DiscoursevsElement
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | Element | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 13 in Instant Messaging |
| GitHub stars | 48 024 | 13 621 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +135 | +119 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 18 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v1.12.33 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 76/100 for Element, so it is the safer default.
Element ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
Discourse details →Element details →