# airbyte vs NATS

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | airbyte | NATS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 80/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 3 in Data Engineering | #2 of 12 in Message Broker |
| GitHub stars | 22 283 ✓ | 20 954 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +149 | +189 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 18 ✓ |
| Latest release | — | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

NATS scores 80/100 against 75/100 for airbyte, so it is the safer default.

NATS ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for airbyte.

If you want the quickest setup, NATS is easier to run; airbyte needs more configuration.

## Details

- [airbyte](https://selfhost.directory/project/airbyte) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/airbyte.md)
- [NATS](https://selfhost.directory/project/nats) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nats.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/airbyte-vs-nats