Best Social Networking Hosting
For Online Communities

What is Social Networking Software?

Social networking programs allows users to connect, communicate and share data with each other. Most businesses use social media as a marketing tool, and it’s easy to see why. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram have billions of users combined. Having a cohesive social media presence allows businesses to reach their customers in creative ways. Many Small Businesses turn to social media management platforms that they can have complete control over, and can be edited by using any web Browser without extra add-ons or extensions
WordPress Social Networking Plugins Listed Below

Softaculous

With this automatic script installer, you can install, try out, uninstall as many apps as you like. It is just that simple. With hundreds of amazing scripts for Image galleries, E-commerce, blogs, Forums, Wikis, social networking, ad management. Available with any of our hosting plans
Take the Softaculous demo for a spin, see reviews and more.

pH7Builder

pH7Builder (formerly known as pH7CMS) is the first Professional, Free and Open Source Social Dating Site Builder Software. By far, the first choice for creating enterprise-level Dating Apps/Service or social networking sites. This Social Dating Web App is fully coded in object-oriented PHP (OOP) with the MVC pattern (Model-View-Controller). It is low resource intensive, extremely powerful and highly secure. pH7Builder is included with over 42 native modules and based on its homemade pH7 Framework which includes more than 52 packages.
pH7Builder Hosting

Open Source Social Network

Open Source Social Network (OSSN) is a PHP-based open-source platform that lets you create your own fully self-hosted social network, similar to Facebook but with complete control over data, users, and design. It comes with profiles, timelines, groups, messaging, photos, and notifications built in, making it ideal for private communities, niche networks, or enterprise collaboration sites without relying on third-party social media platforms.
Open Source Hosting

Etano

Etano can be used to start up a dating site, a social networking site, a classifieds site or any other type of site involving groups of people, companies, products.
Etano Hosting

HumHub

HumHub is a free social network software and framework built to give you the tools to make communication and collaboration easy and successful. It's lightweight, powerful and comes with an user-friendly interface. With HumHub you can create your own customized social network, social intranet or huge social enterprise application that really fits your needs.
HumHub Hosting

UNA

UNA is a Community Management System for building and running modern social websites. UNA (United Networking Applications) is a customizable open-source social networking platform. Every component module, tool, template or language is treated as an “app”. Apps control customization of design and navigation; the addition of new features and integration of 3rd-party APIs; site monitoring and configuration; permissions and database structure setup; translation and texts editing. UNA is the “next-generation” social software platform, developed for enterprise-class clients requiring a custom solution, deep integration with existing infrastructure and extended ongoing support. UNA is a fully responsive system, with mobile and tap-friendly layout, optimised for all screens sizes.
UNA Hosting

Hubzilla

Hubzilla is an open-source, decentralized social networking platform built for users who want more control over their online identity and data. It supports publishing, messaging, file sharing, and community spaces, all within a federated system that connects across the broader Fediverse. Unlike traditional social networks, it emphasizes privacy, portability of identity, and self-hosting flexibility, making it a strong option for developers and communities seeking independence from centralized platforms while still staying connected online.
Hubzilla Hosting

Elgg

Elgg empowers individuals, groups and institutions to create their own fully-featured social environment. Elgg, started in 2004, is an open source social engine which powers all kinds of social environments - from education and business to martial arts and rugby. If you are looking for a professional social intranet or want to run a site for your organisation, Elgg is a great choice.
Elgg Hosting

GNU Social

GNU social is a long-standing free software microblogging platform built around decentralised communication and open standards. It enables communities and individuals to publish short posts, share links, and connect across independent servers, forming a federated social network rather than a single centralized service. Designed for flexibility and privacy, it runs with minimal dependencies, supports plugins, and can be deployed for public communities or private intranets. Its lightweight architecture and GNU Project roots make it a strong choice for users seeking control, transparency, and a non-commercial social networking experience built on open technology principles.
GNU Social Hosting

Dolphin

Dolphin is a self-hosted social networking software platform that lets you build full community websites with profiles, messaging, groups, media sharing, and user interaction features. Written in PHP and designed for scalability, it gives site owners control over layout, modules, and monetization options through a modular admin system. Unlike hosted social media, it runs on your own server, so you manage data, design, and user experience end to end. It’s often paired with optimized hosting setups to handle media-heavy communities and traffic growth efficiently.
Dolphin Hosting

