Side by side
Discourse vs Hubzilla
Both stand on community platforms. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Discourse offers self-hosting and managed plans, with a free option and paid hosting from $100/mo. Compare staff seats, storage, and page-view allowances with the needs of your community.
Visit DiscourseChoose Hubzilla for a free, open source platform combining federated social functions, publishing, storage, and portable identity. Its permission controls and hosting choices suit communities and administrators who need control over audiences and infrastructure. Look elsewhere if your hosting environment cannot meet its PHP, database, web-server, cron, and domain requirements.
Visit HubzillaThe facts
| Discourse | Hubzilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Self-hosted | Android, Linux, Self-hosted, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | Pro: $100 a month | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Maker | Discourse | Hubzilla |
| Website | discourse.org | hubzilla.org |
| On community platforms | #17 of 126 | #21 of 126 |
Discourse: what it does well
- Free plan has unlimited members.
- Users can self-host or choose managed hosting.
- Communities can use custom domains and private spaces.
- Paid plans offer a 14-day trial.
- Users can export community data.
What to know first
- Free plan has two staff seats.
- Free plan provides 5GB of upload storage.
- Pro costs $100/mo.
- Enterprise pricing is custom.
Hubzilla: what it does well
- Free and open source under the MIT license
- Supports communities, forums, blogs, wikis, and membership sites
- Federates with ActivityPub, Diaspora, and Nomad/Zot
- Provides granular public, private, and restricted permissions
- Nomadic Identity supports cloning and migration
What to know first
- Self-hosting requires PHP 8.1 or higher and a database
- Installation requires a web server and cron
- Self-hosting must use a top-level domain or subdomain
- Stored-message encryption is cautioned as not completely secure
Alternatives to Discourse Alternatives to Hubzilla The whole list