22. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 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.
Active Last commit 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. MyBB
Free, extensible forum software package.
Active Last commit 2026-11-06. 3 releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 2 releases in the past year. 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 commit 2026-07-10. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
Active Last commit 2026-10-21. 10+ releases in the past year. 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.
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 Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
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