DiscoursevsFreeSWITCH
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | FreeSWITCH | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 69/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #3 of 16 in VoIP |
| GitHub stars | 48 027 | 5 263 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +131 | +80 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 4 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v1.11.3 · 28 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Ruby | C |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 69/100 for FreeSWITCH, so it is the safer default.
FreeSWITCH ships more often: 4 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, Discourse is easier to run; FreeSWITCH needs more configuration.
Discourse details →FreeSWITCH details →