BuddyPress

BuddyPress

BuddyPress is an open-source social networking software that can be used to build online communities and social networks within a WordPress site. It allows site users to interact with each other through profiles, groups, forums, messaging, and blogging.
BuddyPress image
social-media community forum groups messaging blogging

BuddyPress: Open-Source Social Networking for WordPress

BuddyPress is an open-source social networking software that can be used to build online communities and social networks within a WordPress site. It allows site users to interact with each other through profiles, groups, forums, messaging, and blogging.

What is BuddyPress?

BuddyPress is an open-source social networking software plugin that can be installed on WordPress sites to build robust social networks. It provides the tools to create user profiles, groups, forums, messaging systems, blog tracking, and more within a WordPress community.

Some key features of BuddyPress include:

  • User profiles - Allow members to create personal profiles with avatars, biographies, social connections etc.
  • Friend connections - Members can become friends and follow each other's activities.
  • Messaging - Built-in messaging system allows communication between members.
  • Groups - Create thematic groups where members can collaborate and interact.
  • Forums - Set up forums for members to participate in discussions.
  • Media sharing - Members can upload photos, videos and other media.
  • Blog tracking - Track and aggregate blog posts from all members.
  • Extendable - Plugin architecture allows adding more features via extensions.
  • Theming - Fully customizable look and feel via themes.

With its flexibility and comprehensive social networking features, BuddyPress enables site owners to grow an active community. It scales well for small to extremely large communities. An active support forum and library of plugins further simplifies management and unlocks more capabilities.

BuddyPress Features

Features

  1. User Profiles
  2. Activity Streams
  3. Groups
  4. Messaging
  5. Notifications
  6. Extended User Profiles
  7. Friend Connections
  8. Multi-site Compatibility

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Built on top of WordPress so easy integration

Open source and free

Good for building online communities

Lots of plugins and themes available

Good documentation and support

Cons

Can be resource intensive on shared hosting

Steeper learning curve than basic WordPress

Core features fairly basic, relies on plugins

Not as feature rich as dedicated social network platforms


The Best BuddyPress Alternatives

Top Social & Communications and Social Networking and other similar apps like BuddyPress


Facebook icon

Facebook

Facebook is a popular social networking platform launched in 2004. It allows users to connect with friends, family, coworkers, and people with shared interests. As of 2022, Facebook has over 2.9 billion monthly active users worldwide.Some key features of Facebook include:News Feed - See updates from friends in real-timeProfile -...
Facebook image
VK icon

VK

VK is a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg. VK allows users to message each other, join groups and public pages, share and tag images, audio and video, and play browser-based games.VK was launched in 2006 as a Facebook-inspired social networking site. It quickly...
VK image
MeWe icon

MeWe

MeWe is a social networking platform launched in 2016 that emphasizes privacy and security. Unlike sites like Facebook, MeWe does not sell user data or target ads based on personal information.Some key features of MeWe include:Private chat, messaging, video callingPhoto sharing and cloud storage Groups, events, pages, and voice messagingNo...
MeWe image
Ultimate Member icon

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member is a popular WordPress plugin used to create frontend user profiles, registration forms, login forms, and user communities. It's a full-fledged membership solution that allows you to restrict access to content based on user roles.Some of the key features of Ultimate Member include:User profiles with custom fieldsDrag and...
Ultimate Member image
Keep In Touch icon

Keep In Touch

Keep In Touch is a user-friendly contact management solution designed for solopreneurs, small business owners, sales professionals, and individuals who want to better organize their contacts and relationships.With Keep In Touch, you can store all your contacts' details like names, companies, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and more in one centralized...
Minds icon

Minds

Minds is an open-source, privacy-focused social networking platform launched in 2015. It emphasizes free speech and does not censor or filter content posted by users, except in cases of illegal content.Some key features of Minds include:Encryption - Content and conversations are encrypted for privacy.Anonymity - Users can browse anonymously without...
Minds image
THINK thenlive icon

THINK thenlive

THINK thenlive is a personal knowledge management and planning software designed to help users organize information, ideas, and decisions more effectively. It provides a central platform to capture, structure, and track all kinds of data that informs decision making and strategy.Some key features of THINK thenlive include:Flexible databases for managing...
Diaspora icon

Diaspora

Diaspora is a decentralized, open source social networking platform launched in 2010. It emphasizes user privacy and control over data sharing.As a decentralized network, Diaspora allows users to host their profile and data on independently run servers called pods. This avoids a central entity having control over the network. Pods...
Diaspora image
Quup icon

