# Discourse vs LinkWarden

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

| | Discourse | LinkWarden |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 79/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 46 in Bookmarks & Link Sharing |
| GitHub stars | 48 027 ✓ | 20 262 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +131 | +425 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 12 ✓ |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v2.16.3 · 9 Sept 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 79/100 for LinkWarden, so it is the safer default.

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

LinkWarden is growing faster right now (+425 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

## Related comparisons

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

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