Discoursevsnginx-proxy
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | nginx-proxy | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #3 of 24 in Reverse Proxy |
| GitHub stars | 48 025 | 19 937 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +136 | +19 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 11 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | 1.11.6 · 16 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 76/100 for nginx-proxy, so it is the safer default.
nginx-proxy ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, nginx-proxy is easier to run; Discourse needs more configuration.
Discourse is growing faster right now (+136 stars in 30 days).
Discourse details →nginx-proxy details →