NodeBB is Node.js based forum software built for the modern web.
It uses web sockets for instant interactions and real-time notifications.
NodeBB has many modern features out of the box such as social network integration and streaming discussions, while still making sure to be compatible with older browsers.
Key Features
- Modern Design – mobile-first and real-time interactions
- Real-time streaming with instant notifications, streaming posts, and real-time chats. NodeBB integrates real-time events in the background – your users are notified instantly when someone follows them, likes their post, or subscribes to their topics. Native multi-tasking support allows you to have streaming conversations with multiple people side-by-side.
- Social interactions – users earn reputation from others when posting helpful comments – gamifying and engaging your community.
- Social integration – share content with Facebook, Google, and Twitter.
- Cloud integrations – Slack, Pushbullet, Mailchimp, and more.
- Theming engine is very flexible.
- One-click install plugin and themes. NodeBB has over 300 plugins and themes to choose from.
- Advanced search – find the content you’re looking for with the help of several search filters designed to fine-tune your search results.
- Spam prevention – integrates with several spam prevention tools including Akismet, StopForumSpam, and Project Honeypot.
- Roles and Permission – create private or read-only categories with access control. Give users or groups special roles to view or moderate content.
- Tags – users can tag topics, adding an extra dimension beyond categorization and making it easy to find related content.
- SEO – enhance ranking with human-readable URls, semantic HTML with embedded microdata, and more.
- API – publically facing read-only API as well as a REST write API, making it easy to integrate with your software.
- Powerful and intuitive admin panel.
- Analytics dashboard.
- Drag-and-drop widgets.
- Internationalization support – over 50 languages actively translated.
Website: nodebb.org
Support: Documentation, GitHub Code Repository
Developer: NodeBB, Inc
License: GNU General Public License v3.0

NodeBB requires the following software to be installed:
- A version of Node.js at least 10 or greater (installation/upgrade instructions).
- Redis, version 2.8.9 or higher or MongoDB, version 2.6 or higher.
- nginx, version 1.3.13 or higher (only if intending to use nginx to proxy requests to a NodeBB).
NodeBB is written in JavaScript. Learn JavaScript with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Internet Forum Software | |
|---|---|
| Discourse | Discussion forum, mailing list, and long-form chat room |
| NodeBB | Community platform for the modern web |
| Flarum | Simple discussion platform for your website |
| Forem | Platform for building modern, independent, and safe communities |
| phpBB | Flat-forum bulletin board software solution |
| bbPress | Forum software with a twist from the creators of WordPress |
| MyBB | Intuitive, extensible forum software |
| miniBB | Easy, lite, and speedy quick forum |
| Vanilla | Simple and flexible forum software |
| Thredded | Simple and feature rich Rails forum engine |
| Simple Machines Forum | Elegant, effective, powerful forum software |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Discovered a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |

