NodeBB

Node.js based forum software built for the modern web

app

Alternative to: discourse, vanilla forums, circle

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About Versions (116)

NodeBB is a modern, real-time forum and community platform built on Node.js, using web sockets to push new posts and notifications to users instantly instead of relying on page reloads. It supports Redis, MongoDB, or PostgreSQL as a database backend, ships with a mobile-first responsive theme, and is extensible through a large plugin and theme ecosystem for gamification, SSO, and moderation.

NodeBB Docker Compose example

Self-host NodeBB on your own server, homelab, or VPS starting from this Docker Compose example. It runs NodeBB in Docker containers using the official ghcr.io/nodebb/nodebb:latest, mongo:7 images, with persistent volumes and automatic restarts preconfigured. Review the environment variables and adjust them to your setup, save the file as compose.yml (or docker-compose.yml), and start the stack with docker compose up -d.

services:
  nodebb:
    image: ghcr.io/nodebb/nodebb:latest
    depends_on:
      - mongo
    volumes:
      - build:/usr/src/app/build
      - uploads:/usr/src/app/public/uploads
      - config:/opt/config
    restart: unless-stopped

  mongo:
    image: mongo:7
    volumes:
      - mongo:/data/db
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  build:
  uploads:
  config:
  mongo:

Prefer a managed setup? WinterFlow installs, configures, and updates NodeBB for you using this same Docker Compose configuration.