What is Misago used for?

Misago is a modern forum application built with Django, offering user accounts, categories, moderation tools and anti-spam options. It is a good fit for hosting a community discussion forum and moderated support or hobby boards.

Is Misago open source?

Yes. Misago is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at rafalp/Misago and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Misago is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Misago?

Yes. Misago can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Misago an alternative to?

Misago is an open-source alternative to Vanilla, XenForo, vBulletin and Invision Community. Other open-source alternatives to Vanilla include Discourse, NodeBB and Flarum.

Is Misago actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Misago was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 0.39.6, published on 19 June 2026. The project has 2.8k stars on GitHub.

Misago: open-source alternative to Vanilla, XenForo

About Misago

Misago is a forum application written with Python and Django that aims to be complete and modern. Its authors say it deliberately departs from common, outdated assumptions about how forum software should work. The repository is licensed under GPL-2.0 and also ships with Docker support and uses htmx for its interface.

It implements the features expected on a live community site. Users can register, set avatars, edit profiles and reset forgotten passwords, and sign-in is available through more than 50 supported OAuth providers. Administrators can require email activation or manual approval, and fight spam registrations with a custom question and answer challenge, ReCAPTCHA, Stop Forum Spam or IP blacklists.

Content is organized into categories with unlimited depth, and messages can be written in GitHub-flavored markdown, a BBCode subset, or both. Presence features show when members are online, with a setting to hide activity. A full moderation toolset lets moderators edit, move, hide, approve, delete or close content, and a ban system can block users, names, emails and IP addresses.

Key features

Categories with unlimited subcategory depth
Markdown and BBCode post formatting
Sign-in through many OAuth providers
Email activation and manual account approval
Anti-spam: ReCAPTCHA, Stop Forum Spam, IP blocks
Moderator tools and ban system
Online presence indicators

Good fit for

→Hosting a community discussion forum
→Moderated support or hobby boards

Built with: Python; Django; Docker
Tags: forum; forum-software; django; python; community; moderation; docker; self-hosted

Misago: questions and answers

What is Misago used for?: Misago is a modern forum application built with Django, offering user accounts, categories, moderation tools and anti-spam options. It is a good fit for hosting a community discussion forum and moderated support or hobby boards.
Is Misago open source?: Yes. Misago is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at rafalp/Misago and is written mainly in Python.
Is Misago free?: Yes. Misago is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Misago?: Yes. Misago can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Misago an alternative to?: Misago is an open-source alternative to Vanilla, XenForo, vBulletin and Invision Community. Other open-source alternatives to Vanilla include Discourse, NodeBB and Flarum.
Is Misago actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Misago was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 0.39.6, published on 19 June 2026. The project has 2.8k stars on GitHub.