Circle is $89 or more a month — over $1,068 a year — for a community suite where the part your members actually open daily is the discussion board. Forumly is that board, done properly. $39 once, on a $5 VPS with Docker or as a desktop app, all of it in one SQLite file you can back up with a copy-paste.
If you've searched for a Circle alternative, Forumly is the pay-once option worth putting at the top of the list: Forumly is $39, one time, and covers the same core job Circle charges $89+/mo for.
What makes Forumly the pick for 2026
- Categories, threads, replies — One-level nesting for readability, thread pinning and locking, and new-since-your-last-visit indicators.
- Reactions — A six-emoji reaction set with toggling and per-member state.
- Member profiles — Avatar or generated initials, bio, join date, post count and a manual-award badge system.
- Notifications — Reply-to-your-thread and @mention notifications with an unread bell (email digest is a stub — wire your own SMTP).
- Search — Across thread titles and post bodies, with snippets.
Forumly vs Circle, at a glance
| Forumly | Circle | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $39 once | $89+/mo |
| Members | Unlimited | Plan-limited |
| Threads, reactions, profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Badges, notifications, @mentions | Yes | Yes |
| Moderation (pin/lock/ban) | Yes | Yes |
| Courses / payments / video | No | Yes |
| Your data | Your SQLite file | Their cloud |
| Self-hosted | Yes | No |
If what you actually need is the discussion board, Forumly pays for itself in 13 days of Circle.
Common questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes — Forumly is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/community-forum-mvp. The $39 buys the packaged installer and 1-click setup; building from source is free.
Does it do courses and payments like Circle?
No — it's deliberately just the forum. If you need courses, payments and video, Circle does more; Forumly does the discussion board and owns its data.
Where does my community data live?
In one SQLite file on your own server that you can copy to back up. No cloud, no telemetry.
The bottom line
Forumly won't out-feature Circle on every axis — no subscription tool with a bigger team and a bigger roadmap loses on everything. But for the core job, $39 once against $89+/mo forever is a trade most people should at least look at. Forumly is part of OneTimeSuite, a catalog of pay-once apps that replace subscription SaaS.
Try Forumly — $39, once
Self-hosted forum with categories, threads, reactions, badges, @mentions, search and real moderator tools.