Top pick · highest health
Discourse
Advanced forum / community solution based on Ruby and JS.
Docker
Communication - Social Networks and Forums
Open source alternatives to Facebook Groups
We track 6 open-source Facebook Groups alternatives, of which 4 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 2 ship a Docker image. Discourse leads on health at 99/100 with 2045 commits in the last 90 days; across all 6 projects you are choosing between AGPL-3.0, GPL-2.0, MIT.
updated Oct 2026 6 alternatives best health 99 ★ 83k combined 3,200 commits / 90d 2 with Docker
Top picks to replace Facebook Groups
Showing 6 of 6 tools
All 6 Facebook Groups alternatives, ranked by health
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Lemmy
Link aggregator for the fediverse (alternative to Reddit).
DockerRust -
Friendica
Social Communication Server.
PHP -
Elgg
Powerful open source social networking engine.
PHP -
Flarum
Delightfully simple forums. Flarum is the next-generation forum software that makes online discussion fun again.
PHP -
BuddyPress
Powerful plugin that takes your WordPress.org powered site beyond the blog with social-network features like user profiles, activity streams, user groups, and more.
PHP
Facebook Groups alternatives compared
Discourse edges Lemmy 99 to 97, and most of the difference is stars: 48k stars against 15k stars.
The most recent release is Lemmy 0.19.21, published 4 days ago. BuddyPress publishes no tagged releases, which costs up to 25 of the 100 points. None of the measured options scores under 40. By stack, PHP (4) and Rust (1) are the most common. Flarum is permissively licensed; Discourse, Lemmy, Friendica and 2 more are copyleft.
| Tool | Health | Stars | Licence | Last commit | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discourse Steady at 99 since 11 Sep, no release for 3 months | 99 | 48k | GPL-2.0 | today | Yes |
| Lemmy Steady at 97 since 11 Sep | 97 | 15k | AGPL-3.0 | yesterday | Yes |
| Friendica Steady at 83 since 11 Sep, no release for 5 months | 83 | 1.7k | AGPL-3.0 | today | No |
| Elgg Steady at 83 since 11 Sep | 83 | 1.7k | GPL-2.0 | 9 days ago | No |
| Flarum Down 2 points since 11 Sep | 57 | 16k | MIT | 21 days ago | No |
| BuddyPress | 55 | 258 | GPL-2.0 | 7 days ago | No |
Facebook Groups alternatives: common questions
What is the most maintained open source alternative to Facebook Groups?
Discourse scores highest at 99/100, with 2045 commits in the last 90 days, 48k stars on GitHub and its latest release (_gh-attach-assets) published 4 months ago. It is also the most active by raw commit count.
Which Facebook Groups alternatives use a permissive licence?
1 of 6 are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache, BSD or similar): Flarum (MIT). 5 use copyleft licences such as GPL or AGPL, which require you to publish changes if you distribute a modified version.
Which Facebook Groups alternatives run in Docker?
2 of 6 publish a Docker image or Compose file: Discourse, Lemmy. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.
Is Discourse or Lemmy the better Facebook Groups alternative?
On measured health Discourse leads, 99 to 97. Discourse has 2,045 commits in 90 days, 48k stars and _gh-attach-assets from 4 months ago; Lemmy has 58 commits in 90 days, 15k stars and 0.19.21 from 4 days ago. Discourse is ahead or level on every term Repoly measures.
Are the Facebook Groups alternatives still maintained?
4 of the 6 measured options score 70 or above. Every measured option had commits in the last 90 days. None scores under 40.
What languages are the Facebook Groups alternatives written in?
PHP: Friendica, Elgg, Flarum and BuddyPress. Rust: Lemmy. The stack matters if you plan to extend or patch the tool yourself.