Quup

Quup is a cloud-based software for creating, managing, and e-signing professional business documents quickly and easily. It allows you to generate proposals, contracts, quotes, invoices, scopes of work, and more using customizable templates across various industries including IT, marketing, consulting, and creative services.Some key features of Quup include:Intuitive drag-and-drop editor...
UsersWP icon

UsersWP

UsersWP is a powerful yet user-friendly WordPress plugin used for user registration and account management. It provides an easy way to set up customizable registration and login forms directly on your website frontend.Some of the key features of UsersWP include:Drag and drop form builder to easily create registration and login...
UsersWP image
Friendica icon

Friendica

Friendica is an open-source, decentralized social networking platform launched in 2010. It is designed to be privacy-focused and ad-free, allowing users to have more control over their information and data.Some key features of Friendica include:Federated - able to connect with users on other Friendica servers or compatible platforms like Mastodon...
Friendica image
Libertree icon

Libertree

Libertree is an open source, decentralized social networking platform developed as an ethical alternative to mainstream networks like Facebook or Twitter. The goal of Libertree is to create a social media ecosystem where users have ownership and control over their own data.Unlike traditional social networks that store user data on...
Libertree image
FreezeCrowd icon

FreezeCrowd

FreezeCrowd is a productivity browser extension available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It helps people avoid distractions and stay focused online by blocking or limiting access to time-wasting websites and apps.Some key features of FreezeCrowd include:Create customized block lists of distracting sites and apps like social media, news sites, or...
FreezeCrowd image
Twister icon

Twister

Twister is a decentralized, open source microblogging platform built on a peer-to-peer network. It allows users to post short messages of up to 140 characters, similar to Twitter, while maintaining ownership of their data through distributed data storage across the network.The main goal of Twister is to enable censorship-resistant communication...
EasySocial icon

EasySocial

EasySocial is an open-source social networking software built with PHP and MySQL. It allows developers and businesses to create community-focused web applications with social features like user profiles, groups, events, blogs, forums, notifications and more out of the box.Some key features of EasySocial include:Customizable and extensible codebase to build niche...
EasySocial image
HumHub icon

HumHub

HumHub is an open-source social networking platform and content management system that organizations and companies can use to create private social networks. It enables easy collaboration and communication between team members by providing features like user profiles, groups, forums, blogs, messaging, file sharing, calendars, and more.Some key features and benefits...
HumHub image
SocialGO icon

SocialGO

SocialGO is an all-in-one social media management software designed to help businesses, agencies, and individuals easily manage their social media presence. Some key features of SocialGO include:Post scheduling and publishing to multiple social accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and more from a unified calendarContent curation tools to find...
FutureNet icon

FutureNet

FutureNet is an open-source, decentralized social networking platform launched in 2019. It is designed to provide an ethical, privacy-focused alternative to mainstream centralized social networks like Facebook and Twitter.Some key features of FutureNet include:Encryption - All data and communications on FutureNet are end-to-end encrypted.Decentralization - Data is stored in a...
FutureNet image
JomSocial icon

JomSocial

JomSocial is an open source PHP-based social networking software that integrates with Joomla to provide a full-featured social network. It was launched in 2009 by Adeyanju Walter as a Joomla extension and has since gained popularity as a powerful yet easy way to add community features to Joomla sites.Some key...
JomSocial image
Google Latitude icon

Google Latitude

Google Latitude was a location-based social networking app and service developed by Google. It was launched in 2009 and discontinued in 2013.Latitude allowed users to share their physical locations with friends and see friends' locations plotted on a map or on a list. Users had to expressly choose to enable...
Google Latitude image
Skyrock icon

Skyrock

Skyrock is a veteran blogging and social networking platform based in France. Founded in 2002, it aims to provide users with an intuitive and visually compelling platform to create a personal blog and connect with others who share their interests.Some key features of Skyrock include:Free blog hosting with easy-to-use templates...
Skyrock image
ProfilePress icon

ProfilePress

ProfilePress is a powerful WordPress plugin that enables you to create frontend user profiles, registration forms, and login pages for your WordPress website. It lets you customize the fields, layout, restrictions and more for user profiles and registration on your site.Some key features of ProfilePress:Build unlimited user registration forms with...
ProfilePress image
Yooco icon

