# Discourse vs Nova Server

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

| | Discourse | Nova Server |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 46/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #20 of 25 in Proxy |
| GitHub stars | 48 027 ✓ | 355 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +131 ✓ | +1 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 9 ✓ |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v1.92.2 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Ruby | Shell |

## Which one should you pick?

Discourse scores 83/100 against 46/100 for Nova Server, so it is the safer default.

Nova Server ships more often: 9 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.

Discourse is growing faster right now (+131 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Discourse](https://selfhost.directory/project/discourse) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/discourse.md)
- [Nova Server](https://selfhost.directory/project/nova-server) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nova-server.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-nova-server