5 Open Source Alternatives To Tribe

Forem is an open source platform designed for building modern, independent, and safe communities. It powers DEV and various other online communities, providing a space for deep and nuanced discussions. Forems can be customized to be public or private, catering to both large and small communities.

• Open Source: Freely available and customizable to fit your community’s needs.
• Safe Environment: Focuses on creating a secure and inclusive space for discussions.
• Scalable: Suitable for both small and large communities, public or private.
• Powered by Ruby on Rails: Built with a robust and reliable framework.

Forem provides a platform where you can engage deeply on topics you care about, making it an ideal space for personal expression and thoughtful discussions.

Discourse is a 100% free, open-source forum software designed to facilitate community discussions. It provides a reliable and user-friendly platform where users can connect, collaborate, and share ideas effortlessly. With Discourse, building and managing an online community has never been easier.

• Free and Open-source: Discourse is completely free to use and open-source, ensuring transparency and flexibility.
• Unlimited Conversation History: Keep all your conversations forever with unlimited conversation history.
• Truly Portable Data: Your data is always yours, and you can move it anytime, anywhere.
• Managed Hosting: Enjoy world-class hosting services starting from just $20/month.
• Discourse AI: Harness the power of AI to enhance your community interactions.
• Responsive Customer Support: Get help from our technical advocates to resolve any issues quickly.
• Customizable Themes: Choose from a variety of themes to personalize your community's look and feel.

Discourse powers over 20,000 online communities, making it a trusted choice for community management. Whether you're a small group or a large enterprise, Discourse provides the infrastructure and support you need to build a thriving community.

Flarum is a modern, open-source forum software designed to help you build and manage online communities with ease. It is fast, free, and highly extensible, making it suitable for a wide range of use cases, from small communities to large enterprise forums.

• Extensible: Flarum's architecture allows you to extend its functionality with a wide variety of extensions, enabling you to tailor your community to your specific needs.
• Mobile First: Designed with mobile users in mind, Flarum provides a seamless experience across all devices, ensuring your community is always accessible.
• Lean & Fast: Flarum is optimized for performance, ensuring quick load times and a smooth user experience even for large communities.
• Free & Open Source: Being open-source, Flarum is free to use and can be installed on any server, giving you complete control over your data and avoiding vendor lock-in.
• Powerful Editor: Flarum includes a robust editor that supports rich text formatting, making it easy for users to create engaging posts.
• Customizable Styling: With various themes and styling options, you can make your community look exactly the way you want.
• Comprehensive Notifications: Keep your community engaged with built-in notification systems that alert users to new posts, mentions, and other activities.
• Robust Permissions: Flarum offers a flexible permissions system, allowing you to control who can see, post, and manage content.

Flarum is trusted by numerous communities around the world for its reliability and flexibility. Whether you are building a helpdesk, a paid membership community, or a web3 decentralized forum, Flarum provides the tools you need to create a thriving online space.

Higher Logic Vanilla is a comprehensive community platform designed to help businesses build and maintain vibrant, engaging online communities. It empowers organizations to create a central hub where customers can access resources, share knowledge, and connect with each other, ultimately driving customer engagement and satisfaction.

• Easy Customization: Tailor the look and feel of your community to reflect your brand and meet your unique needs.
• Scalable Support: Reduce support ticket volumes by enabling self-service support, allowing customers to find answers quickly and efficiently.
• Enhanced Engagement: Foster deeper connections with customers through regular interactions, product updates, and community events.
• Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrate with your existing systems like learning management, ticketing tools, and marketing platforms for a cohesive customer experience.
• Educational Resources: Access a wealth of onboarding documents, product release notes, and best practices to help you and your community thrive.
• Peer Networking: Connect with fellow community builders to exchange ideas and insights, enhancing your community-building efforts.
• Product Feedback: Gather valuable input from your community to inform your product roadmap and future updates.

Higher Logic Vanilla is trusted by over 3,000 organizations worldwide to improve customer outcomes and drive engagement. With its robust feature set and focus on community, it’s an ideal solution for businesses looking to strengthen customer relationships and support at scale.

phpBB is a free, open-source bulletin board software solution that allows you to create and manage online forums. Written in PHP, it is highly customizable and can be used to stay in touch with a group of people or power your entire website.

• Extensive Customization: With a vast database of user-created extensions and styles, you can personalize your forum to fit your needs.
• User-Friendly: Easy to install and configure, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.
• Community Support: A strong community forum where staff and members assist with configuration and customization.
• Regular Updates: Continuous improvements and new features to keep your forum software up-to-date.
• Multilingual Support: Translate phpBB into almost any language with available language packs.

phpBB stands out for its rich feature set, efficiency, and ease of use. Best of all, it's completely free.