Best Open Social Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from online community platforms ranked against Open Social on the same published basis.
- 1Open Social vs HumHub
- 2Open Social vs NodeBB
- 4Open Social vs Circle
- 5Open Social vs Discourse
- 6Open Social vs phpBB
- 7Open Social vs Archive of Our Own
- 8Open Social vs Daisie
- 9Open Social vs Fora
- 10Open Social vs Geneva
- 11Open Social vs Heartbeat
- 12Open Social vs Lobsters
- 13Open Social vs Mighty Networks
- 14Open Social vs Bettermode
- 15Open Social vs Crowdstack
- 16Open Social vs Forums.net
- 17Open Social vs Higher Logic Vanilla
- 18Open Social vs Hivebrite
- 19Open Social vs Invision Community
- 20Open Social vs Nodyx
- 21Open Social vs Reddit
Open Social alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HumHub | 7.3 | Free plan | — | Android, API, iOS, self-hosted, Web |
| 2 | NodeBB | 7.3 | Free plan | $20/mo | API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 4 | Circle | 6.7 | No | $89/mo | Android, API, iOS, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 5 | Discourse | 5.9 | Free plan | $100/mo | self-hosted |
| 6 | phpBB | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | self-hosted, Web |
| 7 | Archive of Our Own | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Web |
| 8 | Daisie | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | iOS, Web |
| 9 | Fora | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Web |
| 10 | Geneva | 5.4 | Free plan | Free | Web, iOS, Android |
| 11 | Heartbeat | 5.4 | No | $19/mo | Android, iOS |
| 12 | Lobsters | 5.3 | No | — | Web |
| 13 | Mighty Networks | 5.3 | No | $79/mo | Android, iOS, Web |
| 14 | Bettermode | 5.2 | No | $399/mo | Web |
| 15 | Crowdstack | 5.2 | No | $999/mo | Web |
| 16 | Forums.net | 5.2 | No | $49.99/mo | Android, iOS, Web |
| 17 | Higher Logic Vanilla | 5.2 | No | — | — |
| 18 | Hivebrite | 5.2 | No | — | Web, iOS, Android |
| 19 | Invision Community | 5.2 | No | — | Web, iOS, Android |
| 20 | Nodyx | 5.2 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 21 | 5.2 | No | — | Web, iOS, Android |
Make your platform an alternative to Open Social
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about Open Social alternatives
What is the best alternative to Open Social?
HumHub, number 1 in online community platforms with a score of 7.3 out of 10. The others here: NodeBB, Circle, Discourse and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Open Social?
HumHub is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 9 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it.