Forem
3 known investors
Forem is open source software for building online communities in any niche, powering DEV, a community where software developers share knowledge and collaborate. DEV has partnered with Major League Hacking (MLH), a developer programs platform.
Also known as DEV · DEV Community · dev.to
Founders & leadership
Investors · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Forem develops open source software designed for building and hosting online communities in any niche. Its best-known deployment is DEV (DEV Community, at dev.to and forem.com), a community where software developers publish articles, discuss technical topics, and follow one another's work. DEV content is organized around tags such as git, ai, webdev, javascript, startup and career, with posts carrying reactions, comments and reading-time estimates, alongside community programming such as scheduled challenges and weekly highlight sections.
Because the application is open source, its code can be inspected or contributed to by outside developers, and the software is available to anyone wanting to create similar communities. Forem publishes developer documentation covering how to set up a local instance, the platform architecture, contribution guidelines and self-hosting installation; the documentation site is maintained by volunteer contributors working alongside a Forem Core Team. Forem also operates a shared authentication service, Forem Account, intended to let users manage sign-in across the Forem network.
Business model
Forem provides open source community software that can be self-hosted by third parties, while itself operating DEV Community as a hosted developer community on that software.
Traction
DEV Community states it has 4,060,573 developers.
Latest developments
DEV has partnered with Major League Hacking, the developer programs platform, combining DEV's knowledge-sharing community with MLH's hands-on learning programs; MLH is also offered as a sign-in option on DEV. Forem's documentation notes rapid ongoing product changes.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market
Market position
The community application is open source, allowing inspection of the code, outside contribution, and reuse by anyone wanting to build a comparable community.
Technology
Forem's community application is open source and can be run as a local instance or self-hosted; developer documentation covers setup, architecture and contribution. A separate Forem authentication service manages sign-in across Forem-network sites, and DEV supports sign-in via Apple, Facebook, GitHub, Google, MLH and Twitter (X).
Go-to-market
Software developers who read, publish and discuss technical content, and organizations or individuals seeking to run their own online community in a given niche.", "go_to_market">null
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 1
launches, deals, and filingsDEV partnered with Major League Hacking (MLH), described as the world's largest developer programs platform, to combine DEV's knowledge-sharing community with MLH's hands-on learning experiences. MLH is offered as a sign-in option on DEV.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Foremforem.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Forem do?
- Forem is open source software for building online communities, and the platform behind DEV Community for software developers.
- Who founded Forem?
- Forem was founded by Ben Halpern, Jess Lee, Peter Frank.
- Who are Forem's investors?
- Forem's investors include Everywhere Ventures, Trousdale Ventures, OSS Capital.