Side by side

Question2Answer vs Rooster

Both stand on online community platforms. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Question2Answer

Free plan Self-hostedWeb

Choose Question2Answer for a self-hosted community that needs member questions, answers, roles and moderation tools in free, open-source software. Its integrations may suit sites using WordPress or Joomla. Teams without the listed PHP and MySQL setup requirements should look elsewhere.

Visit Question2Answer

Rooster

Free plan Web

Rooster offers a free, moderated space for local sharing, with address privacy measures described in its FAQ. Availability is limited to select locations, and borrowing or lending carries no insurance or guarantee for lenders’ items.

Visit Rooster

The facts

	Question2Answer	Rooster
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Self-hosted, Web	Web
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	question2answer.org	therooster.co
On online community platforms	#27 of 54	#31 of 54

Question2Answer: what it does well

Free, open-source software under GPL version 2 or later
Integrated search, categories or tags, voting and comments
Roles for experts, editors, moderators and admins
WordPress and Joomla integration, plus custom single sign-on
Captchas, moderation and flagging for spam control

What to know first

Requires a self-hosted setup with PHP and MySQL
Requires PHP 5.4 or later with MySQLi
Listed as a web app rather than a mobile app

Rooster: what it does well

Free plan with no charge
Posts cover borrowing, skills and local activities
Moderators review posts before publication
Members can turn off email notifications

What to know first

Beta is available only in select locations
Member identities are not verified
Lenders have no insurance or item guarantee

Alternatives to Question2Answer Alternatives to Rooster The whole list