# checkmate vs YOURLS

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

| | checkmate | YOURLS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 74/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #15 of 104 in Monitoring & observability | #1 of 23 in URL Shortener |
| GitHub stars | 11 007 | 12 292 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +120 ✓ | +49 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 15 ✓ | 4 |
| Latest release | v3.13.1 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ | 1.10.6 · 30 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

YOURLS scores 74/100 against 72/100 for checkmate, so it is the safer default.

checkmate ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for YOURLS.

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

checkmate is growing faster right now (+120 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [checkmate](https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate.md)
- [YOURLS](https://selfhost.directory/project/yourls) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/yourls.md)

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