--- title: Flarum canonical: https://saasranked.com/software/flarum/ category: Customer Community Software points: 54 rank: 5 of 8 facts_checked: 2026-10-09 --- # Flarum Free, MIT-licensed forum software that you install on your own server. 54 points out of 100. #5 of 8 customer community platforms. Vendor: Flarum Foundation. Website: https://flarum.org/ - The software is free and released under the MIT licence [1][9]. - You install it yourself with Composer on a PHP 8.3+ server; no member limit is mentioned [2]. - The documented REST API follows the JSON:API standard, though the page says its endpoint documentation is still in progress [4]. - Bundled extensions cover member suspension, Akismet spam checks and GDPR data exports [3][5][6][7]. - The home page and docs do not mention single sign-on, webhooks, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 [1][3][12]. Verdict: Flarum suits teams that can run their own PHP server and want a free forum with groups, moderation and an API [1][2][4]. There is no hosted plan to buy, so uptime, security and upgrades are yours to handle [1][2]. Single sign-on, webhooks and compliance certificates are not described in Flarum's published pages [1][3][12]. Best for: Teams with a web host who want a free, lightweight forum they control. ## Points | Criterion | Line | Value | Points | Note | |---|---|---|---|---| | Price | Free plan | Not published | 0/6 | Flarum is software you install yourself; the home page and install docs do not describe any hosted plan, free or paid [1][2]. | | Price | Cheapest paid plan with a custom domain | $0 | 12/12 | No hosted plan; the software is free under the MIT licence, so counted as $0 [1][9]. | | Members and access | Unlimited members | Yes | 6/6 | Self-hosted software; the install docs mention no member limit [2]. | | Members and access | Custom domain | Yes | 3/3 | You run it on your own server; the config file's url setting is changed if you change domains [2][10]. | | Members and access | Single sign-on | Not published | 0/10 | Not published on the vendor's home page, docs index or extensions page [1][3][12]. | | Members and access | Groups with their own permissions | Yes | 4/4 | Admins assign permissions to groups and configure global and specific scopes [1][8]. | | Moderation and answers | Moderation tools | Report queue, Approve before posting, Ban or suspend members, Spam or word filters | 8/8 | Flagging [1]; Approval extension makes posts and discussions need moderator approval [14]; Suspend [6]; Akismet [7]. Audit docs log flags [13]. | | Moderation and answers | Accepted answers | Not published | 0/5 | Not published on the vendor's home page, docs or bundled extension list [1][3][12]. | | Connections | Named integrations | Not published | 0/8 | Not published: Slack, Salesforce, Zendesk and HubSpot are not named on Flarum's home page or docs [1][3][12]. | | Connections | Public API | Yes | 8/8 | Documented REST API following JSON:API, available to external scripts [4]. | | Connections | Webhooks | Not published | 0/3 | Not published on the vendor's docs index, extensions page or REST API page [3][4][12]. | | Your data | Export your community data | Yes | 6/6 | GDPR extension: members export their data; staff with permission can start an export for another member. Not a full-site export [5]. | | Your data | Open source | Yes | 4/4 | Released under the MIT licence; source on GitHub [1][9]. | | Your data | Self-hosting | Yes | 3/3 | Install docs give Composer steps and server requirements for your own server [2]. | | Security | SOC 2 Type II or ISO 27001 | Not published | 0/8 | Not published on the vendor's home page, docs index or GitHub page [1][9][12]. | | Security | Written uptime guarantee | Not published | 0/3 | Not published on the vendor's home page or docs; no hosted service is described [1][12]. | | Security | Two-factor sign-in | Not published | 0/3 | Not published on the vendor's admin docs or extension list [3][8]. | ## Plans | Plan | Price | Per month (USD) | |---|---|---| | Flarum (self-hosted) | Free [1][2] | $0 | Flarum lists no hosted or paid plans; hosting costs are your own [1]. ## Strengths - Free under the MIT licence, with source on GitHub [1][9]. - Admins set permissions for each member group [1][8]. - Moderators can suspend members for set days or indefinitely [6]. - Members and permitted staff can start personal data exports through the GDPR extension [5]. - A bundled Approval extension can require moderator approval for posts and discussions [14]. ## Limits - No hosted plan is described, so you need your own server with PHP 8.3+ and a database [1][2]. - The install page for version 2 uses a beta stability flag [2]. - The REST API page says its endpoint documentation is still in progress [4]. - Flarum's published pages do not describe single sign-on, webhooks, accepted answers or two-factor sign-in [1][3][8][12]. - Flarum reported a breach of its own flarum.org server in 2023 [11]. ## Concerns - On 8 November 2023 Flarum announced that its flarum.org server had been breached; it could not confirm whether data was taken, and an old forum database backup from December 2021 was on the server [11]. ## Sources 1. [Flarum: free, open-source forum software](https://flarum.org/), Flarum, accessed 2026-10-09 2. [Installation](https://docs.flarum.org/install/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 3. [Extensions](https://docs.flarum.org/extensions/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 4. [Consuming the REST API](https://docs.flarum.org/rest-api/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 5. [GDPR extension](https://docs.flarum.org/extensions/gdpr/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 6. [Suspend extension](https://docs.flarum.org/extensions/suspend/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 7. [Akismet extension](https://docs.flarum.org/extensions/akismet/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 8. [Admin dashboard](https://docs.flarum.org/admin/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 9. [flarum/framework](https://github.com/flarum/framework), GitHub, accessed 2026-10-09 10. [Configuration file](https://docs.flarum.org/config/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 11. [Flarum.org Security Breach - What it means for you](https://discuss.flarum.org/d/33602-flarumorg-security-breach-what-it-means-for-you), Flarum Community, accessed 2026-10-09 12. [Flarum documentation](https://docs.flarum.org/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 13. [Audit extension](https://docs.flarum.org/extensions/audit/), Flarum Docs, accessed 2026-10-09 14. [flarum/approval extension (composer.json)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flarum/framework/2.x/extensions/approval/composer.json), GitHub (Flarum), accessed 2026-10-09