Yooco

Yooco is an free and open-source bookmark/link manager designed to help individuals and teams organize, manage, and quickly access their browser bookmarks. It was created as an alternative to proprietary bookmarking services with the goals of user privacy protection, flexibility, and customization.Key features of Yooco include:Clean and intuitive user interfaceFull-text...
Yooco image
Lutece icon

Lutece

Lutece is an enterprise-grade, open source content management system (CMS) and web application framework written in Java. First released in 2001, Lutece enables organizations to easily build custom websites, intranets, extranets, web applications, and more.Some key features of Lutece include:Modular, component-based architecture for flexibility and extensibilityUtilizes leading Java technologies like...
Lutece image
PhpFox icon

PhpFox

phpFox is an open source content management system and social networking platform written in PHP. It provides a robust framework for building community-based websites and applications.Key features of phpFox include:User profiles with customizable privacy settingsStatus updates, posts, photos, videos, polls, and moreGroups, events, forums, and marketplace modulesFull theme support and...
PhpFox image
Open Social icon

Open Social

OpenSocial is an open standard and set of APIs for social networking platforms led by Google and developed through the OpenSocial Foundation. It allows developers to create applications that access a social network's friends and update feeds. The goal is to enable applications to work across multiple websites and social...
Open Social image
User Meta icon

User Meta

User Meta is a powerful WordPress plugin that enables you to manage user profiles and metadata on your site. It provides an interface to easily create custom profile fields, taxonomy terms, and metadata for user accounts.With User Meta you can:Add unlimited custom fields to user profiles, like biography, location, birthdate,...
User Meta image
Spinchat.com icon

Spinchat.com

Spinchat is a freemium web and mobile messaging platform designed for team collaboration and communication. Some key features of Spinchat include:Group chat rooms with support for threads, pinned messages, starred messages, and moreVideo calling for up to 25 participantsScreen sharing to collaborate on documents and projects in real-timeCustomizable notifications to...
Spinchat.com image
MyLOL icon

MyLOL

MyLOL is an online social networking and gaming platform targeted at teenagers aged 13-20. Launched in 2007, MyLOL aims to provide a safe space for teens to connect with friends, express themselves creatively, play games, and meet new people.Some key features of MyLOL include:User profiles - Teens can create personalized...
PlushForums icon

PlushForums

PlushForums is an open-source Internet forum software package written in PHP. It allows an individual or organization to host their own discussion board website for topics of interest.Some key features of PlushForums include:Lightweight and fast - Optimized for speed and low resource usageEasy installation - Can be set up in...
PlushForums image
Dolphin.Pro icon

Dolphin.Pro

Dolphin.Pro is a feature-rich PDF editing software designed for business and professional use. It provides a complete set of tools to view, create, convert, edit, collaborate on, secure and print PDF files.Key features include:- Intuitive drag-and-drop interface for easy PDF creation and document assembly- Advanced PDF editing tools - add...
Dolphin.Pro image
PeepSo icon

PeepSo

PeepSo is a plugin that adds comprehensive social networking functionality to WordPress sites. Developed by PeepSo Inc., it transforms a regular WordPress installation into a full-fledged social network.Some of the key features PeepSo offers include:User profiles - Allow members to create detailed personal profiles with photos, bios, and other infoActivity...
PeepSo image
Grewpler icon

Grewpler

Grewpler is a feature-rich yet easy-to-use graphic design and photo editing software aimed at beginners. It provides a clean and intuitive interface that allows users to quickly learn how to edit images and create original graphics and artwork.Unlike more complex programs like Photoshop or GIMP, Grewpler focuses specifically on the...
WP User Frontend icon

WP User Frontend

WP User Frontend is a powerful WordPress plugin that transforms your site's user experience by adding custom registration, login, profile edit, and other front-end capabilities.Some key features include:Visitor registration - Allow visitors to signup for an account on your site front-end.Login/logout - Let users login and out and restrict content...
WP User Frontend image
WP User Manager icon

WP User Manager

WP User Manager is a powerful WordPress plugin used to manage users on a WordPress site. It provides site administrators and editors an intuitive dashboard to add, edit, and delete WordPress users without needing access to the backend admin area.Key features of WP User Manager include:Add new WordPress users quickly...
WP User Manager image
Sermo icon

Sermo

Sermo is an online social networking and collaboration platform designed exclusively for physicians and healthcare professionals. It enables doctors around the world to connect with each other, share medical insights and expertise, discuss difficult cases, stay up-to-date on latest medical research and industry trends, crowdsource treatment options, and collectively advance...
Sermo image
MooSocial icon

