# bex vs swiftwave

> Two self-hosted [Render alternatives](https://selfhost.directory/alternative-to/render), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | bex | swiftwave |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 47/100 | 49/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #12 of 14 in Platform as a Service | #23 of 44 in Container Management |
| GitHub stars | 577 | 908 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 ✓ | 2 |
| Latest release | bex-cli/v0.3.3 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ | 2.23.1-1 · 2 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

swiftwave scores 49/100 against 47/100 for bex, so it is the safer default.

bex ships more often: 8 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for swiftwave.

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

## Details

- [bex](https://selfhost.directory/project/bex) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/bex.md)
- [swiftwave](https://selfhost.directory/project/swiftwave) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/swiftwave.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/bex-vs-swiftwave