Forums with the soul of vBulletin and a chat built in.

Silkroad™ is self-hosted community software: classic boards and threads, live chat between members, real moderation tools and themes your members make themselves.

Download v1.0.0 Read the install guide

Free to run on your own server with Docker, 0.5 MB.

Live chat

Facebook-style chat windows on every page, with live notifications.

76 languages

English and Arabic built in, right-to-left included; the rest install as packs.

Your server

Docker Compose, Postgres and Redis. Your data never leaves your machine.

One-command checks

The doctor tells you exactly what’s wrong and how to fix it.

The forum home

Categories, sub-forums and “who’s online”, the way forums should look.

Unread markers, last-post previews, viewing counts, birthdays and events. Members switch between dark and light, compact or comfortable rows, and any of 76 languages.

Forum logos per board
Role colours on every name
Online, busy, do not disturb or appear offline

Threads

Read it like a forum or talk in it like a chat.

Every thread has two layouts. Classic postbits for long-form posts, and a chat view where Enter sends, messages group by author and the composer stays at the bottom.

Emoji reactions, including your own custom emojis
GIF search built into the message box
Images, video and audio uploads, plus YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud and Spotify embeds

A Silkroad thread in chat view with reactions

Theme studio

Members design their own look. Admins publish the best ones.

Pick colours, header and footer heights in pixels, a logo, a background image and the font, with a live preview as you go. Themes export as one file with the images inside, so they move between forums.

Personal themes for members
Publish a theme for everyone or make it the default
Custom CSS for administrators

The Silkroad theme studio with live preview

Mod CP

Warn, mute, kick and ban, with a reason and a record.

Moderators get exactly the tools an administrator grants their role. Every action is logged on the member’s history, and members see warnings and mutes in their notifications.

Timed or permanent bans, live sign-out on kick
Banned words that mask or block, with wildcards
Per-forum permissions for every role

Moderating a member in the Silkroad Mod CP

Running in four steps

You need a server with Docker. The first account that registers becomes the administrator.

Download and unzip

unzip silkroad-1.0.0.zip -d silkroad && cd silkroad

Generate secrets (stays in .env, never shared)
```
npm run secrets:generate
```
Start it
```
docker compose up -d --build
```
Check it and register
```
docker compose exec api node dist/doctor.js
```
Open the forum, create your account, then add your free license key in Admin CP › License.

Full guide, Coolify setup and the AI install prompt

Free to run. Pro when you grow.

Every feature on this page is in the Free plan. Pro lifts the limits and lets you remove our credit from your footer.

What you get	FreeSelf-service key	ProMonthly or yearly
Forums, threads, live chat, Mod CP, reactions, media, 76 languages	Included	Included
Custom themes on your forum	5	Unlimited
Largest upload	25 MB	500 MB
Custom emojis	50	2,000
Remove “Powered by Silkroad™”	No	Yes
	Get a free key	Ask for Pro

Changelog

v1.0.0October 2026, current
- Roles with admin-picked colours, member abilities and moderator tools per role
- Mod CP: warn, mute, kick, ban, banned words, forum logos
- Avatars; online, busy, do not disturb and appear-offline statuses
- Image, video and audio uploads; YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud and Spotify embeds
- Emoji reactions, custom emojis and GIF search
- Chat view for threads and a chat-style message box
- Theme studio with import and export
- Free and Pro licenses
- Language packs installed from the Admin CP; English and Arabic built in
- Accounts, posting, live chat, notifications, search, likes and the Admin CP
v0.1.0October 2026
- Forum home with categories, sub-forums, unread markers and “who’s online”
- Docker install, the doctor health check and the AI install guide