AppwritevsZulip
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Appwrite | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 15 in Backend as a Service | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 57 786 | 26 133 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +334 | +190 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 17 | 6 |
| Latest release | 1.9.10 · 24 Oct 2026 | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Appwrite scores 84/100 against 82/100 for Zulip, so it is the safer default.
Appwrite ships more often: 17 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.
Appwrite details →Zulip details →