# Discourse vs octelium

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

| | Discourse | octelium |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 59/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #22 of 56 in VPN |
| GitHub stars | 48 029 ✓ | 4 134 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +133 ✓ | +64 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 21 ✓ |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v0.47.0 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Discourse scores 83/100 against 59/100 for octelium, so it is the safer default.

octelium ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.

If you want the quickest setup, Discourse is easier to run; octelium needs more configuration.

Discourse is growing faster right now (+133 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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