Discoursevsnetbox
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | netbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 79/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 34 in Network Management |
| GitHub stars | 48 026 | 21 782 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 | +190 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 20 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v4.7.4 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 79/100 for netbox, so it is the safer default.
netbox ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, Discourse is easier to run; netbox needs more configuration.
Discourse details →netbox details →