# Discourse vs etcd

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

| | Discourse | etcd |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 83/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 38 in Databases |
| GitHub stars | 48 029 | 52 431 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +133 ✓ | +121 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 12 ✓ |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v3.7.3 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Discourse and etcd score the same (83/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.

etcd ships more often: 12 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.

## Details

- [Discourse](https://selfhost.directory/project/discourse) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/discourse.md)
- [etcd](https://selfhost.directory/project/etcd) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/etcd.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Discourse vs Rocket.Chat](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-rocketchat)
- [Discourse vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-zulip)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-etcd