Oxwall

Oxwall is a long-standing open-source social networking platform designed to help you launch fully functional community websites without building everything from scratch. It includes core features like user profiles, activity feeds, messaging, groups, forums, and media sharing, all managed through a flexible admin dashboard. Built with PHP and MySQL, it supports plugins and custom modules, making it adaptable for niche communities or large-scale social platforms. Its focus on ease of setup, extensibility, and user engagement tools makes it a practical choice for entrepreneurs and developers aiming to create branded social networks with full control over content, features, and monetization.
Oxwall Hosting

Jcow

Jcow is a PHP-based social networking script that helps developers build full community websites with features like user profiles, messaging, activity feeds, groups, forums, photos, and videos. It runs on MySQL and is designed for self-hosted setups, giving you full control over data, design, and monetization. With a modular structure and admin dashboard, it supports customization through plugins and themes. Built for scalability and engagement, it’s often used for niche social platforms, private communities, or startup social networks that need flexibility without relying on third-party hosted services.
Jcow Hosting

Family Connections

Family Connections is an open-source PHP-based social networking system designed specifically for building private, family-focused communities. Hosted on SourceForge, it includes tools for sharing photos and videos, maintaining a family tree, posting updates, and managing events, calendars, and contact directories—all within a secure, members-only environment. Its structure supports long-term archiving of memories and intergenerational storytelling, making it a practical choice for preserving family history in a centralized, self-hosted platform. The system is lightweight, customizable, and aimed at users who want full control over their private social network rather than relying on mainstream social media platforms.
Family Connections Hosting

* Speed ratings are based on typical installations running on SSD hosting with optimized PHP and MySQL configurations. Actual performance depends on traffic volume, themes, plugins, and server resources.

WordPress Social Networking Plugins

Candy Social Widget

Social Widget plugin for displaying links to your social media in any widget area. Created by WPExplorer, this plugin allows you to add colorful icons with links to your social profiles of choice in any widgetized sidebar of your WordPress site.
Home Page

ActivityPub

Enter the fediverse with ActivityPub, broadcasting your blog to a wider audience! Attract followers, deliver updates, and receive comments from a diverse user base of ActivityPub-compliant platforms.
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Social Rocket

Social Rocket adds fully-customizable social sharing buttons to your site. It’s easy to use, and packed with many additional social networking features we’re sure you’ll love.
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Jetpack Social

It’s important to publish on both your website & social media in order to reach your whole audience. If you only publish on social media, you’re missing up to 60% of adults on a daily basis. Jetpack Social makes it easy to automatically share your site’s posts on popular social media channels
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BP Social Connect

Connect your BuddyPress site with popular social networks. This plugin will allow you to connect your WordPress or BuddyPress.
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The Social Links

The Social Links plugin adds a widget and shortcode to your WordPress website allowing you to display icons linking to your social profiles. The new version includes the following social networks:
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Social Tools

Social Tools is a free plugin which creates nice widgets allowing to display links and icons to your social networking profiles in your WordPress site.

Social Media Links

The Social Media Links is a simple page or post that allows users to input their social media link website profile URLs social media site and more that open up in a new tab.
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Uptolike Social Share Buttons

Uptolike Social Share Buttons – social bookmarking widget with sharing statistics.
Home Page

Social Subscribe – Follow Buttons

This plugin allows you to show YouTube subscribe button anywhere in your website using widget.

Tipsy Social Icons

Tipsy Social Icons is a WordPress widget that makes it easy to include a variety of social icons and custom labels into your WordPress blog or site. It includes both 16×16 and 32×32 variations of the icons and optional hover effects.
Home Page

Watch our video about Social Media Marketing Services on YouTube

Summary

Building a social network isn’t just about picking a script and putting it online. It’s about how the programs and hosting work together under real pressure. The software handles the experience: profiles, feeds, messaging, community features. But without the right hosting behind it, even solid programs start to feel slow, unstable, or limited as usage grows. When both sides are chosen with scalability, security, and performance in mind, the whole setup becomes more than functional, it becomes sustainable, ready to handle real communities without constantly breaking under demand.

When those programs are matched with hosting that can handle growth, security, and performance, you end up with a system that actually feels smooth for users and easier to maintain over time.

Author Bio: William Flanagan

A professional with extensive international copy-writing experience, specializing in crafting compelling content for various industries. As a skilled presentation coach, he has helped numerous...

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