# beam vs Unison

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

| | beam | Unison |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 61/100 | 65/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #29 of 125 in AI | #2 of 15 in File Sync |
| GitHub stars | 1 834 | 5 557 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +47 | +64 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 364 ✓ | 2 |
| Latest release | gateway-0.1.837 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.54.0 · 1 May 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | OCaml |

## Which one should you pick?

Unison scores 65/100 against 61/100 for beam, so it is the safer default.

beam ships more often: 364 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for Unison.

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

## Details

- [beam](https://selfhost.directory/project/beam) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/beam.md)
- [Unison](https://selfhost.directory/project/unison) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/unison.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/beam-vs-unison