About This Launch
FlatBB is a free MIT-licensed forum in plain PHP 8.1+ for people who want a lightweight self-hosted community. No Composer, Docker, or build step: unzip and install on cheap shared hosting with SQLite or MySQL. Includes multilingual support, built-in RTL, Markdown, search, dark mode, and an AI-friendly plugin marketplace.
Why I Built This
FlatBB was built to make community software approachable for developers and small communities. Existing forum stacks can require heavy dependencies, containers, or complex build pipelines. FlatBB keeps installation simple: unzip a folder, use SQLite or MySQL, and run a modern multilingual forum on inexpensive hosting.
Launch Details
CategoryDeveloper Tools
StageLive
ListedSeptember 9, 2026