# checkmate vs SafeLine

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

| | checkmate | SafeLine |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 81/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #15 of 104 in Monitoring & observability | #1 of 3 in Web Application Firewall |
| GitHub stars | 11 002 | 23 065 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +119 | +395 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 15 ✓ | 11 |
| Latest release | v3.13.1 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ | v9.4.3 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

SafeLine scores 81/100 against 72/100 for checkmate, so it is the safer default.

checkmate ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for SafeLine.

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

SafeLine is growing faster right now (+395 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [checkmate](https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate.md)
- [SafeLine](https://selfhost.directory/project/safeline) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/safeline.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/checkmate-vs-safeline