MooSocial

mooSocial is a comprehensive social media management platform designed to help businesses and marketers manage their social media presence more efficiently. With mooSocial, users can:Connect and manage unlimited social media profiles from popular networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and moreSchedule and publish content to multiple accounts straight from...
MooSocial image
Noiys icon

Noiys

Noiys is a simple yet powerful ambient sound and noise generator software. It provides an easy-to-use graphical interface that allows users to create customized background sounds to boost focus, promote relaxation, help sleep, or block out distractions.Some of the key features of Noiys include:Multiple ambient sound options such as white...
Noiys image
Movim icon

Movim

Movim is an open-source, decentralized social networking and communication platform. It operates on a federated model, meaning users on different servers can communicate with each other seamlessly while each server remains independent. Some key features of Movim include:Decentralized architecture - No single entity controls the networkEnd-to-end encryption - Messages and...
Movim image
Hubzilla icon

Hubzilla

Hubzilla is an open-source, decentralized social networking and communications platform built on a foundation of web server software called Elgg. Unlike traditional social networks like Facebook or Twitter that store user data on centralized servers controlled by a single company, Hubzilla allows users to have ownership and control over their...
Hubzilla image
Jamroom icon

Jamroom

Jamroom is a free web-based platform that enables musicians to get together for online jam sessions and collaborate on playing music in real time over the internet. It provides virtual jam rooms where musicians can play together, while hearing and interacting with each other, despite being physically located far apart.One...
Jamroom image
Noosfero icon

Noosfero

Noosfero is an open source web-based platform for social and solidarity economy networks and non-profit organizations. It allows groups and activists to create collaborative websites and web applications for community engagement.Some key features of Noosfero include:Profiles for organizations, groups and individual usersBlog, forum, event calendar and gallery modulesCustomizable themes and...
Noosfero image
OpenScholar icon

OpenScholar

OpenScholar is an open-source platform for academics and researchers to share their work, connect with others, and build an online presence. Developed by the Public Knowledge Project, OpenScholar aims to be an ethical, community-driven alternative to commercial academic social networks like Academia.edu or ResearchGate.Some key features of OpenScholar include:Researcher profiles...
OpenScholar image
Hibloo icon

Hibloo

Hibloo is a project management and team collaboration software designed to help organizations plan, organize, and deliver work more efficiently. As a cloud-based solution, Hibloo can be accessed from anywhere via desktop or mobile, making it easy for distributed teams to stay connected and aligned.Key features of Hibloo include:Project planning...
ExploreB2B icon

ExploreB2B

exploreB2B is a software as a service (SaaS) platform created specifically for business-to-business (B2B) sales and marketing teams to identify, analyze, and engage new prospects and customers. Its key features include:Powerful search and filtering tools to quickly discover prospective customers that match your ideal customer profile (ICP) criteria such as...
BuddyCloud icon

BuddyCloud

BuddyCloud is an open source, decentralized social communication platform built on the XMPP protocol. It allows users to create social networks that are not controlled by any single entity.Some key features of BuddyCloud include:Distributed architecture - The network is spread across different servers run by independent operators, avoiding central points...
BuddyCloud image
SocialER icon

SocialER

SocialER is a comprehensive social media management platform designed to help businesses, agencies, and marketers manage their social media more efficiently. Some key features of SocialER include:Unified inbox to manage conversations and comments across multiple social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.Content scheduling and publishing to allow planning and...
Viadeo icon

Viadeo

Viadeo is a professional social networking platform that was launched in 2004 in France. It focuses on facilitating business connections and career development opportunities. As of 2022, Viadeo has over 15 million members, primarily located in France and other European countries.Some key features of Viadeo include user profiles with resumes/CVs...
Viadeo image
BuzzE Social Networking icon

BuzzE Social Networking

BuzzE is a popular social networking website launched in 2019 that allows users to connect with friends, family members, coworkers, and people with shared interests. With over 50 million active users worldwide, BuzzE provides a platform to share updates, photos, videos, and life events as well as chat, join groups,...
Scuttlebutt.nz icon

Scuttlebutt.nz

Scuttlebutt.nz is an open-source, decentralized social networking protocol and platform that enables users to communicate securely without relying on central servers. Instead, it uses peer-to-peer data replication and encryption to enable private social networking.Some key features of Scuttlebutt.nz include:Decentralized architecture - Data is stored and shared between users' devices in...
Scuttlebutt.nz image
Sebangsa icon

Sebangsa

Sebangsa is an open-source content management system and blogging platform written in PHP. It provides users with a simple yet powerful way to build professional looking websites and blogs without needing to know any coding.Some key features of Sebangsa include:Intuitive drag and drop interface to easily add, organize and style...
Sebangsa image
Friend Xone icon

Friend Xone

Friend Xone is a social networking website and mobile app that allows users to connect with friends, family, coworkers, classmates, and more. It provides a personalized feed showing updates, photos, videos, events, and other content shared by those in your network.Some key features of Friend Xone include:News Feed - See...
Finspi icon

Finspi

Finspi is a comprehensive yet easy-to-use financial planning and analysis software solution for finance teams. It provides capabilities for budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and analytics to help organizations gain clear visibility into their financial health and performance.Key features of Finspi include:Flexible modeling for forecasting, budgeting, and scenario planningPowerful reporting with...
JumzleR icon

JumzleR

JumzleR is an innovative and user-friendly image editing and collaging application. It provides a wide range of powerful tools for combining multiple photos into captivating visual creations with ease.The software includes hundreds of professionally-designed templates, fonts, overlays, animations, and other graphics that can be used to enhance images. Users can...
Campus Discounts icon

Campus Discounts

Campus Discounts is an online platform built specifically to provide exclusive discounts and deals to college students across the United States. It aims to help students save money by partnering with hundreds of major brands and local businesses to offer promo codes, discounted gift cards, cash back offers, and other...
Vikuit icon

Vikuit

Vikuit is an open-source, self-hosted project management and collaboration software suite. It provides a variety of tools to help organizations and teams manage projects more effectively.Some of the key features of Vikuit include:Task Management - Comprehensive task management with support for hierarchies, dependencies, priorities, assignments, due dates, etc.Time Tracking -...
LiveTalkie icon

LiveTalkie

LiveTalkie is a feature-rich real-time communication and collaboration platform designed to power productive remote meetings, events, classrooms and more. It brings together HD video calling, interactive screen sharing, chat, digital whiteboard, and powerful moderation tools in one seamless solution.With LiveTalkie, you can have meetings with up to 100 participants with...
LovdbyLess icon

LovdbyLess

LovdbyLess is an ecommerce software designed specifically for fashion and clothing retailers. It provides a suite of tools to help boutique owners and emerging brands build and manage an online store.Some key features of LovdbyLess include:Modern, customizable storefront templates optimized for showcasing fashion products.Powerful inventory management with real-time synchronization across...
LovdbyLess image
JuzFrens icon

JuzFrens

JuzFrens is a social networking mobile application launched in 2019 that is focused on helping people make new friends and expand their social circles. The app aims to connect users based on shared interests, hobbies, locations, and other factors to facilitate friendships.After signing up, users create a profile highlighting their...
Identi.ca icon

Identi.ca

Identi.ca is an open-source microblogging and social networking platform very similar to Twitter. It allows users to post short text-based messages up to 200 characters, called "notices", to their network of followers. Notices can contain links, tags, location data and other metadata.Some key features of Identi.ca include:Open source - Identi.ca...
Identi.ca image
ADCAKE icon

ADCAKE

ADCAKE is a native advertising platform designed to help publishers monetize their websites. It facilitates the creation, management, and optimization of native ad campaigns that aim to provide a non-disruptive user experience while delivering maximized revenues.The ADCAKE platform provides a suite of tools for publishers to create visually appealing native...
ADCAKE image
Tuenti icon

Tuenti

Tuenti is a social networking website and mobile application that is especially popular with teenagers and young adults in Spain. Originally launched in 2006, Tuenti was designed to provide a local alternative to Facebook for Spanish-speaking internet users.The Tuenti platform allows users to connect with friends, share photos and videos,...
Elgg icon

Elgg

Elgg is an open source social networking engine that provides users with the ability to create fully customizable social environments and applications. It was launched in 2004 and aims to provide developers with a powerful framework on which to build all kinds of social features and functionality.Some of the key...
Elgg image
Everloop icon

Everloop

Everloop is a social networking app designed specifically for children under the age of 13. It provides a safe, monitored environment for kids to connect with family and friends.Some key features of Everloop include:Parental controls - Parents can limit who their child interacts with and monitor all activity within the...
FriendFeed icon

FriendFeed

FriendFeed is a social media aggregation, curation and bookmarking website and service that allows users to share content from multiple social media sites and networks. It was launched in 2007 and acquired by Facebook in 2009, although it continued to operate as a standalone service until it was shut down...